Lawyer for Guantanamo Detainees to Speak at Law Day Event

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2011 –  Washington, D.C., lawyer Douglas Spaulding, a partner at Reed Smith LLP,  will discuss his pro bono legal representation of Guantanamo detainees at the National Press Club, Monday, April 25, noon – 1:30 p.m.

Spaulding’s remarks are part of the American Bar Association’s activities planned for Law Day 2011. ABA President Stephen N. Zack will also speak about the launch of the Civics and Law Academies, which are part of his appointed Commission on Civic Education in the Nation’s Schools.**

Law Day 2011— officially celebrated May 1 — is a day that marks the nation’s commitment to the rule of law.  This year’s Law Day theme is “The Legacy of John Adams from Boston to Guantanamo.”

ABA Law Day events are as follows:

• April 25:  Noon – 1:30 p.m.: National Press Club seminar for high school teachers participating in programs by the Close Up Foundation, a nonprofit organization that educates and inspires young people to become informed and engaged citizens. The featured speaker is Douglas Spaulding, a lawyer in the Washington, D.C., office of Reed Smith LLP, who has provided pro bono legal representation for Guantanamo detainees.

• April 25:  5 – 7 p.m.: ABA Division for Public Education, Annual Leon Jaworski Public Program on the “American Lawyer Ideal: From John Adams to Atticus Finch to…,” held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (the Reagan Building), 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Flom Auditorium, 6^th floor.
  • Featured panelists include Walter Dellinger, chair, appellate practice, O’Melveny & Myers LLP and professor emeritus of law, Duke Law School;
  • Kenneth W. Mack, professor of law, Harvard Law School;
  • Hon. Margaret H. Marshall, chief justice (ret.), Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts;
  • Carrie J. Menkel-Meadow, professor of law, Georgetown University Law Center and University of California, Irvine School of Law;
  • Hon. Hiller Zobel, associate justice (ret.), Superior Court of Massachusetts.
  • Moderator:  John Milewski, host and managing editor of the Wilson Center television and radio program “dialogue.”

• April 26: 1:30 – 3 p.m.: Dialogue on John Adams and His Legacy,

U.S. Department of Interior, Main Interior Building, Sidney R. Yates Auditorium, 1849 C Street, NW.

• • Features 250 high school students from throughout the country participating in the Close Up Foundation’s government studies experiential learning program. ABA Young Lawyers Division will present its first annual Law Day Video Contest award.
  • Dialogue leaders include Kim Askew, a partner in the Dallas office of K&L Gates and the national Law Day chair.

• April 27: 10 – 11:30 a.m.:  Dialogue on John Adams and His Legacy, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, 3500 R Street, NW (Georgetown)..

Law Day background

Envisioned in 1957 by then ABA President Charles S. Rhyne as a special national day of recognition, the first Law Day was established by President Dwight Eisenhower the following year.  Congress issued a joint resolution in 1961 designating May 1 as the official day for celebration.

While Law Day is officially recognized on May 1, many civic groups and bar associations celebrate with month-long programs, presentations and events.

**Civics and Law Academies

ABA Civics and Law Academies are being organized throughout the country, mobilizing lawyers and judges to share their expertise, experience and enthusiasm for the law with young people, as well as encouraging them to be active participants in our democratic society.  Participants in the national Academy set for Washington, D.C., include a selected group of high school students from Chicago, New Orleans and Providence, R.I., as well as finalists from the ABA Young Lawyers Division Law Day Video Contest.

With nearly 400,000 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.

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