Annual Meeting

House Delays Action on Court Language Services Measure

Action by the House of Delegates on a resolution calling for courts to implement services for people for whom English is not their primary language was put off today so final changes could be made in the language of the proposal. Resolution 122 (PDF) calls for the House to adopt…

Aug 8, 2011 10:21 PM CDT

ABA Must Lead Fight for Court Funding, Says New ABA President Robinson

In his inaugural speech Monday, new ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III emphasized that the ABA will continue to advocate for adequate funding for the state courts. Robinson praised the Task Force on Preservation of Justice for its work so far and renewed the ABA’s commitment to continue addressing…

Aug 8, 2011 10:00 PM CDT

ABA Calls for More Effective Rules on Judicial Disqualifications

The House of Delegates approved Resolution 107 (PDF), a recommendation to support efforts at the state level to establish clear procedures for judicial disqualifications and the implementation of procedures to review a judge’s decision to reject a disqualification request. The issue of judicial disqualifications has gained attention in the wake…

Aug 8, 2011 8:16 PM CDT

ABA Pushes for Greater Protection of Immigrant Children

The ABA House of Delegates today approved four related resolutions that urge state legislatures, Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to revise policies that pertain to immigration proceedings, particularly in regards to minor, unaccompanied and undocumented children. Three of the resolutions—103B (PDF), 103C (PDF) and 103D (PDF)—urge that federal…

Aug 8, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Sometime-Foes Boies and Olson Honored with ABA Medal for Successful Joint Efforts

David Boies and Theodore B. Olson, co-chairs of the ABA Task Force on Preservation of the Justice System, were honored with the ABA’s highest award, the ABA Medal, by the House of Delegates today. “David and I know we wouldn’t have received this award if not for the things we’ve…

Aug 8, 2011 7:23 PM CDT

ABA Votes to Expand Voting Body to Include US Territories

The ABA gave each of the U.S. Pacific Territories its own seat in the House of Delegates today during the annual meeting in Toronto. Under the proposal, Constitutional Amendment 11-2 (PDF), Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (actually a commonwealth), who shared a joint seat, now will each have its…

Aug 8, 2011 4:58 PM CDT

President Zack Lauds ABA for Willingness to ‘Get in the Way’ on Issues

Outgoing ABA President Stephen N. Zack updated members on the status of his presidency’s key initiatives in his farewell address today to the policy-making House of Delegates at the Annual Meeting in Toronto. Each of the entities discussed by Zack, which include the Task Force on the Preservation of the…

Aug 8, 2011 4:27 PM CDT

ABA Calls for Expansion of NICS Database & Right for Would-Be Gun Owners to Challenge Listings

In the first vote of the day, the ABA House of Delegates approved a resolution urging the expansion of the National Criminal Instant Background Check System (NICS) to “ensure its completeness and accuracy through all appropriate measures, so that all persons properly categorized as prohibited from firearm ownership under U.S.…

Aug 8, 2011 3:46 PM CDT

ABA House Tackles Packed Agenda; Addresses Practice-Ready Legal Training and Civics

The ABA House of Delegates convened in Toronto this morning to kick off a two-day policy-making session at its 2011 Annual Meeting. The session opened with the singing of national anthems of the United States and Canada by a quartet of lawyers in both countries who perform in musical groups.…

Aug 8, 2011 2:00 PM CDT

Updated: Follow Our Coverage of the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto

ABA Journal reporters are in Toronto keeping up with news from the ABA’s Annual meeting there. Don’t miss these posts, with more coming until the meeting wraps up on Tuesday: Ethics 20/20 Commission: Doing Nothing About Lawyer Rankings Is the Best Course O’Connor: Lawyers & Judges Need to Wake Up…

Aug 8, 2011 12:26 AM CDT

Ethics 20/20 Commission: Doing Nothing About Lawyer Rankings Is the Best Course

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 has decided that the best policy for the association to take towards companies that rank law firms and lawyers is to pretty much just leave them alone. That conclusion is set forth in a report that the commission has submitted to the ABA’s policy-making…

Aug 7, 2011 10:47 PM CDT

O’Connor: Lawyers & Judges Need to Wake Up to Judicial Funding Threat, Prep for Political Battle

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor expressed concern Sunday that not even lawyers and members of the judiciary fully recognize the threat to state courts posed by funding cutbacks being imposed by state legislatures. “No one, not even lawyers and judges, understands what a financial bind the courts…

Aug 7, 2011 9:58 PM CDT

Celebrated Women Lawyers Warn Next Generation Not to Rest on Laurels

First female associate. The only woman in her class. First woman in her department. Those were some of the titles held by the women lawyers honored Sunday at the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards Luncheon at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, an award named after the first…

Aug 7, 2011 9:28 PM CDT

New York Lawyer James Silkenat Is in Line to Become ABA President in 2013

This morning’s meeting of the ABA Nominating Committee turned into a two-man show now that the current races for the association’s two highest posts have become uncontested. That means the way is clear for James R. Silkenat, a partner at Sullivan & Worcester in New York City to be formally…

Aug 7, 2011 7:50 PM CDT

AIDS Awareness Promoted at ABA Meetings with Free Condoms and HIV Tests

Free condoms were a big hit at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto. The ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee offered the condoms along with information about HIV and AIDS in an effort to improve awareness for the cause of prevention. Lawyers on their way to meeting registration “ravaged” the information table…

Aug 7, 2011 7:17 PM CDT