Bar Associations

Law Prof Backtracks on Bar Pass Post

Corrected: This week, Paul Caron’s blog got more attention than he bargained for. Caron – the Associate Dean of Faculty and a law professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law – ignited a firestorm of controversy this week when he posted on his popular TaxProf Blog that seven…

Feb 9, 2008 2:00 AM CST

ABA to Measure Rule of Law in Four Countries, Including U.S.

Within the next few weeks, the ABA’s World Justice Project will start testing its theories of what defines the rule of law by sending fact-gathering teams to four countries, including the United States. This field work will be the first effort by the project to test the feasibility of the…

Feb 8, 2008 10:31 PM CST

Subprime Fallout Takes Center Stage at ABA Midyear

Some ABA sections get all the glory when the news media covers programs at the ABA midyear and annual meetings. The ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities is known for leaping into controversial issues, and the ABA Criminal Justice Section often finds a case in the news as the…

Feb 7, 2008 3:07 PM CST

Paralegals Sue Over Regulation By Canadian Bar Association

A group of paralegals in Ontario, Canada, has filed a court challenge to a new regulatory scheme that puts them under the authority of a bar association. While the paralegals welcome regulation, they believe they, like lawyers, should be under the authority of a group in which they are full-fledged…

Jan 23, 2008 6:15 PM CST

Hawaii Ponders Controversial ‘Law Practice’ Rule

The Hawaii State Bar Association is asking the state’s supreme court to revise an ethical rule against the unauthorized practice of law, clarifying that nonlawyers can’t select, draft or complete documents that affect individuals’ legal rights. However, the proposed rule change is controversial, and the Honolulu Star Bulletin has editorialized…

Jan 22, 2008 8:10 PM CST

Hynes Criticized in NY City Bar Prez Race Over Milberg Connection

A renowned trial lawyer running unopposed to serve as the president of the New York City Bar Association is being targeted for criticism because of her reluctance to discuss her longtime prior job at a law firm that is now under indictment. Patricia Hynes, a former federal prosecutor who is…

Jan 11, 2008 8:43 PM CST

Attorney Avatars Create Virtual Bar, Virtual Law & Virtual CLE Courses

In many ways, it looked like a standard bar association meeting. But the woman clad in an orange tutu and thigh-high black stockings offered one clue that the attorneys attending the Oct. 20, 2007 meeting in the Second Life Bar Association’s conference room were actually avatars—animated characters created to represent…

Jan 8, 2008 8:29 PM CST

Bar Chief’s Glass Ceiling Theory: Assumptions and Slights

Lorelie Masters has her theory about why so many women leave law firms or fail to advance into partnership positions. She attributes the problem to “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” or, in the words of Legal Times, the theory of assumptions and slights. Masters, president of the Women’s Bar…

Dec 13, 2007 1:36 PM CST

Philly Bar Chief Wants Law Firms to Hike Legal Aid Donations

The incoming chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association is trying to help law firms’ bottom lines at the same time he is urging them to pony up more money for legal aid. A. Michael Pratt says he wants the city to repeal a professional services tax that subjects law firms…

Dec 4, 2007 4:46 PM CST

Opinionated Judge’s Suit Against Discipline Body Tossed

A federal judge has dismissed a judge’s lawsuit against the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission for prosecuting him over remarks he made outside the courtroom. U.S. District Judge David Doty ruled Oct. 24 that the suit by appeals judge Wendell Griffen was moot because the commission had dropped charges…

Nov 5, 2007 12:41 PM CST

Philly Bar Condemns Dismissal of Rape Charges in Prostitute Case

The chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association is condemning a judge’s decision to dismiss rape charges against a man accused of forcing a prostitute to have sex with him and three other men at gunpoint. The judge, Teresa Carr Deni, ruled on Oct. 4 that the appropriate charge is theft…

Oct 31, 2007 12:46 PM CDT

Pillsbury Axed Mandatory Retirement After ABA Debate

In August when the ABA House of Delegates debated and then took a stand against mandatory retirement at law firms, it had a big effect on the lives of senior lawyers at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Deborah Johnson, the firm’s chief human resources officer, says in an article for Law.com…

Oct 24, 2007 12:38 PM CDT

Into Africa

Encounters with Sudanese colleagues prove moving for U.S. lawyers at Litigation Section program

Oct 1, 2007 4:23 PM CDT

IL Bar Issues Scammer Warning

The Illinois State Bar Association is warning attorneys about a possible credit card scammer who claims to represent the bar’s membership department. The ISBA advises attorneys that they should not give out credit card information to callers claiming to represent the organization. The ISBA says it has gotten complaints from…

Aug 31, 2007 12:45 PM CDT

ABA Speaks Out on Status of U.S. Attorneys

The ABA remained largely silent as Congress and the Bush administration wrangled during the past several months over whether the firings of nine U.S. attorneys were politically motivated or simply internal personnel decisions by the Department of Justice. But today, the ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates weighed in on the…

Aug 14, 2007 8:30 PM CDT