The American Bar Association condemns today’s bombing at the Delhi High Court in India. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families and friends of the victims of this tragic attack. Beyond the horror of the loss of life, the attack on the courthouse itself is deplorable. In both function and symbolism, the High Court represents the rule of law itself.

CHICAGO, Aug. 26, 2011 – In 1971, Congress designated Aug. 26 as Women’s Equality Day. The day recognizes the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, and calls attention to continuing efforts toward full equality for women.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s final mortgage loan originator rule, which exempts licensed attorneys when they are providing legal services to their clients and are in compliance with all applicable state court ethical rules and standards, is not just a win for the already well-regulated legal profession, but also for their homeowner clients.

Former American Bar Association treasurer and Kentucky Bar Association past president Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, took office today as president of the ABA. He will serve in that capacity until the close of the association’s Annual Meeting in August 2012. “I am extremely honored and enthusiastically accept the responsibilities of representing you as your next president,” Robinson said in remarks to the association’s House of Delegates on Monday.

“We need lawyers in every state to get busy and start advocating for adequate funding of the courts. We need lawyers to get busy and say ‘I’m willing to tackle this in my state’…We need you,” said retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to a packed room of lawyers and judges at a program at the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting yesterday in Toronto.

During his speech at the American Bar Association House of Delegates meeting today, outgoing President Stephen N. Zack urged lawyers to “continue to get in the way” of those who would defund Legal Services Corporation and Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts; those who would do away with the four words in front of the Supreme Court, “Equal justice under law;” and from those who would do away with checks and balances by not funding the judiciary.

The American Bar Association and Korean Bar Association signed a historic agreement today designed to foster cooperation and dialogue between the organizations and advance human rights and the rule of law.

By Betsy M. Adeboyejo
American Bar Association News Service
Aug. 6, 2011
TORONTO — Disasters – everything from hurricanes and tornadoes to a computer virus or a flood in your basement – were on the agenda at a program Saturday during the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Toronto.

10 Lessons on Disasters
Gary A. Munneke, professor of law at

As the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 quickly approaches, preeminent national security experts explored how the legal landscape has changed since then during the program “9/11 a Decade Later and a World Apart” on Friday at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto.

The Opening Assembly of the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting this evening was a celebration of unity between Canada and the United States, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer stirred the crowd at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music with calls for civility, better education and respect for the Rule of Law.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former American Bar Association President William H. Neukom received the ABA Justice Center’s 2011 John Marshall Award on Aug. 5, during the association’s annual meeting in Toronto.

ABA president Steve Zack (L) and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (R)

Jean Chrétien, the former 10-year prime minister of Canada, lived up to his reputation as an entertaining speaker at an American Bar Association luncheon during the annual meeting on Aug. 5.