ABA MID-YEAR MEETING AND ABA DAYS
ABA MID-YEAR MEETING AND ABA DAYS
ZACK PELHAM ABA State Delegate
The American Bar Association( ABA) is working to engage members of the bar and citizens as to current issues facing the legal profession. The ABA fulfills this mission, in part, by holding a mid-year meeting and by facilitating an annual ABA Day. In February, I attended the mid-year meeting in Phoenix, and in April, I traveled to Washington, D. C., to participate in ABA Day 2025. This article provides an update on both events.
2025 Mid-Year Meeting
North Dakota’ s delegation to the ABA House of Delegates is made up of our ABA state delegate( Judge Dan Traynor), our state bar association ABA delegate( myself), a young lawyer division delegate( Logan Caldwell), and Judge Jim Hill, who serves on the ABA Board of Governors. The House of Delegates took up a wide range of resolutions from the various sections and divisions within the ABA. From a resolution urging adoption of minimum continuing legal education requirements that would allow an attorney to earn four hours for judging or coaching mock trials, moot courts, or mediation competitions at the law school, undergraduate, or high school level to another urging enactment of federal legislation protecting an individual’ s right to authorize or prevent any use of their voice, visual likeness, or image in a realistic computer-generated electronic representation, and many more resolutions involving current challenges addressing the American legal community.
The resolution that garnered passionate debate was a resolution advanced by the Young Lawyers Division on whether the ABA should urge all legal employers to adopt policies and practices that provide attorneys with at least one consecutive week of fully uninterrupted time off per year during which they are relieved of work-related communications and responsibilities. This resolution( Resolution 505) prevailed after a lengthy and contentious debate on the floor, which included an attempt to amend the resolution that ultimately failed. The ABA does track the implementation of resolutions that pass the House of Delegates. While opinions differed on almost every resolution, the procedure in place allowed for civil and professional discussion on important issues facing the profession.
ABA Day 2025
ABA Day, a conference held in Washington, D. C., brings attorneys from across the country to advocate on issues of importance to the legal profession. SBAND Executive Director Tony Weiler and I spent time with senior staff members of North Dakota’ s congressional delegation. Specifically, we visited with our delegation on the importance of adequately funding Legal Services Corporation and the creation of a National Registry for Judicial Security.
Legal Services Corporation( LSC) was established in 1974 and is funded through congressional appropriations. It is the largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income
Americans. Legal Services of North Dakota( LSND) receives just over a million dollars of annual funding from LSC. LSND stands in the gap to help low-income and elderly North Dakotans facing any myriad of civilrelated matters. We stressed that adequate funding for LSC has a direct impact on North Dakota and LSND. The ABA is working to ensure funding for LSC is maintained and that was a primary focus for ABA Day 2025.
Each day, state court judges and staff work through extreme difficulties people face in their daily lives: family disputes, custody cases, mental illness, and criminal and civil matters. We attorneys know there are usually no“ winners” in active litigation. Judges must make difficult decisions: one side will rejoice, the other side will cry foul. Most of the time, people respect the decision, or they simply decide to appeal. But there are extreme instances where disgruntled litigants make threats to judges, court staff, or family members. While the U. S. Marshals Service monitors, addresses, and develops best practices to handle threats against federal judges, there is no similar agency for state courts. The ABA is supporting efforts to create a national registry for judicial security. The establishment of a State Judicial Threat and Intelligence Resource Center within the State Justice Institute( created by Congress in 1984) would allow for greater protection for state court staff and judges. This was also a primary focus for ABA Day 2025.
The ABA’ s commitment to advancing the interests of legal professionals continues. While there are varying opinions on varying issues, there are ample opportunities within the ABA to voice your opinion.
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