An American Bar Association committee, which met this weekend in Chicago to continue its review of law school accreditation standards, heard complaints from numerous legal experts who argue that some of the proposals being considered would significantly weaken legal education. …Though some proposals were approved, specific proposals regarding the more contentious items — such as tenure and the LSAT — were not voted on at this weekend’s meeting, meaning that the committee will take more time to review them before making a formal recommendation to the broader ABA.

I have written this column from many places: my parents’ couch, my local Starbucks, my bed, etc. I have yet to try it from atop a soapbox, but here goes. It is common knowledge that the need for pro bono services is increasing as funding for pro bono organizations is decreasing (or ceasing altogether). As explained by ABA President Stephen Zack, in a letter opposing cuts to funding for the Legal Services Corporation, ‘[f]inancially, many Americans are still hanging on by their fingernails. The worst thing that could happen is to lose the place people can turn to when their money woes create legal problems.’ … Maybe it is that small firms have too few attorneys to make a meaningful contribution and do not merit a formal pro bono program? No, according to the American Bar Association. So there are no impediments.

Be sure to check out the extensive coverage from Corruption Currents on Wednesday’s release of guidance on the U.K. Bribery Act. …The FCPAProfessor heralds the launch of the new website for the American Bar Association’s Global Anti-Corruption Task Force, and he’s got an essay on it for the debut. How should a compliance officer test their company’s internal controls?

The Obama administration has put on hold immigration cases involving married gay couples following the decision to drop its defense of the federal law banning same-sex marriage. The move means a foreign national married to a U.S. citizen of the same sex would not automatically be denied immigration benefits. One immigration lawyer said the decision could also give those facing deportation a reprieve. “They would not be deportable and they would be eligible for work authorization,” said Christopher Nugent, a longtime immigration attorney who also works on immigration matters with the American Bar Association.

FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch said Wednesday that he’s concerned that four major Web platforms — Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft — could skew the Internet advertising market to the detriment of competitors and potential upstarts. ‘We have to be careful about letting the current players manipulate the market in such a way that it does tip prematurely [in their favor] and that it hurts rivals,’ Rosch told Politico after his talk at an antitrust conference held by the American Bar Association. His remarks come the same day the FTC came down hard on Google, ordering the search giant to submit to periodic privacy checkups over the next 20 years. The full FTC still has to vote on the settlement. Rosch concurred with the settlement.

As the world becomes increasingly global, America’s law schools are offering more opportunities for students to learn about international law, as well as foreign legal systems, according to the March 29th article at usnews.com, ‘Law Schools Go Global.’ …In the usnews.com article, Hulett Askew, a consultant for the American Bar Association’s legal education and admissions section, was quoted as saying about foreign study programs: ‘The growth overall in the last 5 or 10 years has been steady—and even dramatic.’

Is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act working? Are U.S. Patent and Trade Office and congressional initiatives on patent reform achieving intended results? How should cases be litigated before the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board? These questions and many others will be the focus of discussions at the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law Conference April 6-9 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

As the world moves increasingly toward globalization, America’s law schools are offering students more opportunities to immerse themselves in foreign legal systems and international law.…Hulett Askew, a consultant for the American Bar Association’s legal education and admissions section, says of foreign study programs, “The growth overall in the last 5 or 10 years has been steady—and even dramatic.” In 2009, at least 112 U.S. law schools collectively offered more than 255 such programs, according to the ABA. And though the down economy has slowed growth, about 8,000 U.S. law students still participated in a foreign program in 2009, Askew notes.

Lots of workers complain about their bosses. Tens of thousands of employees each year go so far as to take their concerns to the Department of Labor — more grievances than the agency can handle. Now, there’s backup help. The Labor Department has established a first-of-its-kind program with the American Bar Association. Workers whose complaints the department won’t take up are put in touch with private employment lawyers. The Bridge to Justice program focuses on potential violations of overtime, minimum-wage and family medical-leave laws. Catherine Ruckelshaus, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for low-wage workers, said it has long sought such a program, pointing to a ‘dearth of enforcement’ of basic wage and hour laws.

Inmigrantes, abogados y activistas denunciaron el viernes ante una comisión incontables abusos contra hispanos en Estados Unidos: desde los cacheos indiscriminados de policías en la calle hasta la dureza de las leyes deportación para inmigrantes legales, pasando por la necesidad de que haya más intérpretes de español en las cortes. Los representantes de varias organizaciones y los propios inmigrantes hablaron ante la Comisión del Colegio de Abogados de Estados Unidos para los Derechos Legales y Responsabilidades de los Hispanos.

Immigrants, lawyers and activists denounced countless abuses against Hispanics in the United States on Friday before a committee: from indiscriminate searches of police on the street, to the harshness of the deportation laws for legal immigrants, through the need for more Spanish interpreters in the courts. Representatives from various organizations and individual immigrants spoke to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities.

Una comisión del Colegio de Abogados en EE.UU escuchó hoy testimonios de latinos sobre diversos problemas que les afectan, como parte de una serie de audiencias que realiza para redactar un informe con sugerencias sobre acciones que se deben tomar y que debe estar listo el próximo agosto. Los miembros de la Comisión para los Derechos Legales y Responsabilidades de los Hispanos llevó a cabo hoy en Nueva York su tercera audiencia, luego de Chicago y San Francisco, en la que escuchó denuncias sobre el presunto abuso policiaco a latinos, violencia doméstica, necesidad de traductores de español en los tribunales y educación.

A committee of the American Bar Association today heard testimony on a variety of issues that affect Latinos as part of a series of hearings carried out to draft a report with suggestions for actions and which should be ready by next August. Members of the Commission for Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities held its third hearing today in New York, after hearings in Chicago and San Francisco that heard complaints of alleged police abuse of Latinos, cases of domestic violence, the need for Spanish translators in the courts and education.