Spirit of Excellence honorees are recognized for ‘grit and determination’

The Spirit of Excellence awards symbolize the determination of racially and ethnically diverse lawyers who have not only navigated their own path to success but paved the way for those who follow them. This year, the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession will recognize two state supreme court justices and three lawyers for their contributions at the 2022 ABA Midyear Meeting.

Feb 1, 2022 12:40 AM CST

February-March 2022 ABA Notices

Feb 1, 2022 12:20 AM CST

David Yamada is fighting to end workplace bullying

“We’re taught to be really good at manipulating language as lawyers, and language is the stock-in-trade of bullying and abuse,” Prof. David Yamada says. “Most of the time, it’s not about physical aggression. It’s about commissions and omissions, I guess you could say, in terms of how people treat one another.”

Dec 1, 2021 12:40 AM CST

ABA President Reginald Turner wants his term to focus on the organization’s four goals

Learn all about the ABA’s president, Reginald Turner, including what first brought him into the profession; where he went on his first date with his wife; and the dessert that’s his daily treat.

Dec 1, 2021 12:30 AM CST

December 2021-January 2022 ABA Notices

Dec 1, 2021 12:15 AM CST

Judge Neil Axel uses DUI court experience to tackle traffic safety

Judge Neil Axel works with the ABA’s Judicial Outreach Liaison and Judicial Fellows Program. As one of its two judicial fellows, Axel helps educate judges nationwide on issues involving impaired driving offenses, including drug-impaired driving; evidence-based sentencing practices to reduce recidivism; and the impact of the legalization of marijuana on highway safety. He also works closely with the program’s nine regional JOLs and 22 state JOLs, all of whom provide training and support on impaired driving and other highway safety issues to courts in their areas.

Oct 1, 2021 1:30 AM CDT

ABA leaders urge members to help meet the nation’s legal needs

Oct 1, 2021 1:20 AM CDT

Human rights abuses at boarding schools for Native American children must be examined, ABA House says

Resolution 801 urges organizations and governments to cooperate with the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and hand over school records to help uncover the truth of what happened at the boarding schools.

Oct 1, 2021 1:10 AM CDT

Student loans should be easier to discharge in bankruptcy, ABA argues

Oct 1, 2021 1:00 AM CDT

Thurgood Marshall Award recipient Clarence B. Jones gets surprise tribute from Obama

Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights leader and member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legal team, deserved the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice’s recognition as this year’s Thurgood Marshall Award recipient. But the section’s president thought being acknowledged by former President Barack Obama would be an even higher honor.

Oct 1, 2021 12:50 AM CDT

ABA House calls for end to private prison contracts

The ABA House came out strongly against private prisons at this year’s ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting, calling them a failed experiment and saying the industry has “perverse and immoral incentives” to keep people behind bars.

Oct 1, 2021 12:40 AM CDT

October-November 2021 ABA Notices

Oct 1, 2021 12:35 AM CDT

ABA House votes to oppose laws that ban transgender student-athletes

Oct 1, 2021 12:30 AM CDT

Meet a health justice advocate working to prevent evictions during COVID-19 pandemic

Since March 2020, Emily Benfer has focused on tracking eviction moratoria, researching the effects of COVID-19 evictions on racial health equity and advocating for interventions to help provide communities hardest hit by the pandemic with financial support and legal protections. “Racial, housing and health justice are inseparable,” Benfer says. “Justice in any of these areas requires justice in all of them.”

Aug 1, 2021 12:30 AM CDT

The ABA has advocated for people with HIV/AIDS for more than 30 years

While the American Bar Association has mobilized to help the public and profession during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is not the first time the association has addressed the challenge of a new and deadly virus. At the height of the United States’ AIDS epidemic, the ABA helped lead the charge to decrease discrimination against people who were infected with HIV.

Aug 1, 2021 12:20 AM CDT