An estimated 300,000 children of illegal immigrants are born in the United States every year, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Because they are born in the United States, these children are automatically U.S. citizens.

An expert panel of speakers shared ideas about practicing law in a solo or small firm Friday at the ABA Midyear Meeting. “Smart Soloing: Effective Strategies for Diverse Lawyers” – which also was webcast live for an online audience – was part of the Presidential Diversity Commission’s Distance Learning Program Series.

“Personality is the common denominator in all negotiations,” said Lee Hetherington, professor of law and author of The Lawyers Guide to Negotiation, speaking to a packed room of attendees at the ABA Midyear Meeting, Feb. 6, in Orlando, Fla. He began the session by defining negotiation as “altering the status quo by consensual means” versus using the alternatives to consensus such as intimidation, physical violence or even war.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates will vote on nearly 40 policy recommendations relating to immigration adjudication reform, criminal justice reform and other key legal issues. The 555-member policymaking body will meet on Monday and Tuesday during the association’s 2010 Midyear Meeting in Orlando, Fla. at the Walt Disney World Dolphin, Northern Hemisphere Ballroom, Fifth level.

With fewer lawyers making it to the partner ranks, how can a lawyer distinguish herself from her peers seeking the same top spots? That was the primary question explored during “Pointers for the New Partner,” a Friday session of the ABA Midyear Meeting, sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division.

In “How a Battle for Adoption Rights Became a First Amendment Keller Issue,” a Friday session of the ABA Midyear Meeting, panelists shared that ABA attorneys are among those who are challenging a Florida statute that specifically prohibits gay men and lesbians – whether they are single or coupled – from adopting children.

Witnesses at an ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 hearing shared that consumers with legal needs are finding what they want, when they want it, on the Internet, and lawyers who cannot adapt to evolving technology will forfeit business to those who can, and to non-lawyer information sources, in ever increasing levels.

James O’Neal, executive director of Legal Outreach, founded his program in 1983 to increase diversity in the legal profession by supporting urban youth through high school. Today Legal Outreach boasts a comprehensive pipeline diversity program, recruiting, supporting and encouraging students starting in eighth grade and carrying them through law school, with a track record of solid success.

Representatives from several military Judge Advocate General’s Corps gathered Friday at the ABA Midyear Meeting to talk about diversity within their ranks. The U.S. Army JAG Corps has come a long way since 1971, when women made up only 0.5 percent and minorities 1 percent of the corps. In 2009, women represented 25 percent of the corps and minorities 16.7 percent, Lt. Col. Paulette V. Burton explained to kick off the roundtable discussion titled “Diversity in the Military JAG Corps.”

The critical factors that led to the recent American Bar Association report on reforming the immigration adjudication system were examined Friday by legal experts deeply involved in the study’s creation and with this troubling issue. The discussion came during the ABA Midyear Meeting program Hot Off the Presses: A Call for Reform of the Immigration Adjudication System.

Discussion of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s “Wise Latina” comment and presentation of two key American Bar Association awards are among the events on tap for Saturday and Sunday’s programming of the association’s 2010 Midyear Meeting. The meeting is being held Feb. 3 – 9 in Orlando, Fla.

A 32-word excerpt from a speech by Justice Sonia Sotomayor during her confirmation hearings set off a firestorm of controversy, criticism and commentary. But it also has created a “teachable moment” for judges and lawyers that will be explored Saturday at the ABA Midyear Meeting program, “Diversity on the Bench: Is the ‘Wise Latina’ a Myth?”