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ABA delegates mull admission standards, elect officers

By Robert A. Clifford

The Illinois delegation of the American Bar Association House of Delegates met in January in Chicago, and again in California, in preparation for the discussion during the February ABA Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles.

Major resolutions adopted

With Laurel G. Bellows of Chicago as ABA House chair, the day-long meeting led to approval of nearly 30 new policy measures. Some were marked by much debate on several interesting issues including:

  • A majority agreed with the council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and concurred in adopting the Standards of Approval of Law Schools concerning the sufficiency of a law school’s bar passage rate.
    The issue apparently was raised initially by the U.S. Department of Education. The ABA action endorsed an accrediting standard based, in part, on bar passage rates.
    In a lively debate, proponents argued that the year-long work of the council led to an interpretation that clarifies the various standards by which law schools can comply with ABA standards for minimum bar passage rates.
  • A model rule dealing with conditional admission to practice law was adopted, encouraging students with substance abuse problems or mental illness to seek proper treatment without fear that lack of confidentiality would jeopardize their legal careers.
  • Model Rules of Professional Conduct regarding prosecutorial obligations, vis-a-vis exculpatory information, called for the amendment of Rule 3.8 to identify prosecutors’ obligations when they know of new evidence establishing a reasonable likelihood that a convicted defendant did not commit the offense.
  • In this presidential election year, the House called for independent redistricting commissions in states to try to remove the process from politically charged atmospheres. In embracing the rule of law, the resolution calls for states to configure these commissions and set suitable redistricting criteria.
  • The ABA unanimously supported the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan and expressed solidarity with the Pakistani legal profession. The president of Pakistan is urged to restore the country’s constitution, reinstate fired judges and justices, and release lawyers and judges who were wrongly arrested during a state of emergency.
  • New policies were adopted outlining legal approaches to the problem of climate change and environmental threats. The ABA urges federal, state, territorial and tribal governments to be more aware of protecting and enhancing ecosystems when approving laws, regulations and policies that have economic, human and social impacts.
  • The House supported federal regulations to improve and codify the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement National Detention Standards.
    The resolution also supports improvement, periodic review and increased oversight of implementation of detention standards to ensure that detained non-citizens and their families are treated humanely and have meaningful access to counsel and to the legal process.
  • The House called for strengthened legal representation on behalf of veterans of the U.S. military in assisting members of the Armed Forces to obtain the full range of health care, benefits and services to which they are lawfully entitled.
  • The House approved special prosecution units or the designation of a specially trained prosecutor to pursue crimes of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
  • The House called for new efforts by governmental entities and bar associations to assist victims of identity theft through pro bono, lawyer referral and legal aid programs.

Officers were elected

Following a three-way race, Carolyn Lamm, an international lawyer in Washington, D.C., was nominated as president-elect of the ABA.

She will be considered by the House of Delegates to become president-elect at the August 2008 Annual Meeting, and would become president in 2009. To hear her remarks in accepting the nomination, visit http://www.abavideonews.org/ABA496/av.php?id=172&type=v.

President-Elect H. Thomas Well, Jr. of Birmingham, Ala., is to take over the ABA leadership at the close of the August meeting.

He addressed the House of Delegates on his upcoming initiatives and told leaders he is looking for recommendations for appointments to various commissions and leadership roles.

The House also was addressed by many speakers, including ABA President William Neukom, who spoke of the importance of rule of law around the world.

His videotaped remarks are available for viewing at  http://www.abavideonews.org/ABA496/av.php?id=169&type=v. To read his entire speech, visit: http://www.abavideonews.org/ABA496/media/pdf/neukomspeech.pdf.

Executive director Hank White spoke to the group about the ABA’s focus on communication and its provision of an open forum for debate on programs that touch “every American every single day in every single way.”

He also spoke of the importance of the ABA nationally as well as internationally. His remarks can be viewed at: http://www.abavideonews.org/ABA496/av.php?id=177&type=v.

New Illinois delegates

The Illinois delegation welcomed a new member, Mark D. Hassakis of Mount Vernon, who joins as ISBA third vice president.

Illinois delegates also had the privilege of welcoming Mitchell A. Orpett to the ABA Board of Governors as representative of the Tort and Insurance Law Section.

In the tradition of the House, the Illinois delegation walked to the well as other members applauded Orpett’s appointment, which will take effect in August.

ABA Day in 2008

April 15-17 next year will include ABA Day in Washington, D.C. The Section of Litigation and the Young Lawyers Division will holding their annual meetings in conjunction with this event.

Attorneys are asked to urge their senators to co-sponsor the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2007 (S.186 is the same bill as H.R. 3013 that passed the House).

Information on ABA Day can be found at http://www.abanet.org/poladv/abaday08/To register, visit: http://www.capitolconnect.com/abacc/eventregistration/

The ABA Governmental Affairs Office offers an e-newsletter that provides up-to-date information on federal legislative issues of interest to the legal profession. To view its publications, click on: http://www.abanet.org/poladv/publications.shtml.

2008 Annual Meeting

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss any issues, please feel free to contact me at (312) 899-9090. I look forward to hearing from you or perhaps seeing you at the ABA Annual Meeting from August 7 to 10 in New York.

• • •

Robert Clifford of the Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, is Illinois state delegate to the ABA House of Delegates.

 

 

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