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ABA announces nominations for president, secretary, treasurer and the Board of Governors

By James Podgers

May 1, 2013, 6:20 am CDT

A political reporter who revels in the rowdiness of political campaigns in the public arena would be greatly disappointed in the ABA’s process of electing its leaders. ABA elections are sedate, civil and generally lacking in suspense, especially since any contentiousness that might occur—and it rarely does—is dealt with behind the closed doors of executive sessions held by the Nominating Committee of the House of Delegates.

That pattern is repeating itself this year. In February, the Nominating Committee announced its choice of William C. Hubbard as president-elect nominee. The action came as absolutely no surprise, since Hubbard was running unopposed.

The Nominating Committee also selected Mary T. Torres to become ABA secretary and G. Nicholas Casey Jr. to serve as treasurer. In addition, the committee announced its choices to fill nine seats on the Board of Governors, which oversees the association’s administrative operations and addresses certain policy matters between meetings of the House of Delegates.

The House will vote on the nominees in August when it convenes at the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The Nominating Committee’s selections are virtually assured of being elected by the House.

Under the ABA Constitution, the association’s presidents are not actually elected to that office. Rather, the House elects a candidate—invariably, the choice of the Nominating Committee—to the office of president-elect. After a year, the president-elect automatically becomes ABA president.

That means Hubbard, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, S.C., will serve for a year as president-elect after he is formally elected by the House. He will then serve a one-year term as president starting in August 2014 at the close of that year’s annual meeting in Boston. Hubbard will be the first South Carolina lawyer to serve as ABA president.

Torres of Albuquerque, N.M., and Casey of Charleston, W.Va., will serve three-year terms starting in August 2014.

The nominees to the 38-member Board of Governors will serve three-year terms starting this August. Six of the nominees will represent regional districts. Two nominees will represent sections. One of the nominees will serve as a woman member-at-large.

WILLIAM C. HUBBARD, PRESIDENT-ELECT

WHO HE IS: Partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, S.C. Chaired ABA House of Delegates in 2008-10; member of House in 1988-97 and again since 1999. Member of Advisory Committee to the Chair of the House of Delegates. Served on Board of Governors in 1991, filling an unexpired term. Special adviser to Program, Evaluation and Planning Committee of Board. Past member of Board’s Strategic Action and Planning Committee. Member of Task Force on Gender Equity. Special adviser to Task Force on Insurance Opportunities. Served on Commission on Ethics 20/20 in 2011-13. Chaired ABA Day in Washington Planning Committee for 2011 and 2012. Past member of Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Chaired Young Lawyers Division in 1987-88. Past president and current member of Board of Directors for American Bar Foundation. Chairs Board of Directors of the World Justice Project, for which the ABA is a strategic partner. Council member for American Law Institute. Chaired board of trustees of University of South Carolina in 1996-2000, and currently serves as board member. Recipient in 2002 of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian award given by a South Carolina governor. Received JD in 1977 from University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia.

MARY T. TORRES, SECRETARY

WHO SHE IS: Member of Beall & Biehler Law Firm in Albuquerque, N.M. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2005, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from New Mexico. Member of House Committee on Resolution and Impact Review. Past member of House Rules and Calendar Committee. Chairs Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Past member of Standing Committees on Bar Activities and Services (2002-05), and Public Education (2006-08). President of State Bar of New Mexico in 2002 (the first Hispanic woman to lead any state bar), and was first Latina president of National Conference of Bar Presidents in 2010. She is a 13th-generation native of New Mexico. Received JD in 1992 from University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque.

G. NICHOLAS CASEY JR., TREASURER

WHO HE IS: Member of Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins in Charleston, W.Va. Member of ABA House of Delegates in 1992-94, 1995-96, and again since 2003, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from West Virginia. Member of Board of Governors in 2009-12, and served on Board’s Finance Committee. Member of Standing Committees on Audit in 2010 and 2012, and served as Board liaison to the committee in 2011. Past member of Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs. President of West Virginia State Bar in 1992-93 and Kanawha County Bar Association in 1985-86. Received JD in 1977 from West Virginia University College of Law in Morgantown.

STEPHEN E. CHAPPELEAR, DISTRICT 7

WHO HE IS: Partner at Hahn Loeser & Parks in Columbus, Ohio. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2004 (currently represents Ohio State Bar Association). Past chair of committees in Section of Litigation, and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. Past president of Ohio State Bar Association (2002) and Columbus Bar Association (1995). Immediate-past president and current member of board of directors for National Conference of Bar Presidents. Received JD in 1977 from the Ohio State University College of Law in Columbus. (District 7 encompasses Illinois and Ohio.)

EDUARDO R. RODRIGUEZ, DISTRICT 8

WHO HE IS: Partner at Atlas Hall Rodriguez in Brownsville, Texas. Member of ABA House of Delegates in 1991-95 and again since 2003, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Texas. Member of House Committee on Resolution and Impact Review, and immediate-past member of House Committee on Issues of Concern to the Legal Profession. Member of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. Chaired Standing Committee on Gavel Awards in 1991-94, and Standing Committee on Public Education in 2009-12. Co-chaired a 2009 ABA presidential Summit on Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps. Past president of State Bar of Texas (2004-05). Received JD in 1968 from University of Texas School of Law in Austin. (District 8 encompasses Florida and Texas.)

JOSEPH B. BLUEMEL, DISTRICT 10

WHO HE IS: Sole practitioner in Kemmerer, Wyo. Member of ABA House of Delegates in 2008-10 and again since 2011; currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Wyoming. Member of House Select Committee, and immediate-past member of Credentials and Admissions Committee. Member of Task Force on Solo and Small Firm Membership Development, and Standing Committee on Professional Discipline. President of Wyoming State Bar in 2006-07. Received JD in 1986 from University of Wyoming College of Law in Laramie. (District 10 encompasses Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.)

JIMMY K. GOODMAN, DISTRICT 11

WHO HE IS: Director and former president of Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1996, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Oklahoma. Co-chairs ABA Task Force on Human Trafficking. Term on Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities ended in 2012. Past member of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (1999-2002); Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice (2003-04); and President’s Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession (1999-2000). Member of Section of Litigation Council in 1994-97. Co-director of Litigation Section’s task forces and special projects division in 2002-03, and currently co-chairs the section’s operations division. President of Oklahoma County Bar Association in 1995-96. Recipient in 2009 of William G. Paul Oklahoma Justice Award presented by Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. Received JD in 1971 from Stanford Law School in California. (District 11 encompasses Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma.)

JOHN C. SCHULTE, DISTRICT 13

WHO HE IS: Member of the Schulte Law Firm in Missoula, Mont. Past president of State Bar of Montana (2007-08) and Western Montana Bar Association (1992-93). Received JD in 1985 from University of Montana School of Law in Missoula. (District 13 encompasses Alaska, Montana, Oregon and Puerto Rico.)

ROBERT T. GONZALES, DISTRICT 18

WHO HE IS: Of counsel to Hylton & Gonzales in Baltimore. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1994, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Maryland. Immediate-past chair of Steering Committee of Nominating Committee. Past member of House Rules and Calendar Committee. Chaired House Minority Caucus in 1996-2002. Member of Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services. Past chair of Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. Serves as a vice-chair of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Committee in Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. Past president of Maryland State Bar Association (1995-96), Bar Association of Baltimore City (1992-93) and National Conference of Bar Presidents (2001-02). Received JD in 1976 from University of Baltimore School of Law. (District 18 encompasses Indiana, Maryland and Washington.)

PAMELA C. ENSLEN, SECTION OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION

WHO SHE IS: Principal at Miller Canfield in Kalamazoo, Mich. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1999. Currently represents Section of Dispute Resolution in House and as member of Nominating Committee. Member of House Select Committee. Member of Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants. Past member of Standing Committee on Judicial Independence (2003-08). Past member of Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (2007-10). Member of Advisory Council to Center for Human Rights in 2010-11. Chaired Dispute Resolution Section in 1998-99. Current member of section council, and vice-chair of section’s Committee on Women in Dispute Resolution. Member of board of directors for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. Received JD in 1981 from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

SAMUEL H. PORTER, SECTION OF PUBLIC UTILITY, COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION LAW

WHO HE IS: Member of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur in Columbus, Ohio. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2002, and currently represents Section of Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law. Chaired the section in 1998-99. Current vice-chair of section’s Alternative Dispute Committee. Term as member of ABA Standing Committee on Judicial Independence ended in 2012. Recipient of the Ohio State Bar Foundation award for outstanding contribution to the administration of justice in Ohio. Received JD in 1953 from the Ohio State University College of Law in Columbus.

MARCIA MILBY RIDINGS, WOMAN MEMBER-AT-LARGE

WHO SHE IS: Member of Hamm, Milby & Ridings in London, Ky. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1997, and currently serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Kentucky. Past member of House Select Committee. Member of Standing Committee on Meetings and Travel. Past member of Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability. President of Kentucky Bar Association in 1995. Named Kentucky Bar Association’s outstanding lawyer in 2006. Received JD in 1976 from University of Kentucky College of Law in Lexington.