ABA

ABA President Calls for Nationwide Law Day Press Conferences on Court Funding

ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III has focused on state court funding problems throughout his presidency, and he continued to hammer home his points during a meeting of the ABA House of Delegates on Monday. “We need to educate the public, we need to address business leaders and especially…

Feb 6, 2012 4:47 PM CST

Resolution Tackles Expert Evidence Issues in Criminal Cases

The ABA House of Delegates has approved a resolution designed to help jurors in criminal cases assess expert evidence. Resolution 101C urges judges and lawyers to consider several factors in determining how expert evidence should be presented to juries and how jurors should be instructed. The resolution lists seven factors,…

Feb 6, 2012 4:39 PM CST

ABA House Considers Digital-Age Issue: Cops’ Access to Third-Party Records

The ABA House of Delegates has adopted standards that could be used by courts and legislatures when deciding whether law enforcement investigating crimes should have access to records held by third parties. The ABA Criminal Justice Standards on Law Enforcement Access to Third Party Records (Resolution 101A) would apply to…

Feb 6, 2012 4:36 PM CST

Cert Petition Highlights Issues Spurring Bar Independence Resolution

A Supreme Court cert petition highlights the issues that spurred the bar association of Puerto Rico to propose an ABA resolution urging respect for the independence of the organized bar. The ABA House of Delegates passed Resolution 10A on Monday. It urges courts and legislatures that regulate the legal profession…

Feb 6, 2012 4:27 PM CST

New Orleans Mayor: ‘We’re Waiting for Locusts Now’

New Orleans Mayor Mitchell Landrieu welcomed lawyers to his city on Monday when he addressed the ABA House of Delegates. Landrieu was a state lawmaker and a lawyer who practiced law for 15 years before he became mayor. Now, he told the ABA House, he has the “great privilege and…

Feb 6, 2012 3:40 PM CST

Nominating Committee Selects New York Lawyer James Silkenat to Become ABA President

Running as an unopposed candidate, James R. Silkenat has known for more than a year that his selection to become president-elect nominee of the ABA was inevitable. But still, standing in a hallway outside the room where the ABA Nominating Committee was confirming that result in executive session, Silkenat acknowledged…

Feb 5, 2012 8:59 PM CST

Preserving Court Funding Will Require Effective Political Efforts by the Judiciary and Its Allies

Whether they like it or not, leaders of the judiciary must be willing to play politics in efforts to preserve funding for their state and local court systems. That was the collective message voiced by several court administrators, members of the judiciary and legislators who engaged in blunt discussions on…

Feb 5, 2012 1:04 AM CST

Scalia Denies Abortion Views Influenced by Religion, Calls His GPS Opinion ‘Defendant Friendly’

Updated: Justice Antonin Scalia doesn’t shy from controversy, even before a large crowd of ABA members. On Saturday during the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, Scalia answered questions posed by Boston University law dean emeritus Ronald Cass and then from the audience. Topics included abortion, religion, lawyer pay and…

Feb 5, 2012 12:03 AM CST

Eric Holder Announces $2.4M in Grants to Help Improve Indigent Criminal Defense Services

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced two new Justice Department programs aimed at helping to bolster indigent defense services at the state and local levels. Between them, the two programs will make up to $2.4 million in federal funding available to research projects studying the barriers that prevent criminal…

Feb 4, 2012 11:24 PM CST

Panelists See Progress for Women of Color at Corporate Legal Departments, But Barriers Still Exist

Many large corporations are making significant progress in bringing diversity to their legal departments and creating opportunities for women of color to advance, but a panel of women lawyers in corporate leadership positions told a packed audience today that women also need to take control of their careers if they…

Feb 4, 2012 2:22 AM CST

What Katrina Can Teach Lawyers About Disaster Preparedness; FEMA Grants $1.7M to Preserve Records

Judge Madeleine Landrieu of Louisiana’s court of appeals was a civil trial judge in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. She was among 16 out of the civil court’s 18 judges who lost their homes in the disaster. Landrieu evacuated with her family and moved them into…

Feb 4, 2012 1:40 AM CST

Nonlawyer Ownership Interests in Law Firms Remains an Unsettled Issue for Ethics 20/20 Commission

Corrected: The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 still is undecided on whether it will make a recommendation on whether nonlawyers should be allowed to have some form of limited ownership interest in U.S. law firms. In recent months, the commission’s work on the issue has focused on what the substance…

Feb 4, 2012 1:21 AM CST

Ethics Proposals Would Require Law Firms to Report Lawyers’ Judicial Campaign Contributions

Adam Skaggs. Photo by Kathy Anderson Should law firms have to report judicial campaign contributions by their lawyers and staffers? Should they include information about nonfinancial support, such as endorsements? And how should judges use that information to decide whether to recuse themselves? Those questions were considered at a public…

Feb 3, 2012 9:12 PM CST

Lawyers Still Have a Lot to Learn About Technology, Ethics 20/20 Witnesses Say

Jayne Reardon. Photo by Kathy Anderson Lawyers don’t fully appreciate how much technology is changing the nature of law practice, several witnesses said today at a public hearing conducted by the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20. “Many lawyers don’t understand that technology is a leading cause of the economic climate…

Feb 3, 2012 2:12 AM CST

12 More Law Schools Sued Over Reporting of Law Grad Employment and Salary Stats

Updated: In a gathering storm that apparently may not yet have reached its full strength, lawsuits have been or will be filed today against another 12 law schools over the way they report employment data for their graduates, according to counsel for the plaintiffs. They say in a press release…

Feb 1, 2012 10:39 PM CST