It is rare in the federal court system for judges to retract declarations of senior status, a form of semi-retirement that creates a vacancy on the court. Legal experts see the judges’ actions as part of the broader political jockeying over a federal court system whose judges have lifetime appointments and whose rulings can shape policy over multiple administrations.

This year, the ABA Commission on Immigration partnered with Microsoft to launch a new virtual clinic to help pro se asylum-seekers complete their asylum applications.

President Joe Biden on Monday is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row to life without parole, taking the unprecedented step ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, whose incoming administration is widely expected to restart executions.

In this year’s Members Who Inspire series, the ABA Journal featured 11 outstanding ABA members who brighten the world around them.

This year was a key moment for the bar exam, with changes to the exam and paths to licensure taking place around the country. Here are the top five that caught our attention.

A Georgia appellate court overturned a judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to remain in charge of the criminal racketeering case against Donald Trump—a decision that could doom the high-profile prosecution.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-conscious affirmative action policies did little to impact the makeup of 2024’s first year law students, according to the 2024 Standard 509 Information Report data overview from the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

TikTok has asked the Supreme Court to block a federal law that would shut down the wildly popular platform in the United States next month unless the company divests from Chinese ownership.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued a New York doctor this week for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a suburban Dallas woman in violation of Texas law—setting up the first major legal challenge to “shield laws” enacted by some Democratic-led states to protect doctors providing abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.