Wanted: Democracy warriors for U.S. elections
The American Bar Association Midyear Meeting program, “Stepping Up, Lawyers Defending Democracy,” provided actionable ways for lawyers to help defend democracy.
“Lawyers are essential stewards of democracy,” said Stephen Cobb a member at Cozen O’Connor and the ABA’s inaugural Democracy fellow. “We need your participation, and we need it now, not just on Election Day.”
Indeed, election experts on the panel said that lawyers are needed before, during and beyond Election Day.
“Many people don’t realize that running an election is not something where you show up on a Monday before election and set up a machine and then go home when the polls close on Tuesday night,” said David Becker, executive director and founder of Center for Election Innovation & Research in Washington, D.C. “It is a 365-day job.”
Noting the “remarkable job” that civil servants and poll workers do, Becker said states have seen an attrition of election workers, but also that he is not worried because he has also seen where others have “stepped up.”
“When people ask me what I’m worried about for 2024, one thing I am not worried about is that I have no doubt that the election officials of this country will produce an election that will withstand any level of scrutiny,” Becker said. “That it will be accessible to all eligible voters and will count ballots accurately.”
Becker said he is concerned about disinformation and the stress placed on poll workers. “It’s really important for election officials to know there are citizens across the political spectrum that have their back. Lawyers will play a really big role in this and in the election overall,” he said.
One way lawyers can get involved is by becoming poll workers. Jason Kaune, who heads the political law section at Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP in San Rafael, California, and is chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law, said every jurisdiction across the country needs poll workers.
“There is a role for a lawyer of any ideological stripe,” he said.
“Lawyers are well qualified for this role,” Kaune said. “We know how to follow rules, we know when people get upset, we know how to de-escalate and deal with conflict; we’re built for this role.”
Kaune said the ABA’s Poll Worker Esq. initiative is once again looking for lawyers to join. He added that lawyers can help educate the public by looking at election pre- and post-litigation to explain to citizens what transpired to help diminish misinformation.
He also encouraged lawyers to get involved in the various initiatives the ABA has dedicated to democracy, including the Task Force for American Democracy and the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice Perfecting Democracy.
Jose Castro, associate at Spencer Fane in Denver, said the Young Lawyers Division kicked off its Public Service and Civic Engagement initiative at the meeting to get more young lawyers participating in civic engagement.
Angie Pitha, project lead at the Election Official Legal Defense Network, said there are opportunities for lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to election workers who have been the victim of threats and harassments for “doing their jobs of running fair and transparent elections.”
“We need more,” Pitha said. “The demand will keep growing, especially this year.”
Moderator for the event, Elizabeth Yang, spoke about the Section of State and Local Government Law’s initiative, Defending Democracy.
“We think it’s really important people understand who poll workers are,” she said.
“They are your neighbors, friends, people you go grocery shopping with, people you go to church or temple with. Election workers are not people parachuting in trying to change the course of an election,” Yang said.
“They are following rules that have been years in the making.”
Yang said the section conducts tours of local election facilities as they did in Louisville because a significant way to combat misinformation is at the local level. It is important for people to see how their local elections are run.
The ABA House of Delegates passed a policy resolution (Resolution 500) at the 2023 Annual Meeting urging the adoption of laws and policies protecting the safety of all election workers.
Also on the panel was Cynthia Swann, the chief of staff of the Hip Hop Caucus and co-chair of the Section of State and Local Government Law’s Government Operations Committee. The program was sponsored by the Section of State and Local Government Law.
“Lawyers are essential stewards of democracy,” said Stephen Cobb a member at Cozen O’Connor and the ABA’s inaugural Democracy fellow. “We need your participation, and we need it now, not just on Election Day.”
Indeed, election experts on the panel said that lawyers are needed before, during and beyond Election Day.
“Many people don’t realize that running an election is not something where you show up on a Monday before election and set up a machine and then go home when the polls close on Tuesday night,” said David Becker, executive director and founder of Center for Election Innovation & Research in Washington, D.C. “It is a 365-day job.”
Noting the “remarkable job” that civil servants and poll workers do, Becker said states have seen an attrition of election workers, but also that he is not worried because he has also seen where others have “stepped up.”
“When people ask me what I’m worried about for 2024, one thing I am not worried about is that I have no doubt that the election officials of this country will produce an election that will withstand any level of scrutiny,” Becker said. “That it will be accessible to all eligible voters and will count ballots accurately.”
Becker said he is concerned about disinformation and the stress placed on poll workers. “It’s really important for election officials to know there are citizens across the political spectrum that have their back. Lawyers will play a really big role in this and in the election overall,” he said.
One way lawyers can get involved is by becoming poll workers. Jason Kaune, who heads the political law section at Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP in San Rafael, California, and is chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law, said every jurisdiction across the country needs poll workers.
“There is a role for a lawyer of any ideological stripe,” he said.
“Lawyers are well qualified for this role,” Kaune said. “We know how to follow rules, we know when people get upset, we know how to de-escalate and deal with conflict; we’re built for this role.”
Kaune said the ABA’s Poll Worker Esq. initiative is once again looking for lawyers to join. He added that lawyers can help educate the public by looking at election pre- and post-litigation to explain to citizens what transpired to help diminish misinformation.
He also encouraged lawyers to get involved in the various initiatives the ABA has dedicated to democracy, including the Task Force for American Democracy and the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice Perfecting Democracy.
Jose Castro, associate at Spencer Fane in Denver, said the Young Lawyers Division kicked off its Public Service and Civic Engagement initiative at the meeting to get more young lawyers participating in civic engagement.
Angie Pitha, project lead at the Election Official Legal Defense Network, said there are opportunities for lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to election workers who have been the victim of threats and harassments for “doing their jobs of running fair and transparent elections.”
“We need more,” Pitha said. “The demand will keep growing, especially this year.”
Moderator for the event, Elizabeth Yang, spoke about the Section of State and Local Government Law’s initiative, Defending Democracy.
“We think it’s really important people understand who poll workers are,” she said.
“They are your neighbors, friends, people you go grocery shopping with, people you go to church or temple with. Election workers are not people parachuting in trying to change the course of an election,” Yang said.
“They are following rules that have been years in the making.”
Yang said the section conducts tours of local election facilities as they did in Louisville because a significant way to combat misinformation is at the local level. It is important for people to see how their local elections are run.
The ABA House of Delegates passed a policy resolution (Resolution 500) at the 2023 Annual Meeting urging the adoption of laws and policies protecting the safety of all election workers.
Also on the panel was Cynthia Swann, the chief of staff of the Hip Hop Caucus and co-chair of the Section of State and Local Government Law’s Government Operations Committee. The program was sponsored by the Section of State and Local Government Law.
ABA TECHSHOW 2024 to spotlight AI trends
Artificial intelligence will be the hot topic at the American Bar Association’s ABA TECHSHOW 2024, which spotlights the most useful and practical technologies available in the legal industry, Feb. 14-17 in Chicago.
Lawyers, legal professionals and technology all come together at the show, which will feature more than 60 panels and presentations covering everything from AI and podcasting to marketing strategies and ethics.
Attorney and legal educator Stuart I. Teicher will be the keynote speaker on Friday, Feb. 16, at 8 a.m. CST. Known as “the CLE Performer,” Teicher will talk about the ethical crossroads lawyers face in the current technological environment and the impact of the challenges from today’s world of technology.
For the eighth consecutive year, ABA TECHSHOW will host the Startup Pitch Competition, which will kick off on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. CST. Fifteen legal startups will face off in the competition, judged by TECHSHOW attendees who will pick the most innovative startup for the year.
Other programs include:
• “AI Transforming Legal Services: What’s Here, What’s Hype and Preparing for What’s Coming”
• “How to Actually Use AI in Your Legal Practice”
• “LLMS — Disruption of the Legal Profession Has Just Begun”
• “Generative AI: Amplifying Legal Services Delivery and Expanding Access to Justice”
• “Combating Deepfakes and Disinformation on Social Media: Safeguarding Your Law Firm’s Reputation”
• “Collaborating to Bridge the Justice Gap with Legal Technology”
• “Embracing the Digital Courtroom: Exploring Current and Future Trends”
• “One Bar License, Will Travel — Are Changes in Multijurisdictional Rules on the Way?”
• “Effectively and Ethically Integrating ChatGPT and Similar Tools into Your Legal Practice”
The TECHSHOW, sponsored by the ABA Law Practice Division, closes with the “60 in 60” program, which will combine the best of “60 Sites,” “60 Tips” and “Gadgets and Gizmos” into one fast-paced session.
Lawyers, legal professionals and technology all come together at the show, which will feature more than 60 panels and presentations covering everything from AI and podcasting to marketing strategies and ethics.
Attorney and legal educator Stuart I. Teicher will be the keynote speaker on Friday, Feb. 16, at 8 a.m. CST. Known as “the CLE Performer,” Teicher will talk about the ethical crossroads lawyers face in the current technological environment and the impact of the challenges from today’s world of technology.
For the eighth consecutive year, ABA TECHSHOW will host the Startup Pitch Competition, which will kick off on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. CST. Fifteen legal startups will face off in the competition, judged by TECHSHOW attendees who will pick the most innovative startup for the year.
Other programs include:
• “AI Transforming Legal Services: What’s Here, What’s Hype and Preparing for What’s Coming”
• “How to Actually Use AI in Your Legal Practice”
• “LLMS — Disruption of the Legal Profession Has Just Begun”
• “Generative AI: Amplifying Legal Services Delivery and Expanding Access to Justice”
• “Combating Deepfakes and Disinformation on Social Media: Safeguarding Your Law Firm’s Reputation”
• “Collaborating to Bridge the Justice Gap with Legal Technology”
• “Embracing the Digital Courtroom: Exploring Current and Future Trends”
• “One Bar License, Will Travel — Are Changes in Multijurisdictional Rules on the Way?”
• “Effectively and Ethically Integrating ChatGPT and Similar Tools into Your Legal Practice”
The TECHSHOW, sponsored by the ABA Law Practice Division, closes with the “60 in 60” program, which will combine the best of “60 Sites,” “60 Tips” and “Gadgets and Gizmos” into one fast-paced session.
Young Lawyers Division offers foster kids words of encouragement
“There is no one quite like you!”
“You have so much potential!”
“I just want you to remember that you are awesome and you can get through anything!”
These were just some of the “words of encouragement” that attorneys from the Young Lawyers Division wrote to foster children at the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.
The cards were part of a pop-up public service project spearheaded by Brandi Pikes, a lawyer with Winston & Strawn in Houston and YLD’s director of pro bono and public services.
The 215 cards collected in 24 hours were to be sent to Braid Mission in San Francisco, an organization that mentors foster youth.
The group also collected 120 hygiene products (lotion, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and African-American styling products) to be donated to the Home of the Innocents in Louisville, which provides residential and community-based behavioral health services, therapeutic foster care and adoption services, supportive services for young adults experiencing homelessness and long-term care for children with complex medical needs.
This public service project originated in 2021 during the pandemic, when Pikes put out the word for young lawyers to send her encouragement cards for foster children. In about 30 days she had 1,200 cards to bring to a foster organization in Dallas.
Pikes, who is the YLD representative to the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, plans another pop-up event at the YLD spring meeting in Omaha.
“You have so much potential!”
“I just want you to remember that you are awesome and you can get through anything!”
These were just some of the “words of encouragement” that attorneys from the Young Lawyers Division wrote to foster children at the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.
The cards were part of a pop-up public service project spearheaded by Brandi Pikes, a lawyer with Winston & Strawn in Houston and YLD’s director of pro bono and public services.
The 215 cards collected in 24 hours were to be sent to Braid Mission in San Francisco, an organization that mentors foster youth.
The group also collected 120 hygiene products (lotion, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and African-American styling products) to be donated to the Home of the Innocents in Louisville, which provides residential and community-based behavioral health services, therapeutic foster care and adoption services, supportive services for young adults experiencing homelessness and long-term care for children with complex medical needs.
This public service project originated in 2021 during the pandemic, when Pikes put out the word for young lawyers to send her encouragement cards for foster children. In about 30 days she had 1,200 cards to bring to a foster organization in Dallas.
Pikes, who is the YLD representative to the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, plans another pop-up event at the YLD spring meeting in Omaha.
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