Speaking to attendees at the Legislative and Governmental Advocacy Update session, ABA President-Elect Stephen Zack outlined a number of issues on which the ABA Governmental Affairs Office has been active. Specifically, Zack mentioned funding for the Legal Services Corporation, the Red Flags Rule and judicial compensation. Without the ABA, there would be no LSC, he noted.

Lawyers who represent children in dependency proceedings say it’s time for these children – regardless of which state they live – to have a right to legal counsel. Meeting yesterday at the 2010 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, a panel of children’s rights advocates discussed eliminating the barriers that prevent lawyers from representing these children in life-impacting legal proceedings.

As the Senate prepares to vote on whether Elena Kagan should fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, there remain a substantial number of other vacancies in the nation’s lower federal courts that urgently need filling. Currently, there are about 100 vacancies in the lower federal courts. The American Bar Association says the lack of judges is affecting the efficiency and fairness of the justice system.

In a survey released today by the American Bar Association, judges indicated that a lack of representation in civil matters is hurting those individuals’ cases, and is negatively impacting courtrooms. Approximately 1,000 state trial judges responded to the survey, which posed questions about their dockets, self-representation and the impact on the courts.

Arizona’s controversial immigration law, which gives local police the authority to stop and detain suspected illegal immigrants, is said to infringe on the civil rights of all Americans. But does it really? Join the American Bar Association Center for Continuing Legal Education for a discussion on the law before it officially goes into effect on July 29. The July 21 program, “The Arizona Immigration Statute: Civil Rights Implications and National Impact,” will feature insight from two Arizona-based panelists, both with the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

The American Bar Association yesterday filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court of the United States to rule in Beer vs. U.S. on whether Congressional denial of cost-of-living salary adjustments for federal judges compromises judicial independence, violating the Constitution.

Meet-ups for new bar admittees at a variety of hotspots around the country will kick-off the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Touch 10,000 outreach program. The meet-ups will take place June 17 in several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Santa Monica, Calif., New York City, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington, D.C.

For lawyers providing bankruptcy assistance to consumers and small businesses, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz v. United States in March provided some much-needed clarification on their obligations under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. A recent CLE, “Are you a Debt Relief Agency? The Consequences of Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz v. U.S.,” brought together a panel of experts to discuss the Court’s ruling and its implications.

The recent passage of health care reform legislation has raised a number of questions as to how it will affect patients, doctors and the insurance industry in general. This month, the American Bar Association Center for Continuing Legal Education spotlight is on the reform and its implications, with a variety of relevant programs that address the needs of all legal practitioners—new, seasoned and those in-between.

The confirmation hearing for Elena Kagan to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court begins June 28. The American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary makes a unique contribution to the vetting process by conducting an extensive, confidential peer review of the nominee’s professional competence, integrity and judicial temperament.

In the past few years, ethics scandals have led to stricter rules for lobbying, making it increasingly important for companies engaged in such activities to pay close attention to compliance. In the CLE program “Demystifying Government Affairs for the Corporate Counsel,” moderator Jennifer A. Lee, a former associate with Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Mueller & Naylor LLP in Marin County, Calif., along with speakers Constance Campanella, Cleta Mitchell and J. Scott Hardin, discussed how companies can best comply with the laws on government affairs work.

Why should companies care about claims being made about their products in social media? According to advertising law expert Andrew Lustigman, companies should care because there is potential liability surrounding those claims.