On behalf of the American Bar Association, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Annual Meeting. We are pleased to return to Chicago, which offers world class attractions, restaurants, and shops.

Lawyers and judges need to know how to react in the wake of this case and how to best utilize the materials/draft report prepared by the Standing Committee on Judicial Independence to respond to this potentially groundbreaking decision issued by the United States Supreme Court. 

Going beyond incremental changes to create a real impact in the criminal justice system is the theme of the Fifth Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement Feb. 13 at the Marriott Boston Copley Place.

At the end of his tour of duty in Iraq, National Guard Sgt. James Hurley returned to the United States to find his Michigan home sold and his wife and two toddlers evicted. While Hurley was away, his wife was unable to keep up with mortgage payments. As a result, the Hurleys’ home went up for sale at a sheriff’s auction, which the bank bought and sold to another buyer.

More than one in three lawyers expects lay-offs at their firms this year, according to a study reported by the ABA Journal in January. In an effort to help lawyers find jobs and network with others navigating through the recession, the Young Lawyers Division hosts speed networking—an adaptation of speed dating—on Feb. 13 at the Westin Copely Place Hotel at 11 a.m.

The nation’s housing market was hard-hit during 2008, with nearly 3.2 million foreclosure filings, including loan default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

Up-to-the-minute information from the ABA 2009 Midyear Meeting in Boston, Feb. 11 – 17, is as close as your Blackberry, iPhone or mobile device. Right now you can visit ABANow.org for a preview of continuing legal education programs and events to be featured at Midyear, then during the meeting enjoy coverage whenever and wherever you want it—in the palm of your hand.

Truancy cases processed in juvenile court increased nearly 70 percent between 1995 and 2004, and made up the largest proportion of the petitioned status offense caseloads—violations only for individuals who are juveniles, such as underage drinking—for all but American Indian and Alaska Native youth. Because the young people involved in these cases are not in school or at work, they are at significant risk of using or selling drugs, belonging to a gang, running away and committing a major theft or serious assault, among other problem behaviors.

What is the value to a young lawyer of a judicial clerkship post? More than 100 minority and women law students from around the country are learning first hand as they are brought together with judges and former law clerks during the Ninth Annual Judicial Clerkship Program Thursday through Saturday during the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting.

“Where will the bar be?” asked Damon Silvers. “When that part of our nation that brings out the punch bowl and is getting the party going again to bail out the rich and leave the poor to suffer, where will the bar stand on that?” he asked.

While the legal profession and law schools have done an excellent job in the last 30 years of improving opportunities for minorities, they still have a long way to go.

When we think about leadership in the United States, it’s not uncommon to assign the notion of “good” to leaders, as if goodness is an inherent part of leadership just like intelligence, competence, persistence or sociability.