A full roster for ABA president

Access to justice, sentencing reform and the role of the legal community in the immigration crisis are a few of the issues William C. Hubbard is taking on as the 2014-15 president of the American Bar Association. He says the role is keeping him busy. A partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, Hubbard practices in business litigation related to breach of contract, business torts, breach of fiduciary duty claims, unfair trade practices, energy and utilities disputes, and class actions. HH: Since taking your post in August, you have created the new Commission on the Future of Legal Services. What is its mission? WH: It starts from the proposition that 75 to 80 percent of the poor and those of moderate means in our country do not have adequate access to our justice system. We cannot maintain the rule of law if we don't have access to justice. There are modern technologies and platforms that currently exist that could help bridge that justice gap. What we're seeking through the commission's work is to bring regulators and innovators and judges and practitioners together so that we can evaluate the current delivery mechanisms and potentially develop ways to deliver legal services that are less complex and less costly. We all bank differently, we all receive information differently, we all shop differently - there's no reason to believe that we should not be fully exploring new ways to deliver legal services, especially when a vast percentage of our population's legal needs are unmet. What we know is there have been innovators who have been at work at this and regulators have been looking at the unauthorized practice of law and other issues but we're hoping to bring all the voices to the table to determine if there's a better way of moving forward. In 2012, $66 million of private investment went into technology companies that provide legal services. Last year that number jumped to $458 million and this year it will surpass $1 billion. What we need to do is meld this kind of entrepreneurial spirit with existing structures that are in place to protect the public in the delivery of legal services and develop a blueprint for the future. HH: You've talked about emphasizing the ABA's advocacy on criminal justice and sentencing reform. Tell me about that. WH: We all know there have been disparities in sentencing for a long time, and what I'm pleased to report is that many of the states have undergone a process to look at their statutes and recalibrate those statutes in a way that puts more emphasis on the incarceration of those who have committed violent crimes or show a propensity for violence rather than those who may be incarcerated for nonviolent offenses or a series of minor incidents. I know in my own state of South Carolina in 2010 we affected these kinds of changes in our laws and have reduced the prison population almost 10 percent and in the last fiscal year, the number of persons convicted of crimes that involve incarceration the number of new admittees into the system - dropped about 25 percent. â?¦ There's another component to the criminal justice system that requires a hard look and some reform, and that's work on the collateral consequences of incarceration. Too often, those who have served their time come out of prison - they've paid their debt to society under our criminal laws and yet there are a number of statutes that prohibit them from housing, student loans or different occupational licenses through which they could obtain gainful employment and be more productive participants in society. The ABA has inventoried those statutes from across the country about 40,000 altogether and we're hoping the states will take a look at abrogating those statutes that serve no legitimate safety purpose. HH: You've made clear that you intend to strengthen the association's legal efforts on behalf of domestic violence victims. How so? WH: Outside of medical attention, the greatest need that domestic violence victims have is legal representation. The goal of the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence is to have a lawyer for every victim. The ABA has been engaged now for 20 years in training lawyers to provide pro bono legal assistance to victims. HH: June marks the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. The ABA is celebrating it all year. Why is this important to you and the ABA? WH: It's important to our whole system of constitutional democracy in the United States and frankly around the world. There are over a hundred nations who have built their government around certain principles in the Magna Carta like due process of law, the fact that no person should be above the law, not even a king or president, that there should be no taxation without representation. It's fundamental to our country because when the states adopted English common law, the Magna Carta came with it, and when the colonies adopted their constitutions and when we adopted our U.S. Constitution we drew on those principles. It's important the people of our country understand where the government comes from, where these rights derive so they can have an appreciation for what we have here in America. HH: Is there anything else on your radar as far as changes or advancements you'd like to make during your term? WH: One thing we're continually trying to improve is the immigration process. We are urging Congress to take a systematic look at improving those laws. We're urging Congress and the President to work together. But while all of that is unfolding, we are trying to train lawyers to represent especially the unaccompanied minor children in immigration proceedings. This is not only helpful to the children but it's extremely helpful to the immigration judges who need lawyers to be representing these children so they can get all the facts and make the right decision about whether the children should be allowed to stay or be deported. HH: The legal landscape is changing dramatically. What is the ABA doing to lead the law profession and make sure it is being proactive rather than reactive? WH: The ABA had a task force on legal education that offered a number of different options for modernizing our legal education system, placing greater emphasis on experiential education and giving law schools more flexibility in their curriculum offering. That has been a wonderful blueprint for law schools. Secondly, we have created a commission on law school financing to try to come up with recommendations that would lower the cost of law school so that students coming out of law school would not have as great a debt burden as they currently have. Legal education is front and center always with the American Bar Association. I would also say that clearly the profession has changed, technology has made a number of things more efficient but at the same time, and the downturn in the economy has lessened the demand for lawyers in many places, but there's also many places in the country where there are not sufficient lawyers so we need to address how to get lawyers in rural areas â?¦ to provide proper service to the people. I would conclude with this: A high percentage of the current legal profession consists of baby boomers, many of whom will be retiring in the next 10 years. At the same time, we see a dramatic drop-off in the number of applicants to law schools because of the tight job market. But I believe that in five, six, seven years as these baby boomers retire there'll be more demand for lawyers. There'll be a higher population in our country and our lives are more complex and not simpler than they used to be and there will always be a need for good lawyers and certainly a need for lawyers to bridge this justice gap. Published: Fri, Dec 19, 2014