Abstract A number of states have modified the questions on the Character and Fitness portion of their application for bar admission addressing an applicant’s substance use and mental health disorders. While some have eliminated the questions altogether, others continue to pose questions which authors and ABA members David Jaffe and Janet Stearns argue are overly…
ABA releases annual profile of the legal profession
The American Bar Association has published its annual profile of the legal profession in the US. The report uses the data gathered over the course of the year to analyse changes and developments in the profession across the country. Subjects covered include women and minorities in the profession, legal technology, pro bono, pay, legal education,…
Save the date: ICLR Conference 2020 – Chicago 28th-30th October
ICLR Conference 2020 Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois Chicago | 28-30 October 2020 Please save the date for the 2020 ICLR Conference, which will be held in Chicago between October 28-30, 2020. According to Dave Rolewick, Chair, and Jerry Larkin, Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (ARDC), “The ARDC…
Event: NOBC 2020 Mid-Year Conference
12-15 February 2020 AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, Austin, Texas The programme for this year’s Mid-Year Meeting includes: discussions on ethical enforcement in federal jurisdictions, prosecuting the prosecutor, dissemination of the NOBC’s Anti-Money Laundering Tool Kit, and utilising alternative discipline. They will also continue their conversations on the importance of lawyer health and well-being with…
ABA releases ethical guidance for lawyers changing firms
On the 4th December 2019, the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued guidance on the ethical responsibilities of lawyers who are changing firm. Formal Opinion 489 recognises a lawyer’s right to move firms, noting that the ethics rules do not allow non-competition clauses in partnership, member, shareholder or employment…
ABA’s Center for Innovation calls for innovation in lawyer regulation
A report released by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center for Innovation has called for U.S. jurisdictions to consider new approaches to regulation to increase access to justice. The recommendations are under review by the ABA House of delegates, where if approved they will be passed as a resolution, supporting the revision of existing structures….
ABA releases report on why women are leaving big law
A new survey released by the American Bar Association and ALM Intelligence is addressing why women are leaving big law. The Walking Out The Door: The Facts, Figures, and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice study is part of an ABA initiative launched by former-President Hilarie Bass. Over the past decades, women have made up roughly 45-50%…
ABA techreport shows how lawyers fail to secure client data in the cloud
The annual ABA techreport reports that whilst almost 60% of law firms use cloud computing applications to store client data, only 35% take standard precautionary measures to secure these data. The report identified severe deficiencies in firms’ approach to cybersecurity, particularly when using software as a service. Read the full report on the ABA site.
Lawyer regulation reforms in the US
We recently reported on the work of the California State Bar and their proposals for regulatory reform put forward by the Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services as well as the work being done by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) Testing Task Force. In her article, ‘Re-regulating Lawyers for the 21st…
NCBE’s Testing Task Force and the Bar Exam of the Future
In the United States, the authority to regulate the legal profession belongs to individual jurisdictions; each U.S. state or territory sets its own rules and makes its own decisions about legal licensure. For licensure examinations, most jurisdictions use one or more of the bar exam components produced by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE),…