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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
INFORMATIONAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES
2017 Midyear Meeting
February 6, 2017
Miami, Florida
Table of Contents
ABA Website 5
Amicus Briefs 5
Awards 6
Bylaw Amendments 7
Committees, Commissions and Task Forces 7
Co-sponsorships 8
Dues Matters 12
Elections, Appointments and Nominations 13
Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge 13
Financial Matters 13
International Matters 14
Legislative Priorities 15
Loan Forgiveness Program 15
Meetings and Meeting Matters 15
Memoranda of Understanding/Agreements 16
Outside Counsel Fees 17
Pension Plan 17
Policy Matters 18
Presidential Citations 18
Programmatic Matters 18
Thrift Plan 18
The Board of Governors (“Board”) is directed by §48.2 of the House Rules of Procedure to report to the House of Delegates on actions taken by the Board. This report sets forth actions taken by the Board since the 2016 Annual Meeting. During that period, the Board met via conference call in executive session on September 30 regarding the website and in Atlanta, Georgia on November 11-12, 2016. The Board's Executive Committee met by conference call on July 15 and 19, August 3 and 23, September 26, and October 12, 2016.
ABA Website
The ABA Board of Governors authorized the Executive Director to engage Code & Theory to develop a new, updated website. The Board authorized up to $5 million of general operations long-term investments to be spent on the development of the site. Further, the Board authorized the Executive Director to direct the development of business protocols to operate the website, having first received input from all content-producing entities.
September 2016
Amicus Briefs
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in SCA Hygiene Products v. First Quality Baby Products (in the Supreme Court of the United States), subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
July 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in Jameson v. Desta (in the California Supreme Court) subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
July 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in Christeson v. Roper (in the Eighth Circuit) subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
July 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in Walker v. Calhoun (in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals) subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
July 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in Moore v. Texas (in the Supreme Court of the United States) subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
August 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in United States v. Supreme Court of New Mexico (in the Tenth Circuit) subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
August 2016
The Executive Committee approved the filing of an amicus curiae brief in Jennings v. Rodriguez in the United States Supreme Court subject to approval of the final language by the Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Office of the General Counsel.
October 2016
Awards
The Board approved the request of the Section of Dispute Resolution to conduct an annual Cyberweek Ethical Dilemma Competition for all students (not just law students) age 18 or older.
November 2016
The Board approved the request of the Criminal Justice Section to create a scholarship that assists attorneys of diverse backgrounds to attend the National Institute on White Collar Crime. All costs associated with this scholarship will be derived from Section funds. The Board did not approve the naming of the scholarship after a living individual.
November 2016
The Board approved the request of the Section of Public Contract Law (“Section”) to amend the Marilyn Neforas Scholarship (“Scholarship”) from awarding a “single Section program or event scholarship” and providing that “no individual should receive more than one such scholarship” to the following: “Scholarships may be awarded at such times and in such amounts as the Marilyn Neforas Scholarship funds permit and may include funding for up to four Section meetings per year and may include: waiver of the meeting registration fees; complimentary tickets to meeting networking events, and/or funding of reasonable travel-related costs, up to but not exceeding $4,000 per year.”
November 2016
The Board approved the request of the Forum on Construction Law to create the following four scholarships for 2016, 2017, and 2018:
a) Diversity Scholarship;
b) Division 13 (Government Construction) Scholarship;
c) Diversity Fellowship; and
d) In-House Fellowship.
November 2016
The Board approved the request of the Section of Dispute Resolution to create the annual “ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Representation in Mediation Competition.”
The Board approved the request of the Section of Antitrust Law to create the “Section of Antitrust Law Lifetime Achievement Award.”
February 2017
The Board approved the request of the Forum on Construction Law to conduct a one-time writing competition for new case materials to be used in the Forum Trial Academy program.
February 2017
The Board approved the request of the Commission on Women in the Profession to create the “Commission on Women in the Profession Literary Sweepstakes.”
February 2017
The Board approved the request of the Criminal Justice Section to increase the amount of the “William W. Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition” award from $2000 to $2500.
February 2017
The Board approved the request of the Rule of Law Initiative to create the “International Pro Bono Rule of Law Award.”
February 2017
The Board approved the amendment to the Guidelines for the Establishment of Awards as follows:
…If the award honors a specific individual, provide full details as to the reasons why the individual should be honored. Absent extraordinary circumstances, An award should shall not be named after a living individual. …
February 2017
Bylaw Amendments
The Board approved the requests to amend bylaws from the following entities:
a) Law Student Division
b) Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
c) Young Lawyers Division
November 2016
Committees, Commissions and Task Forces
The Executive Committee approved, subject to nominal funding from General Operations, the request of President Paulette Brown and President-elect Linda A. Klein for the creation of a task force to address increasing racial tensions and retaliating violence against police and to develop solutions and make recommendations to ensure that all citizens perceive that there is a fair and impartial system of justice and to strengthen the civil society and ensure that the rule of law and human rights are maintained.
July 2016
The Executive Committee approved the request of President Linda A. Klein to amend the jurisdictional statement of the Commission on the American Jury to allow Hon. Christopher Whitten to serve as a second special advisor.
August 2016
The Executive Committee approved the request of President Klein to create a special advisor position to the United Nations comprised of ABA Representatives and Observers to the United Nations.
October 2016
The Board approved the request of President Klein for an amendment to the jurisdictional statement for the Task Force on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System (“Task Force”) to allow for one additional member to serve and to seek outside funding. The Board also approved the request to change the jurisdictional statement so the mission of the Task Force will be: “To strengthen the rule of law by collaborating with other organizations, including bar associations, to increase the public’s trust in the justice system.”
November 2016
The Board approved the request of President-Elect Bass to create a Commission on the Future of Legal Education to serve as the ABA’s forward-thinking body on legal education, beginning at the conclusion of the 2017 Annual Meeting.
February 2017
Co-sponsorships
Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice: to seek outside funds and to solicit outside organizations to co-sponsor the public dialogue meetings and hackathon programs in Miami, St. Louis, San Francisco, and New York City in 2016-2017 to address substantive issues, and identify solutions regarding the conflict between communities of color and law enforcement.
November 2016
Standing Committee on Gun Violence: to co-sponsor a program on gun violence in collaboration with the American Medical Association in the spring of 2017 at a Chicago venue.
November 2016
Standing Committee on Public Education: to co-sponsor with Civic Nation and others the Action Civics Initiative.
November 2016
Young Lawyers Division (3 requests):
(i) to co-sponsor by partnering with the Law School Admission Council, Inc., the program What Do Lawyers Do?
(ii) to co-sponsor with BuzzFeed, Inc. for 2016-17 in connection with the YLD Public Service Project, subject to review and approval of agreement by the ABA Office of General Council.
(iii) to co-sponsor with the National Bar Association YLD for 2016-17 to create and promote a Young Lawyer Social Justice Toolkit.
November 2016
Judicial Division (3 requests):
(i) to co-sponsor a reception with the Tennessee Bar Association and the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women on Thursday, March 30, 2017.
(ii) to co-sponsor a project with the Brennan Center to create a manual which focuses on best practices to achieve the diverse selection of Article I judges.
(iii) to co-sponsor a reception between the Lawyers Conference, the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges, The Tribal Courts Council, and the law firm of Carlton Fields at the ABA 2017 Midyear Meeting.
November 2016
National Conference of Federal Trial Judges: to co-sponsor a reception with the New Orleans Federal Bar Association and the New Orleans Bar Association, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 16, 2017.
November 2016
The Board deferred action on the request from the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities to co-sponsor with external entities in the implementation of Resolution 110 which urges federal, state, local and territorial law-enforcement authorities to provide a culturally, substantively and accurate translation of the Miranda warning in Spanish.
November 2016
Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (2 requests):
(i) to co-sponsor and make financial contributions from Section funds of up to $6,000 in 2017 and 2019 for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Natural Resources Law Teachers Institute.
(ii) to co-sponsor with specific non-ABA entities for non-CLE Section programs that may be held in the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 association years.
November 2016
ABA Rule of Law Initiative (2 requests):
(i) to co-sponsor with California Western School of Law the “Mexico Mock Trial Competition” in the summer of 2017.
(ii) to co-sponsor with Dar Al Riyadh, an MTA Holdings subsidiary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, training programs on a range of rule of law topics for Saudi government ministry officials and legal professionals.
November 2016
Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division: to collaborate with the American Medical Association to establish a Physician Contract Review Program, subject to review and approval by the ABA General Counsel.
November 2016
Commission on Disability Rights: to co-sponsor with the Florida Bar CLE Committee and the Labor and Employment Law Section an annual, two-day Advanced Labor Topics Seminar in the spring of 2017.
November 2016
President-Elect Hilarie Bass: to seek outside funding and to co-sponsor with the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, Section of Litigation Children’s Rights Litigation Committee, the Center on Children and the Law, and the Commission on Youth at Risk a two-day international summit in Brazil on the legal needs of street youth in collaboration with Baker & McKenzie, Consortium for Street Children, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, Covenant House International/Casa Alianza, European Federation of National Organisations, and National Network for Youth.
November 2016
Death Penalty Due Process Review Project: to co-sponsor with the Minnehaha County Public Defender’s Office and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of South Dakota a half day forum on severe mental illness and the American death penalty, held on December 17, 2016, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
November 2016
Section of Labor and Employment Law: to co-sponsor with the Chicago-Kent College of Law and the National Employment Law Council a trial advocacy skills institute to be held on September 7-10, 2017 in Chicago at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
November 2016
Commission on Immigration: to co-sponsor, through its Houston-based Project, the Children's Immigration Law Academy with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, a free, three-day immigration training for approximately 80 attorneys in Texas serving unaccompanied children, to be held on August 2-4, 2017.
November 2016
ABA Center for Human Rights: to co-sponsor a Forum on the Legal Prohibitions on Torture with the American Red Cross, to be held at the American Red Cross’s office in Washington, DC on January 12, 2017.
December 2016
ABA Journal (2 requests):
(i) to co-sponsor a panel on the First Amendment, with a focus on timely events related to freedom of speech and libel laws, at the offices of Gibson Dunn or the ABA Office in Washington, D.C., in April 2017.
(ii) to collaborate with Working Mother Media, which publishes Working Mother Magazine, on the Best Law Firms for Women annual franchise, an annual survey of law firms’ practices and policies relating to diversity and inclusion of women lawyers.
January 2017
Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services: to co-sponsor the 4th Annual Conference of the Incubator Consortium to be held on March 16-18, 2017, and hosted by the Texas A&M School of Law.
January 2017
Commission on Women in the Profession: to co-sponsor a program and panel discussion entitled, “Grit, The Secret to Advancement: Stories of Successful Women Lawyers,” to be held at the Midyear Meeting on February 3, 2017 in Miami, Florida.
January 2017
Section of Intellectual Property Law: to co-sponsor with the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the Industrial Designers Society of America, an annual conference entitled Design Day 2017.