Jack L. Rives

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
2010 – Present

Jack Rives began serving as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association on Law Day (May 1), 2010.  Rives has overall management responsibility for staff operations at the Association’s headquarters in Chicago, at its Washington, DC office, and at program sites in more than 40 countries around the world.

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Overseeing a staff of more than 900 persons and a consolidated budget of over $200 million, he ensures the effective development and direct implementation of the Association’s strategic goals.  He oversees the programs and policy activities adopted by the ABA’s governing and policy-making bodies, the Board of Governors and House of Delegates.  Rives is responsible for expanding membership and building the ABA’s position as the world’s premier professional association for lawyers and as the national voice of the legal profession.

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Prior to joining the ABA, Rives served as The Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force, where he was the first military attorney to serve in three-star rank as a lieutenant general.  He served as legal adviser to the secretary of the Air Force and all officers and agencies of the Department of the Air Force, and he oversaw an annual staff budget of $47 million.  The senior U.S. Air Force attorney, Rives led and managed some 4,500 personnel, including 2,600 active duty, reserve and civilian lawyers.

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From his Pentagon headquarters, Rives led an historic, comprehensive reorganization of the delivery of legal services throughout the Air Force.  He previously served as chief counsel, Air Combat Command, at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.  During that assignment, he assured the full range of legal support to his worldwide command following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Among his many military awards and decorations are the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Defense Superior Service Medal.

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Rives received both his juris doctor degree and his bachelor of arts degree (in political science) from the University of Georgia, Athens.  He is a member of the Georgia Bar Association and served on the Board of Trustees of the Air Force Aid Society.

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Originally from Rockmart, Georgia, Rives and his wife Marie have one son and two grandsons.