ABA House concludes historic meeting after adopting robust list of new policies
The American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted nearly 60 new policies at its two-day meeting that ended today, including a resolution that urges state lawyer-licensing authorities to make public health issues paramount for upcoming bar exams and provide options for recent graduates who cannot take the bar.
The HOD, as the 597-member group of state, local and specialty bar associations is known, met virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic to conclude the 2020 Virtual ABA Annual Meeting, which began July 29. Among the resolutions adopted as policy are several aimed at improving police-community relations and attacking racial injustice, including a measure urging the curtailment of the defense of qualified immunity in civil suits brought against law enforcement officers.
With attention focused on police misconduct in the wake of the May 25 homicide of George Floyd and other police incidents, the HOD adopted Resolution 301A, which urges governments to limit the doctrine of police qualified immunity that was expanded during the past 40 years by the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, the House approved Resolution 116A, which asks governments to enact laws that require law enforcement agencies to keep records of incidents of deadly force or excessive non-lethal force, and that a fully independent prosecutor be appointed when an individual dies in the custody of or during an encounter with a law enforcement officer.
The bar exam resolution, 10G, was adopted by a 256-146 vote. It asks the highest court or bar admission authority in each state or other licensing jurisdiction to cancel or not administer in person the examination during the COVID-19 crisis unless cleared by public health authorities. The resolution offers several alternative approaches to the bar exam, including a diploma privilege during the crisis. It does not favor any specific option.
Across the country, state and other lawyer-licensing authorities made individual decisions on how best to approach the past July 2020 bar exam, and others are planned in the next few months. The bar exam is prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and is administered independently of the ABA and the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which is the sole national accreditor of U.S. law schools.
Among several COVID-19-related new policies, the House adopted Resolution 10H that recommends governmental policies that minimize evictions and assist both landlords and renters faced with hardship because of the pandemic. Also, Resolution 117 recommends, among other aspects, that individual parties in court cases be offered a safe “in-person hearing or delay” if the health crisis continues.
In other business, the HOD adopted:
• Resolution 111A, which establishes the ABA Best Practices for Third-Party Litigation Funding as policy. It is intended to serve as a guide for lawyers new to the practice of third-party litigation as well as more experienced attorneys and recommends that lawyers who engage in third-party financing detail the arrangement in writing, include the non-recourse or restricted nature of the financing, ensure that the client retains control of the case, and protect the attorney-client relationship. It does not take a position on the use of the practice, which has ballooned into a major industry in the past few years.
Two new policies that urge appropriate governmental entities to allow those incarcerated to vote. Resolution 116E recommends governments provide a process to allow eligible pre-trial detainees to obtain a ballot and be able to vote despite their detention. And Resolution 116H advocates for the repeal of laws that disenfranchise persons based upon criminal conviction and that voting rights be restored, without any requirements to fulfill financial obligations, for those currently and formerly incarcerated.
• Resolution 100B, which urges governmental bodies to enact legislation banning race discrimination on the basis of the texture, style or appearance of a person’s hair and encourages implicit bias training to eradicate discrimination based on these factors.
A narrow exception to ABA Model Rule 1.8(e), which bars financial support for clients. Under Resolution 107, a lawyer representing an indigent client, either on a contingency fee or through a clinic on a pro bono basis, would be allowed to provide modest gifts, including for food, rent, transportation, medicine and other basic living expenses.
• Resolution 114, which urges that all national governments observe, respect and protect the independence of the International Criminal Court, a global judicial body. The new policy also condemned threats by governments to the ICC and its officers and personnel in the performance of their duties.
• Resolution 301B, which supports establishment of June 19, or Juneteenth, as a paid, national legal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery.
Cincinnati lawyer becomes chair of the ABA House of Delegates
Barbara J. Howard, founder of the divorce and family law solo firm by the same name in Cincinnati, Ohio, became chair of the American Bar Association House of Delegates at the organization’s virtual Annual Meeting in Chicago Aug. 4.
The House of Delegates is the ABA’s policymaking body, and the two-year position of chair is the second-highest office in the association. There are 596 delegates in the House, including representatives of state and local bar associations, substantive legal sections and divisions of the ABA, and affiliated organizations and conferences of the Judicial Division, as well as former ABA officers, members of the Board of Governors, at-large delegates and state delegates. Action taken by the House of Delegates on specific issues becomes official policy of the ABA.
Howard is an experienced attorney with more than 40 years in the practice of law. Her firm, Barbara J. Howard Co., L.P.A., specializes in divorce, child custody, spousal support, collaborative law practice, prenuptial agreements, asset divisions, tax, guardians ad litem and estate planning.
Howard has a long history of service and leadership at the ABA. She became an ABA member upon graduation from law school in 1979, attending her first meeting as a delegate from the Cincinnati Bar Association to the ABA Young Lawyers Assembly. In 1986, Howard became Ohio’s Young Lawyer delegate to the House of Delegates and has been a member of the policy-making body ever since. She served as chair of the HOD’s Drafting Committee (2016-2018), Committee on Issues of Concern to the Legal Profession (2008-2010) and Select Committee (2000-2002). Additionally, Howard has been an ABA Nominating Committee member since 2010. She has chaired several ABA committees over the years including the Standing Committee on Specialization (2017-present), Standing Committee on Meetings and Travel (2014-2017) and Standing Committee on Membership (2011-2013), among others. Howard is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and served as a member of the ABA Journal Board of Editors (2005-2011).
Outside of the ABA, Howard has held leadership positions with the National Council of Bar Presidents, American Judicature Society and Ohio State Bar Foundation. She also served as president of the Ohio State Bar Association (2009-2010), Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (2011-2013) and Cincinnati Bar Association (2001-2002).
In recent years, Howard has been honored with the Ohio State Bar Association Ohio Bar Medal in 2013, Xavier University Distinguished Alumna Award in 2010, named a Ohio Super Lawyer (2004 -present) and listed in 2019 among Top 25 Women in Cincinnati, Top 50 Women in Ohio, Top 50 Lawyers in Cincinnati and Top 100 Lawyers in Ohio.
Howard received her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1979 and her B.A. from the Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Lawyer from California named new ABA secretary at Annual Meeting
Pauline A. Weaver, founder of the law firm by the same name in Fremont, Calif., became the secretary of the American Bar Association at the conclusion of the 2020 ABA Annual Meeting Aug. 4.
As secretary, Weaver will take office for a three-year term as one of five officers on the ABA’s Board of Governors.
Weaver has spent her legal career of nearly 40 years dedicated to working with indigent clients in the criminal law system. After passing the State Bar of California in 1980, she became a public defender in Alameda County, Calif., and worked there until 2011. She then opened her own firm, concentrating on criminal defense with a large pro bono practice.
An ABA member since joining the Law Student Division in1976, Weaver has developed a substantial record of service to the association. She serves on the Board of Governors, the House of Delegates, Chair of Committees, Section Officers Conference, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and Fellows of the Young Lawyers Division. Weaver has also been chair or co-chair of several of the association’s divisions and sections and their committees. She has traveled twice to the Military Commission Hearings (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants) at Guantanamo, Cuba, as an observer for the ABA.
Weaver has received numerous awards for her legal and civic work, including the ABA Nelson Award in 2013, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the ABA by a government or public sector lawyer.
Outside the ABA, Weaver has been a longtime health and human services advocate. She has been honored for her work by being named a “Woman of Achievement” by Alameda County and was 1988 “Woman of the Year” in the 19th Assembly District. She is a past president and co-founder of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and is a co-founder of the Association of Women Attorneys in Memphis. She also was a vice president of the California State Bar Board of Governors.
Weaver earned her law degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis in Tennessee.
