Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog

ABA Techshow Is Finally Here!

It's Wednesday night before Techshow begins Thursday morning with a welcome from this year's Chair, my friend Tom Mighell. Having Tom as Chair of ABA Techshow surely means the 2008 conference will be even bigger and better than the other dozen or more that I've attended.

We've moved from the Sheraton to the Hilton Chicago, and my first impression is that this is a grand old hotel — very elegant. And the best news is that the exhibit area and the individual conferences will be on the same level of the hotel. This is unlike the Sheraton, where it seemed that a third of my time was spent on the escalators.

Tonight I had an excellent visit with online friends over dinner at Tamarind restaurant (highly recommended). My fascinating friends were Lisa Solomon, Allison Shields, Carolyn Elefant, Aviva Cuyler, Ed Poll, and Andy Simpson. To say we had a wide-ranging conversation would be a huge understatement...

The big show starts at 8:00 Thursday morning, and runs until at least 8:00 Thursday evening, at the ABA Techshow After Dark extravaganza.

if there are any Chicago area lawyers who haven't yet committed to attend ABA Techshow, it's not too late. Come on down to Michigan Avenue and join the fun!

Another Lawyer Joke - Alberto Gonzalez Named Lawyer Of The Year

The Journal of the American Bar Association has named disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez as their Lawyer of the Year for 2007. How disgusting. At a time when the reputation of lawyers is at an all-time low, do we really need the premier legal association in the United States calling attention to a lawyer who acted so shamelessly for so many years?

I understand that this award is similar to Time magazine's Person of the Year award, and that Time has named Adolf Hitler as Person of the Year because he was the most newsworthy person that year. Still, there are hundreds of thousands of good, honest lawyers in this country, and I think any one of them would be a better choice than Alberto Gonzalez.

For the first time in more than 30 years, I am seriously questioning why I continue to be a member of the American Bar Association.

Link of the Day - National Native American Bar Association

One highly-focused legal group is the National Native American Bar Association. Here is information from the Web site:

The National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) serves as the national association for Native American attorneys, judges, law professors and law students. Founded in 1973 as the American Indian Lawyers Association, NNABA works to promote issues important to the Native American community and works to improve professional opportunities for Native American lawyers. NNABA strives to be a leader on social, cultural, political and legal issues affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. NNABA encourages all attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students who share an interest in our mission to join NNABA as a regular member, associate member, or special member.

Link of the Day - Free Legal Help For Non-Profit Organizations

An important service of the Texas Bar Association is free legal help for non-profit organizations. Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources ("Texas C-BAR") is the only project of its kind in Texas, providing free business law services across the state to community-based nonprofits developing affordable housing and other much-needed services in low-income communities. Texas C-BAR was founded in 2000 with the support of the Texas Bar Foundation and continues as a successful program today due to the support we receive from more than 45 law firms, hundreds of volunteer attorneys, the State Bar, and numerous other funders and participants.

Texas C-BAR provides free legal assistance to Texas nonprofits working to improve the quality of life in low-income neighborhoods. We recruit experienced transactional attorneys, who volunteer to help these organizations with their real estate, tax, corporate, and employment law needs. From the Web site:

Texas C-BAR's Mission

Our mission is to improve the quality of life for low-income populations in Texas by providing pro bono business law resources to nonprofits and microentrepreneurs.

We fulfill this mission by:

1. providing pro bono referrals and direct services for nonprofits and microentrepreneurs on non-litigation legal matters, in addition to supporting our volunteer attorneys to help ensure the referrals are successful;
2. offering legal workshops, on-line resources, and publications on important legal issues affecting nonprofits; and
3. collaborating to address systemic legal barriers to community development in low-income communities.

Link of the Day - The J. L. Turner Legal Association

The J. L. Turner Legal Association is a long-time Dallas bar association for African-American lawyers. Over the years, this organization has done much good work for the African-American community and for the Dallas population as a whole. Here is information from their Web site:

Founded in 1952, J.L. Turner Legal Association ("JLTLA"), is the African-American bar association in Dallas, Texas. JLTLA is an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life in our community through education, service and scholarship. The members of JLTLA provide scholarships to law students demonstrating financial or other needs, provide attorney mentors for law students, perform educational and other community outreach projects for North Texas area residents, and assist our members and the community to become more aware of  African-American attorneys who practice in various areas of the law.

Link of the Day - Journal Of The American Bar Association

I've been a member of the American bar Association pretty much since I began practicing, and I recommend it to all lawyers, even though the emphasis of the organization is definitely not on personal injury clients and Social Security disability claimants.

The Web site of the Journal of the American Bar Association provides a wealth of information on many legal topics, including law office management.

Link of the Day - The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students, providing a national network for its members and affiliates. Here is more information from their Web site:

NAPABA advocates for the legal needs and interests of the APA community and represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 50 local APA bar associations, with practice settings ranging from solo practices to large firms, corporations, legal services organizations, non-profit organizations, law schools, and governmental agencies.

Since its inception in 1988, NAPABA has been at the forefront of national and local activities in the areas of civil rights, combating anti-immigrant backlash and hate crimes, increasing the diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, and professional development.

NAPABA monitors legislative developments and judicial appointments, promotes APA political leadership, advocates for equal opportunity in education and the workplace, works to eliminate violence against APAs, and builds coalitions within the legal profession and the community at large. NAPABA also serves as a resource for federal, state, and local agencies, members of Congress and staff, and public service organizations on the APA legal profession, civil rights, and diversity in the courts.

Link of the Day - National Association Of Women Lawyers

The National Association of Women Lawyers is just what it sounds like - a national bar association for women. Here is the description from their Web site:

NAWL began long before most local and national bar associations admitted women. Some of this country's first and most prominent women lawyers were members of NAWL. These include such women as Florence E. Allen of Ohio, the nation's first woman federal judge, Clara Shortridge Foltz, California's first woman lawyer, and Olive Stott Gabriel who argued for women's voting rights before audiences across the country.

NAWL continues to support and advance the interests of women in and under the law and works towards the social, political, and professional empowerment of women. NAWL members work to end discrimination and violence against women and to prevent the erosion of hard-fought gains. NAWL's members include both men and women lawyers.

NAWL's programs are held in conjunction with ABA meetings and although NAWL is an ABA affiliate, it remains an independent entity whose agenda is driven by members' concerns.

Link of the Day - Hispanic National Bar Association

The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) is an incorporated, non-profit, national association representing the interest of over 33,000 U.S. Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal professionals, legal assistants or paralegals, and law students in the United States. The mission of the HNBA is to improve the study, practice, and administration of justice for all by ensuring the meaningful participation of U.S. Hispanics in the legal profession.

Link of the Day - The National Bar Association

The National Bar Association is an African-American organization. Here is information from their Web site:

During the first quarter of the 20th century, twelve African-American pioneers with a mutual interest in, and dedication to justice and the civil rights of all, helped structure the struggle of the African-American race in America. George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, Gertrude E. Rush, James B. Morris, Charles P. Howard, Sr., Wendell E. Green, C. Francis Stradford, Jesse N. Baker, William H. Haynes, George C. Adams, Charles H. Calloway and L. Amasa Knox conceived the National Bar Association (NBA), formally organized in Des Moines, IA on August 1, 1925.

When the NBA was organized in 1925, there were fewer than 1,000 African-American lawyers in the nation, and less than 120 belonged to the Association. By 1945, there were nearly 250 members representing 25% of the African-American members of the bar. Over the past 75 years, the NBA has grown enormously in size and influence.

Today, the NBA Board of Governors formulates the Association's policies. The Board consists of the following: officers (president, president-elect, four vice presidents, secretary and treasurer; twelve regional directors; five former NBA presidents; seven at-large representatives; seven affiliated chapter representatives; one representative from each of the twenty-one substantive legal sections and one from each of the nine special interest divisions. Between the regular meetings of the Board of Governors, the Executive Committee, which is composed of the NBA officers and seven board members, functions on behalf of the Board. From the national headquarters in Washington, DC, an executive director serves as chief operating executive and supervises daily operations. The National Bar Association Magazine, the official publication of the Association, mainly facilitates communication between members, staff and others. Finally in 1984, the NBA purchased its official headquarters at 1225 11th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001.

OBJECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
The objectives of the NBA "…shall be to advance the science of jurisprudence; improve the administration of justice; preserve the independence of the judiciary and to uphold the honor and integrity of the legal profession; to promote professional and social intercourse among the members of the American and the international bars; to promote legislation that will improve the economic condition of all American citizens, regardless of race, sex or creed in their efforts to secure a free and untrammeled use of the franchise guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States; and to protect the civil and political rights of the citizens and residents of the United States."

HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
Legions of African-American lawyers affiliated with the NBA ushered in the rule of law through the turbulent 1920's and 1930's, R.D. Evans, for example, who later became a member of the NBA, tried the first case in Waco, Texas to prevent the Democratic Party from forbidding "colored people" to vote in election primaries in 1919.

From the 1920's through the 1950's, African-American lawyers such as the Honorable James A. Cobb, T. Gillis Nutter, and Ashbie Hawkins fought the famous segregation case of Louisville, and the Covenants case of The District of Columbia. Early NBA pioneers S.D. McGill, R.P. Crawford, and J.L. Lewis fought to have sentences of execution stayed in the Florida case popularly referred to as the "Four Pompano Boys." Wherever there was a fight to wage in defense of the rights of Blacks and poor people, the NBA was there.

In 1940, when the number of African-American lawyers barely exceeded 1,000 nation wide, the NBA attempted to establish "free legal clinics in all cities with a colored population of 5,000 or more." The NBA was ahead of the "War on Poverty" programs of the 1960's, which gave birth to federal legal aid to the indigent. Members of the NBA were leaders of the pro bono movement at a time when they could least afford to provide free legal services and before poverty law became profitable.

When the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education the NBA was only 25 years old. This decision culminated a long struggle by African-American lawyers. Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American United States Supreme Court Justice, and United States District court Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American female federal judge, are two outstanding jurists who helped make Brown v. Board of Education a pivotal case in American Civil Rights history. Through continuing service, the NBA has become known as America's legal conscience.