2010 ABA Midyear Meeting Brings People and Programs to Orlando

The American Bar Association 71st Midyear Meeting will bring more than 4,500 legal professionals and their families to Orlando, Fla., Feb, 3-9.

Although the size of the Midyear Meeting does not match that of the association’s Annual Meeting, the volume of business that is transacted does with meetings of the ABA Board of Governors, affiliates, entities and national organizations of state and local bars. The 555-member ABA House of Delegates will meet Feb. 8 and 9 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, Northern Hemisphere Ballroom, 5^th Level. The policy-making session includes members from state and local bar associations around the country, ABA affiliates and ABA entities.

During the session, members will debate and vote on nearly 40 recommendations for association policy on such issues as immigration reform; legislative remedies, procedures and protections for victims of pay discrimination; and criminal justice reform in non-juvenile cases. The session also marks the finale of the 2010 Midyear Meeting.

Meeting registrants and invited speakers, along with their spouses and families, will stay at six hotels throughout the Orlando area.  More than 8,450 room nights have been booked through the ABA’s travel agent, Travel Planners Inc.

The Headquarter Hotel for the meeting is the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort.

During the Midyear Meeting, members will attend more than 755 sessions and events, taking place in the Walt Disney World Dolphin and at various hotels, restaurants, museums, clubs, law firms and other locations.  Information on programs, 25 of which will be certified for continuing legal education credit, and the names of more than 63 speakers are listed in the Midyear Meeting program book, which will be distributed on site.  It is also available online at http://new.abanet.org/calendar/midyear/pdfs/Orlando%20Midyear%20Program-2010.pdf.

Approximately 35 percent of the events listed in the program book are meal functions. Oversupplies of food will be donated to Bridges of America, a non-profit food distribution system serving clients with chemical dependency issues in the Orlando area.

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

• Water stations, in lieu of bottled water, in the meeting areas
• Collection and storage of any unused/excess printed material for future events. Unusable materials will be recycled.
• Collection boxes so that plastic name badge holders can be reused or recycled.
• Selection of a printing partner who shares the ABA’s commitment to protecting the environment by using soy-based inks and water based coatings, recycling plates and paper waste, using alcohol-free chemicals on press, and offering recycled paper products.

Reporters with ABA credentials are welcome to attend and cover all sessions for free. Credentials can be obtained in the full-service Press Room in the Walt Disney World Dolphin, Atlantic Hall C, 1^st Level, starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, and will remain open for onsite media registration from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  For more information, please contact 312/988-6171, or 407/939-2914. Credential guidelines are at www.abanews.org/credentials.html.

Updated information on the ABA 2010 Midyear Meeting is available at the Midyear Meeting Online site at www.abanow.org.