Annual Meeting

Justice Ginsburg Talks About Arias, the Law and the Most Famous Plea Bargain in Opera

Opera, like great litigation, involves powerful storytelling, which evokes a variety of audience emotions. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke about her love of both mediums Friday at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, in a CLE program titled, “Arias of Law: The Rule of Law at Work…

Aug 5, 2012 1:20 PM CDT

US Marshal Shares Steps Lawyers and Judges Can Take to Improve Personal Security

You might have an unlisted phone number, eschew social media and never post photos online, but those steps alone don’t guarantee safety if a disgruntled litigant wants to find and hurt you or your family, a U.S. Marshal told a group of judges and lawyers Saturday. Speaking on an annual…

Aug 5, 2012 12:43 PM CDT

Military Stars Shine at ABA Opening Assembly

Updated: In a special ceremony at Saturday evening’s opening assembly, ABA President Wm T. (Bill) Robinson III presented citations to The Judge Advocate General of each U.S. military service. Robinson, the member-in-charge of the Florence, Ky., office of Frost Brown Todd, said he was so pleased to have all five…

Aug 5, 2012 3:07 AM CDT

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Qualifications of Judicial Nominees Should Count More Than Politics

Politics is putting the independence of the federal judiciary at risk, Sen. Lindsey Graham said this evening in his keynote speech at the opening assembly of the ABA Annual Meeting. “I’m really worried about how we’re doing confirmations,” said Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who serves on the Senate…

Aug 5, 2012 1:22 AM CDT

Military Commission Lawyers Defend Their Work, Concede Flaws in the System’s Earlier Iterations

Plenty of current and former military brass participated in and observed Saturday’s panel on historical perspectives concerning the Obama administration’s resumption of military commission trials in the war on terror. But once again, the ultimate answers and explanations needed to come from outside the room—from the U.S. government, not its…

Aug 5, 2012 12:46 AM CDT

Survey Indicates the Public Is Unconvinced That State Courts Need More Money

The American Bar Association and its allies, in their efforts to stem the tide of funding cuts that are sweeping over state courts across the country, face a serious challenge in crafting messages about the issue that will resonate effectively with the public, according to results of a survey that…

Aug 4, 2012 10:38 PM CDT

Law School Curricula Are Changing, Survey Shows

Today’s law school curriculum looks nothing like the one you probably had when you went to law school 10, 20 or 30 years ago, a new survey shows. Law schools have dramatically increased all aspects of skills instruction–including clinical, simulation and externships–in the wake of a 2004 change in law…

Aug 4, 2012 7:30 PM CDT

Pass It on: Secrecy Is a Thing of the Past

Corrected: The digital revolution has rendered secrecy largely a thing of the past for governments and the business community, said speakers Saturday at an ABA Annual Meeting program marking the 50th anniversary of the Standing Committee on Law and National Security. “We have to recognize that we cannot keep secrets…

Aug 4, 2012 6:05 PM CDT

So You Want to Write a Novel? Legal Training Is a Plus, Legal Author Tells ABA Audience

Yale law professor and author Stephen Carter is often asked why so many lawyers write fiction, particularly thrillers and mysteries. He has a ready answer: It’s the Socratic method. “That process, which virtually every law student despises, gets us to begin thinking about the ‘what ifs,’ ” Carter said at…

Aug 4, 2012 5:45 PM CDT

Sandra Fluke Reflects on Lawyers, Civility and Her Brush with Rush Limbaugh

Updated: In the months since Sandra Fluke found herself the center of a media firestorm over the state of public discourse after radio personality Rush Limbaugh attacked her personally because of her views on providing insurance coverage for contraceptives at religious institutions, the aspiring lawyer has embraced the platform. Fresh…

Aug 4, 2012 12:09 AM CDT

Judges Hash Out Possible Changes to Judicial Disqualification Rules

It is a given that democracy is necessarily messy, and perhaps also more interesting at just such times. Things certainly sounded that way Friday afternoon at the ABA Annual Meeting programs concerning judicial disqualification and proposed changes in the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct (per, in effect, recommendation of…

Aug 3, 2012 11:56 PM CDT

Tips on Doing Legal Research Online—For Free (Video)

You actually can get something for nothing when it comes to online legal research, says Matthew Braun, a legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress. An annual meeting speaker for an ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress event, Braun shared some free legal research tips…

Aug 3, 2012 11:48 PM CDT

Legal Ed Section’s Council Votes Not to Accredit Foreign Law Schools

The governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has decided not to get involved in the business of accrediting foreign law schools. The council, which met Friday during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, voted 15-0, with two abstentions, not to begin accrediting…

Aug 3, 2012 10:29 PM CDT

Panelists Describe Lawyers’ Work Behind the Scenes in NCAA Investigations

Anyone hoping to hear a spirited discussion over whether the NCAA overstepped its authority when it sanctioned Penn State over the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal instead was schooled in the NCAA’s investigation and enforcement process. A panel of four lawyers spoke today about that process at the Young Lawyers…

Aug 3, 2012 7:32 PM CDT

Illinois Law Taking New Approach to Sex Slavery Should Be Praised, Says Cook County State’s Attorney

Legislation adopted in 2010 by the Illinois General Assembly points the way toward how states can become more effective in fighting the growing national problem of human trafficking, said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez today at the ABA’s 2012 Annual Meeting. The Illinois Safe Children Act points to the…

Aug 3, 2012 7:06 PM CDT