“It’s never going to go well,” Arizona attorney Lynda C. Shely says about the prospect of representing anyone you are close to, including family members and friends. Shely, the immediate past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, works in private practice and has advised more than 2,500 law firms around the country on legal ethics matters.
Alessandra Jerolleman lost her home, her car and much of her community to the Hurricane Katrina’s powerful surge and flood waters. But Jerolleman found the hurricane also changed her life in another profound way.
Generative artificial intelligence—which can generate new content based on a prompt—has the potential to “dramatically improve the efficiency of a lawyer’s practice,” but it also can pose ethical concerns, according to a Florida Bar ethics opinion approved Jan. 19.
Almost half of all law school students have debt from their undergraduate education, more fund their legal education with loans and less than half say it was worth it, according to the AccessLex Institute’s Legal Education Data Deck.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision striking down affirmative action, half of law school admissions officers are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about creating a diverse student body, according to a survey conducted by test prep company Kaplan released Monday.
Despite the political highs and lows of the first session of the 118th Congress, the ABA worked hard to advance policy issues of interest to our members and saw progress.
“Best practices have changed, and how this crisis unfolds itself is changing,” says Richard Hooks Wayman, a liaison to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. “We thought it was time to really pick up on what we’ve been learning in the field over the last 15 years and come out with a new publication.”
JD-Next, a prelaw school exam administered by Aspen Publishing, should be used only as a secondary supplement to more established measurements of potential law student success, such as undergraduate grades or more established testing scores, according to a new report from a consultant for the ABA.
For years, law firms across the country have been grappling with what to do with the baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, as they reach and surpass the typical retirement age of 65. The problem, law firm consultants say, is that lawyers often don’t want to leave.
As diversity remains a hot topic after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College decision, the Law School Admission Council is piloting a hybrid version of its Plus Summer program to offer support to more potential law school applicants from underrepresented communities around Washington, D.C.
One of the ABA Journal's most precious assets is our access to engaged legal professionals with a knack for writing and a point of view to share. With that in mind, we launched our Your Voice section in 2018, inviting guest columnists to spark conversations about issues relevant to the profession. Your Voice is chock-full of five years of evergreen advice and thought-provoking pieces of writing, but these 10 were the most read from 2023.
The State Bar of Wisconsin is facing a lawsuit claiming that its diversity clerkship program for law students is violating the First Amendment rights of a lawyer who pays mandatory dues.
The first reimagining of the bar exam in 25 years moved closer to becoming a reality this year, as nine jurisdictions have committed to using the NextGen bar exam.
There are lawyers who love the practice of law so much that they'll only leave it feet first—and in a box. But for those who'd prefer to exit the bar before closing time, Kevin McGoff has advice on planning that next chapter.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
