ABA Prez Says FDIC Avoided ‘Catastrophic’ Results by Insuring IOLTA Accounts

ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. is applauding a decision by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to insure client funds deposited in Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts. Interest from the accounts helps fund legal services to the poor, providing the second-largest source of funding for such programs, according to a…

Nov 25, 2008 5:48 PM CST

Humor Publication Pokes Fun at Lawyers with Claimed ABA Recall

A humor publication is running a tongue-in-cheek radio report claiming the ABA has recalled 230,000 “downer” lawyers. The report on “Onion Radio News” says ABA President William H. Neukom issued the “massive nationwide recall” due to a “grave danger to the general public and judicial system.” Between April 2002 and…

Nov 25, 2008 3:53 PM CST

Graduate of Non-ABA-Accredited Law School Can Take Mass. Bar Exam

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has waived the usual requirement that all takers of the state bar examination must be graduates of an ABA-accredited law school for a licensed California attorney who got his law degree in 2004 from Concord Law School, a non-ABA-accredited online institution. Describing Ross Mitchell…

Nov 21, 2008 8:26 PM CST

Ex-ABA President Announces He Won’t Run for Mich. Governor

Former ABA President and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer says he won’t run for Michigan governor because he would have to give up family time and law, two things he loves. Archer, now the chairman of Dickinson Wright, had said he was considering a run for governor. But today at a…

Nov 20, 2008 5:06 PM CST

Top Military Official: More Troops Needed in Afghanistan

The economy may be priority No. 1 in the new presidential administration, but national security isn’t far behind. It’s certainly job No. 1 for Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen spoke Thursday night at the ABA’s 18th Annual Review of the Field of National…

Nov 7, 2008 10:36 PM CST

ABA President Decries Expensive Judicial Races

The home state of ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. was the site of this year’s most expensive judicial race, and Wells isn’t happy about it. Wells said in a press release issued today that judges in Alabama and states like it are set up to rely on campaign contributions…

Nov 6, 2008 6:52 PM CST

Ex-ABA Prez Robert Grey Loses Race for Richmond Mayor

Robert J. Grey Jr., an attorney with Hunton & Williams who formerly served as the president of the American Bar Association, was defeated yesterday in his bid to become the mayor of Richmond, Va. When it became apparent that he had lost the contest to one of two other candidates,…

Nov 5, 2008 7:39 PM CST

Left, Right or Center?

The ABA is about process, not politics

Nov 2, 2008 3:30 AM CST

ABA Announcements

Nov 2, 2008 2:25 AM CST

Memorandum to the Next President

To: The Next President of the United States From: H. Thomas Wells Jr., ABA President, and Thomas M. Susman, Director, ABA Governmental Affairs Office Re: Your First 30 Days in Office Date: November 2008

Nov 2, 2008 1:35 AM CST

ABA President Joins the Blogosphere

ABA President H. Thomas Wells, Jr. has launched a blog that goes behind the scenes in the peripatetic life of the leader of the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. The blog describes the events Wells attends on behalf of the ABA across the country and around the world, the…

Oct 29, 2008 10:12 PM CDT

55% of Potential Voters Support Judicial Elections for State Judges

Most potential voters support judicial elections for state court judges, despite qualms about influence by special interest groups making campaign donations, according to a Harris Poll conducted with input from the American Bar Association. The survey (PDF) of the voting age public found that 55 percent think elections should be…

Oct 21, 2008 5:08 PM CDT

A Conversation With Gitmo Lawyer Margulies

Joseph Margulies will talk about his role in coordinating the litigation challenging the Bush administration’s post-9/11 detention policy at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the ABA’s headquarters at 321 N. Clark St. in Chicago. It is the first in a series of ABA events with legal newsmakers,…

Oct 17, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

Franklin Pierce, Only N.H. Law School, Mulls State U Merger

The only law school in New Hampshire has announced that it is considering a merger with a state university. Franklin Pierce Law Center, a private ABA-accredited institution in Concord, N.H., says in a just-issued joint press release that it is in discussions with the University of New Hampshire about combining…

Oct 9, 2008 11:33 PM CDT

Work in Progress

Change is becoming the byword that characterizes the legal ethics field

Oct 1, 2008 4:45 PM CDT