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ABA Annual Meeting opens in Chicago this week

By Amanda Robert

July 31, 2024, 8:48 am CDT

Just months before our country’s next presidential election, defending democracy and protecting the rule of law will lead the agenda at the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting.

The weeklong conference, which runs Wednesday, July 31, through Tuesday, Aug. 6, in Chicago, features the association’s first-ever Democracy Summit. Beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, co-chairs of the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, and other national leaders will discuss how to assure trust in elections, promote civics and remove contempt from political discourse. (All times are provided in Central Time.)

ABA President Mary Smith also will present 22 individuals and organizations with the Unsung Heroes of Democracy Award during the summit. The Task Force for American Democracy recognized these recipients for working to protect democracy around the country.

Later Friday, beginning at 4:30 p.m., U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the second-highest official in the U.S. Department of Justice, will discuss challenges to the rule of law and concerns facing the nation and the legal profession during the keynote address at the General Assembly. Emmet Bondurant, a longtime civil rights advocate from Atlanta who became known for his commitment to democratic values and indigent defense, will receive the ABA Medal, the association’s highest honor.

The ABA Annual Meeting offers a full slate of other programs and panel discussions that touch on democracy and the rule of law as well as a host of other topics important to the legal profession. These events, along with governance meetings and social gatherings, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and other downtown locations.

Key events and celebrations

The 2024 ABA Annual Meeting kicks off Wednesday with a special Reception Honoring the Judiciary. Judge J. Michelle Childs from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will speak at the reception, which begins at 5 p.m.

Other key events at this year’s annual meeting include the President’s Reception, hosted by Smith at 6 p.m. Friday. It will be held on the Offshore Rooftop at Navy Pier.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, Smith will present the 2024 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts to Martin Scorsese’s film Killers of the Flower Moon and other outstanding work that fostered the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. This year, the ABA is awarding nine Silver Gavels and four Honorable Mentions.

Also on Saturday, the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice will present the Thurgood Marshall Award to Eva Jefferson Paterson, co-founder and former president of the Equal Justice Society, during a dinner celebration at 7 p.m. The award recognizes long-term contributions by members of the legal profession to the advancement of civil rights, social justice and human rights. Tickets are $200 and can be purchased when registering for the annual meeting.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, the Commission on Women in the Profession will present its Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards. This year’s recipients are: Dolores Atencio, a visiting scholar at the University of Denver Latinx Center at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law; Pamila J. Brown, an associate judge at the Howard County District Court in Ellicott City, Maryland; Estelle H. Rogers, a retired public interest lawyer in Forestville, California; Gina Shishima, the chief strategy and operations partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in Austin, Texas, and New York City; and Barbara Wall, a current board member and former chief legal and operating officer of Gannett Co. Inc. in Washington, D.C. Tickets are $85.

Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting here.

Other award ceremonies include the ABA Pro Bono Luncheon. At noon Monday, the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service will present its Pro Bono Publico Awards to Fawaz Bham, a partner with Hunton Andrews Kurth in Dallas; Adrian Urquhart Winder, a partner at Foster Garvey in Seattle; and James Volling, senior counsel at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath in Minneapolis. This year’s entity awardees are Prudential Financial and law firm Hoover Penrod.

During the luncheon, the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence also will present its Sharon L. Corbitt Award to Christine McLeod Pate, the legal program director for the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault; and its Judith S. Kaye Award to Judge Judith Rice, who presides in the Cook County Circuit Court’s Domestic Violence Division.

Smith announced in July that she will award Presidential Citations to six distinguished members of the legal community during the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting.

She will recognize Bob Clifford, the founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and a member of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting Host Committee; retired Judge Ann Claire Williams, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary; and John Levi, chair of the Legal Services Corp. Board of Directors, for their contributions to advancing the rule of law and serving the legal profession. She also will recognize Johnson, Luttig and Ken Frazier, special advisor to the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, for their dedication to strengthening democracy.

The six recipients will be honored at several of the annual meeting’s signature events, including the Democracy Summit.

Legal and business matters

The ABA Board of Governors will meet Friday to discuss the association’s business matters, and the House of Delegates will take up more than three dozen proposed resolutions and amendments during its meetings Monday and Tuesday. The association’s official policymaking body is expected to consider judicial security, flexible working arrangements and various other legal issues.

At the close of the House of Delegates meeting, Bill Bay, the current president-elect of the ABA, will begin his one-year term as president of the association.

The 2024 ABA Annual Meeting also features CLE in the City, the CLE Showcase and ABA Expert Sessions.

As part of CLE in the City, attendees will earn Continuing Legal Education credit while hearing from industry experts at law firms around Chicago. The sessions, which are scheduled for Thursday, include “Issues from the Frontlines: Hot & Emerging Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility Issues That Lawyers Should Know About” at 9 a.m. at Holland & Knight and “AI Hot Topics Every Lawyer Needs to Know” at 2 p.m. at Taft Law. Each program is $35.

This year’s CLE Showcase features several sessions on emerging trends in the legal profession. Among these programs, “Safeguarding Public Officials: Protecting Judges, Civil Servants and the Rule of Law” is at 8:30 a.m. Friday. One of Saturday’s programs, “Not Just Abortion Rights: Rediscovering State Constitutional Protections in the Post-Dobbs Era,” begins at 9:30 a.m.

ABA Expert Sessions also will convene on Friday and Saturday. During these small group discussions, ABA experts and attendees will examine several topics important to the practice of law. The first program, “Technology Issues: Ethical and Professional Obligations,” begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

“How Outside Counsel Can Get Corporate Legal Work, Do It Well, and Be Hired as In-House Counsel,” is another program that will be offered at this year’s annual meeting. It begins at 10 a.m. Friday and features a panel discussion with seven general counsel from major corporations.

ABA members can attend CLE Showcase programs and ABA Expert Sessions by paying the $495 all-access fee; that fee is $695 for nonmembers and $95 for law students. All-access registration also includes the Democracy Summit, General Assembly, President’s Reception and Judicial Reception.

Standard registration, which does not include the CLE Showcase, is $195 for members and $395 for nonmembers. Limited registration, which does not include CLE programs or the President’s Reception, is $125 for members and $325 for nonmembers.

Additional registration information and the full event schedule can be found on the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting website.