5 ABA projects that got off the ground in 2022

Each year, ABA members and staff lead a multitude of projects and initiatives that serve their colleagues and communities as well as improve the legal profession. The ABA Journal regularly covers these efforts, which range in scope, subject area and location, and the leaders at the helm.

Dec 22, 2022 8:35 AM CST

Meet 12 ABA members who inspired us in 2022

In this year’s Members Who Inspire series, the ABA Journal featured 12 extraordinary ABA members who go to great lengths to embolden their clients, colleagues and members of the communities around them. Their work includes helping immigrants with tax issues, advocating for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and addressing racial injustice and inequality.

Dec 14, 2022 8:38 AM CST

ABA Free Legal Answers hits major milestone of 250K questions

Since ABA Free Legal Answers launched in 2016, more than 11,000 pro bono attorneys have registered to respond to civil legal questions from income-eligible users in 41 jurisdictions. And now, ABA Free Legal Answers has reached a major milestone, surpassing 250,000 questions submitted.

Dec 6, 2022 9:01 AM CST

Meet the two Texas attorneys behind the Children’s Immigration Law Academy

Dalia Castillo-Granados had just begun her fellowship with the St. Frances Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, a program of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, when she met Yasmin Yavar in 2008.

Nov 23, 2022 1:24 PM CST

Baker McKenzie announces year-end bonuses of up to $115K; it’s ‘nothing but crickets’ for 2022 special bonuses

Baker McKenzie is apparently the first law firm to kick off BigLaw’s bonus season. Baker McKenzie’s year-end bonuses range from $20,000 for the class of 2021 to $115,000 for the class of 2015 and over.

Nov 21, 2022 12:34 PM CST

During ABA Giving Day, members can support efforts advocating for democracy, equity and justice

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ABA’s members, volunteers and donors have answered the call to help increase legal services and transform the justice system. The FJE hopes to build on that momentum with the 2022 ABA Giving Day.

Oct 18, 2022 11:10 AM CDT

Advocates are helping Afghans apply for asylum and other immigration relief with ABA assistance

Freshta Kohgadai fled with her family from Kabul, Afghanistan, to the United States in the late 1980s. When she discovered the ABA Scholarship for Legal Advocates—a new program that aims to increase the culturally and linguistically competent pro bono services available to Afghan arrivals—she knew she had to apply.

Sep 8, 2022 3:30 PM CDT

Lawyer who moved from Ukraine to US now has opportunity to help others facing similar situations

An immigration attorney started doing pro bono work for Ukrainian immigrants in February, shortly after Russia invaded the country.

Aug 29, 2022 8:41 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Embryos can be tax dependents; top state court upholds mail voting

Georgia allows embryos to be claimed as dependents

Embryos with a “detectable human heartbeat” can be claimed as dependents on state income tax returns in Georgia. The Georgia Department of…

Aug 5, 2022 2:59 PM CDT

ProBAR lawyer recalls immigration tent hearings in Texas

“Today, I have to make an impact in front of the judge,” the Venezuelan asylum-seeker told me at the tent court in Brownsville, Texas. This was just a few minutes before his hearing in front of the immigration judge who would be appearing remotely on a monitor inside the tent court.

Aug 3, 2022 12:01 PM CDT

Attorneys advocate for cancer patients and their caregivers through longtime ABA project

“When you take on something like a law degree or a medical degree, there is an obligation to help someone other than yourself,” says Eunice Aikins-Afful, a clinical research project manager at BeiGene, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “We’re blessed to be able to do what we do, and then turn it around to someone who can’t do it for themselves. And it doesn’t have to be altruistic and fancy. It can simply just be answering a question.”

Aug 1, 2022 11:57 AM CDT

Traci Feit Love continues to deliver pro bono services while negotiating through the trauma and injustices she witnesses

Lawyers have been organizing in large numbers during the last six years to offer pro bono legal services to immigrants, racial minorities and small businesses affected by COVID-19. The new post-Roe landscape is no different.

Jul 25, 2022 11:53 AM CDT

Weil takes a different tack by funding ‘Zero L’ public service

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is partnering with 10 top-ranked law schools to encourage incoming students to spend a year working at public service organizations before they begin their legal education.

Jul 15, 2022 3:30 PM CDT

ABA project seeks more pro bono attorneys in wake of Supreme Court death penalty decision

The Death Penalty Representation Project offers varying opportunities for mid- to large-size firms, small firms and solo practitioners. Its staff is actively recruiting pro bono attorneys for about two dozen cases at any given time and will hire law students and undergraduate students for semester-long internships throughout the year.

Jul 6, 2022 3:14 PM CDT

Reed Smith’s pro bono report expresses ‘grave’ concerns about death row inmate’s conviction

A lawyer for an Oklahoma inmate plans to seek a stay of execution after Reed Smith released a report on its independent investigation of the case, undertaken pro bono at the request of a bipartisan group of more than 30 state lawmakers.

Jun 17, 2022 10:57 AM CDT