ABA’s Annual Meeting Brings People and Programs to New York City

CHICAGO, August 1, 2008 – The American Bar Association’s 131st Annual Meeting will bring more than 10,000 legal professionals and their families to New York City, August 7 – 12.

Annual Meeting attendees will stay at 10 hotels throughout the city.  More than 7,800 room nights have been booked through the ABA’s travel agent, Experient.

Headquarters for the meeting is the New York Hilton Hotel.  Registration in the Rhinelander Gallery on the second floor will be open daily from 8 a.m. on August 7.

During the Annual Meeting, members will attend more than 1,600 sessions and events taking place in the New York Hilton Hotel and at various hotels, restaurants, museums, clubs, law firms and other locations.  Information on programs, 250 of which will be certified for continuing legal education credit, and the names of more than 900 speakers are listed in the Annual Meeting program book, which will be distributed on site. 

The 555-member House of Delegates will convene in the New York Hilton Grand Ballroom on Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on Aug. 12 from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. or the conclusion of business. The deliberative session includes members from state and local bar associations around the country, ABA affiliates and ABA entities.  The session marks the finale of the ABA Annual Meeting in New York.

The ABA is committed to reducing the impact of its meetings on the environment. To accomplish this goal, the ABA has a number of initiatives, including:

* Plastic name badge holders collected for recycling
* Water stations, in lieu of bottled water, in the meeting areas
* Excess food donated to a local food depository
* Unused/excess printed material collected and stored for future events
* Printed material that is not reusable collected for recycling
* Selected a Forest Stewardship Council-certified print partner because the company: uses soy-based inks and water-based coatings; recycles printing plates and paper waste; uses alcohol-free chemicals on press; and offers recycled paper products
* Shuttle bus service eliminated to reduce the meeting’s carbon emissions
* Sourcing organic ingredients locally for the “100-Mile Menu” planned for the 2008 President’s Reception
* Annual Meeting registration handled by electronic will call
* Attendee packets, including badges, tickets, etc. printed on demand as attendees arrive to conserve ink, paper and equipment use.

Approximately 35 percent of the events listed in the program book are meal functions. Oversupplies of food will be donated to City Harvest, non-profit food distribution system serving New York City.

Accredited reporters are welcome to attend and cover all sessions for free.  A press room for accredited journalists will be set up at the Hilton New York, Murray Hill Suite, 2nd floor, and will open for on-site media registration at 8 a.m. on Aug. 7.  Thereafter the press room will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will close one hour after the adjournment of the House of Delegates on Aug. 12.  For more information, please contact 312/988-6171, or 212/261-6059.

With more than 413,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.