Incoming ABA President Michelle Behnke to prioritize defending liberty, pursuing justice
The American Bar Association will redouble its efforts to defend liberty and pursue justice to advance the rule of law, said Wisconsin attorney Michelle Behnke, who became ABA president Tuesday at the close of association’s annual meeting in Toronto.
Behnke cited advocating for the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government, the physical safety of judges, the independence of the legal profession, and the importance of an inclusive and fair justice system and legal profession as continuing priorities for the association as it navigates unprecedented challenges to the rule of law and the profession.
Behnke is a member of the Boardman Clark law firm in Madison, Wisconsin, and was formerly the principal of the firm Michelle Behnke & Associates, where her practice focused on business, real estate and estate planning. Immediate Past President Bill Bay, a partner with the St. Louis office of national law firm Thompson Coburn, passed the gavel to Behnke. Judge Adrienne Nelson of the U.S. District Court, District of Oregon swore in Behnke.
Also during the meeting, Barbara Howard, principal of the Barbara J. Howard law firm in Cincinnati, Ohio, assumed the role of ABA president-elect. Active in bar association leadership since her involvement in the ABA Young Lawyers Division, Howard also served as chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association Young Lawyers Section. She has been a member of the ABA House of Delegates since 1986 and served as its chair from 2020 to 2022. She will serve a one-year term before becoming president of the association in August 2026 at the annual meeting in Chicago.
In her remarks to the House of Delegates, Behnke said the ABA has been steadfast in its response to challenges by the Trump administration to the rule of law, law firms and the profession.
“I am clear-eyed about the challenges ahead, and I am prepared to work for the good of this association,” Behnke said. “Going forward, it is imperative that we not only respond to attacks, but we must be proactive and fulfill our goals and strengthen our association. Because when you have a strong ABA, you have strong lawyers. And when you have strong lawyers, you have a strong defense for the rule of law.”
Behnke reiterated the ABA’s enduring commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession and the justice system, reflecting on her parents’ upbringing in Tupelo, Mississippi, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education and her own candidacy decades later for president of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
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“Without the Brown decision, and the diversity and inclusion work that followed, I likely would not be standing here today,” Behnke said.
“But progress on the path doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at the destination. We have to ensure we don’t slip back and that the doors remain open to all. Working on diversity, equity and inclusion allows us to make progress towards that more perfect union of which our Constitution speaks.”
Behnke added: “We defend liberty and pursue justice when we work to eliminate bias and enhance diversity in the profession and the legal system. It is important that our legal profession reflects the diversity of the clients and communities we serve.”
Providing high-quality professional development, more networking and leadership opportunities and support in their practice, as well as improving the profession by setting ethical standards and promoting professionalism, also will be priorities this year, Behnke said.
In his final remarks to the House as president, Bay on Monday said despite the Trump administration’s “anti-ABA campaign”—elimination of grants for work to support the rule of law, termination of the ABA’s ability to provide legal assistance in disasters, threats to diversity initiatives, restrictions on the ABA’s ability to rate judicial nominees and efforts to prevent government legal professionals from being ABA members or attending ABA conferences—“we have chosen a steady and strategic course.”
“We will never surrender in the fight for the rule of law and due process. Because there is never a wrong time to stand up for what is right,” Bay said.
Outlining the lawsuits the ABA “brought to protect our programs that have benefited generations of Americans, Bay added, “We also did something different. On behalf of our members, we filed suit again our own government because of its ongoing efforts to intimidate lawyers.
“We did that because the rule of law does not defend itself,” Bay said. “Lawyers do.”
ABA Executive Director Alpha Brady also addressed the House of Delegates.
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