Civil liberties and security 10 years after 9/11 along with immigration issues and the funding of courts are among the key local topics that will be on tap at the 2011 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Toronto next month.
More than 1,400 legal programs and events are planned during the Aug. 4-9 gathering as well as presentations by the foremost law experts and speakers.
On Aug. 7, retired Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor, and ABA Task Force on Preservation of the Justice System Co-Chairs David Boies and Theodore B. Olson will take part in “Current Crisis in Court Funding: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Accountability and Education.”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bryer is presenting the keynote address, and Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin will give opening remarks during the Opening Assembly on Aug. 6.
On Aug. 7, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will host its 21st Annual Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Luncheon.
The Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, established by the commission in 1991, recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of women lawyers who have excelled in their field and have paved the way to success for other women lawyers.
The 566-member House of Delegates, the association’s policymaking body, will meet on Aug. 8 and 9.
Among the policy recommendations expected to come before the House are ones relating to judicial disqualification, student loan debt, reporting of employment data of law school graduates, and disaster preparedness for the legal community.
In addition to considering policy recommendations and voting on resolutions, the House of Delegates will bestow David Boies and Theodore B. Olson, co-chairs of the ABA Task Force on Preservation of the Justice System, with the ABA Medal, the association’s highest honor, on Aug. 8.
Additional programming includes:
• “The Battle over Birthright Citizenship: History, International Perspectives, and the Path Ahead” Recent calls to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. have fueled a heated debate. The discussion will look at a variety of related questions as well how other nations address citizenship.
• “Class Action Litigation After Dukes v. Walmart” Speakers include John C. Coffee Jr., director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School, and T. Warren Jackson, vice president and associate general counsel at DirecTV Group.
• “Twenty Five Years and Counting: A Look at Justice Scalia’s Tenure on the Supreme Court” The panel will examine his jurisprudence and its place in American legal history. Panelists include former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson.
• “Shattering the Legal Glass Ceiling: The Myths and Realities of Law-Firm Compensation” Reports demonstrate female lawyers’ median income is only 74 percent of their male counterparts. The panel will discuss these reports, the law and how this disparity affects the practice of law, while recommending best practices and legal strategies to achieve pay equity and promote diversity in the legal profession.
• “The Once and Future Firm: Facts v. Fiction” A panel of legal thought leaders explores the evolving business model for law firms, large and small, including how firms will be organized, operate and deliver services to clients.
• “Our Highest Courts: A Comparison of the Canadian and U.S. Supreme Courts” A panel of justices and legal appellate advocates from the Canadian and U.S. Supreme Courts will conduct a roundtable on the courts’ differences and similarities, focusing on constitutional roles especially in light of terrorism and civil rights issues.
• “Access Across America: First Report of the Civil Justice Infrastructure Mapping Project” This session will explore the first report by the Civil Justice Infrastructure Mapping Project, which describes on a state-by-state basis, the fundamental access to justice infrastructure that exists in the United States today.
• “’Implicit Bias’ and The Myth of Equal Justice” will probe how unconscious sources of intuition about race and gender distort judgment in both criminal and civil cases in the courtroom and beyond.
• “9/11 – A Decade Later, and a World Apart” As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 nears, an expert panel will explore how the legal landscape has changed over the past decade and what the future is likely to
hold.
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