The American Bar Association held its midyear meeting in Houston this month.
As always, the ABA is hard at work, through its sections, committees, delegates and board, taking steps designed to improve the profession and weighing in, on behalf of the profession, on legal, social and other issues of national importance. Some of the highlights are reported below.
Globalization of the practice of law
Trade across state and national lines is integral to a healthy economy. Such transactions necessarily implicate the cross-border practice of law.
As a result, there is a trend toward an increasingly globalized law practice. We cannot simply ignore this trend. We can, however, control how we react to it. The ABA is actively studying this trend and how various state bars are addressing it.
The future of legal services
The ABA has created a commission on the future of legal services to educate and prepare lawyers for what is widely believed to be an evolving marketplace.
One important dynamic is that roughly 60 percent of individuals or companies with legal problems address their problems without engaging lawyers, but instead consulting online resources, non-lawyers are simply going without help.
This provides opportunities for the profession to evolve and flex to fill this “justice gap.”
Commission on law and aging
A resolution was passed urging governments to support legislation and regulation that will promote specific components in the provision of care to persons with advanced illness.
Law school debt
On the motion of the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division, a resolution was passed to encourage law schools to offer free debt counseling and debt management education and encouraging Bar associations to offer similar programs to young lawyers. It bears noting that the number of law school students and graduates remains down and almost 50 percent of graduates are without jobs that require bar membership.
Capital punishment
The ABA resolved that the death penalty should be imposed only after a unanimous jury verdict not only to impose the sentence but also establishing the existence of each factual prerequisite to impose that punishment.
Consumer protection
The ABA passed a resolution to encourage governments to strengthen consumer protections regarding deceptive or fraudulent loan foreclosure rescue practices, including such practices by attorneys.
Criminal justice
A resolution was considered that there should be a presumption against the use of restraints or shackles on juveniles in court, but to permit judges to require such use only after a finding that restraints are the least restrictive means necessary to prevent flight or harm. Those in favor of the resolution advocated that it is important to treat juveniles with dignity in court to encourage them to respect the process. Those opposed, including members of the judiciary, advocated for flexibility in handling juveniles and spoke to the reinforcement that restraints provide to the seriousness of the process and the consequences of the juvenile’s actions. The resolution passed.
Stand your ground laws
The ABA House of Delegates considered the best approach to “stand your ground laws” — that eliminate the duty to retreat before using self-defense — particularly as such laws apply in public spaces.
After significant debate and with a strong body of dissenters, the ABA passed a resolution urging governments to repeal and/or refrain from enacting such laws.
Unaccompanied minor immigrants
As has been reported, the U.S. has been experiencing an influx of unaccompanied minor immigrants. Approximately 68,000 entered the U.S. in 2014, up from about 10,000 the year before. In response, the ABA passed a resolution calling for government-appointed counsel to assist these children in immigration-related proceedings.
Mike Freed is a shareholder with Gunster, past president of The Jacksonville Bar Association and Jacksonville’s delegate to the ABA.