American Bar Association 2008 Annual Meeting Daily Advisory – Monday, Aug. 11 – Tuesday, Aug. 12

NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2008 – During the American Bar Association Annual Meeting, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey will address the 555-member policy-making body of the association, the House of Delegates, on Tuesday.  His address will occur at 10 a.m. in the Hilton New York, Grand Ballroom, 3rd level.

In addition, association members will listen to a panel discussion, “The Use of Subpoenas to Compel Reporters to Disclose Their Sources” on Monday at 11 a.m.  The session is sponsored by the ABA House of Delegates Committee on Issues of Concern to the Profession, and will include First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams; James Fleissner, deputy special counsel on the U.S. Department of Justice and professor at Mercer University School of Law; and Geoffrey Stone, law professor at the University of Chicago Law School.  Connie Schultz, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for commentary will moderate. The debate will also occur in the Hilton's Grand Ballroom.

ABA President-elect H. Tommy Wells Jr., who will become president of the association following the conclusion of the House of Delegate meeting on Tuesday, will hold a news conference on Monday.  He will unveil a new resource from the ABA on elections and voter information, and also discuss the judicial nominations process and recommendation 118, which will be voted upon by the House delegates.  Finally, Wells will touch upon a new partnership the association is forging with the U.S. Armed Forces, the Military Pro Bono Project.  The conference will be held at 9 a.m. in the Hilton New York, Lincoln Suite, 4th Floor.

The House of Delegates will meet on Monday and Tuesday to debate an array of policy recommendations.  Among the critical legal issues to be raised are: ensuring that military personnel get access to the courts when they are victims of injurious government conduct; enhancing efforts to ban racial profiling; and urging the U.S. government to expand and broaden interaction with the International Criminal Court.

Accredited reporters are welcome to attend and cover all sessions for free.  A Press Room for working journalists, located in the Murray Hills Suite, 2nd Floor, Hilton New York, will be open daily from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.  It will close one hour after the adjournment of the House of Delegates on Aug. 12.  The Press Room phone number is 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.