Future of legal profession topic at ABA meeting in Toronto

Civil liberties and security 10 years after 9/11; immigration issues, including lessons learned from the Postville, Iowa, raids; and the courts' funding issues are among the key local topics that will be on tap at the 2011 American Bar Association Annual Meeting, Aug. 4- 9, in Toronto. With more than 1,400 top-quality legal programs and events, and presentations by the foremost law experts and speakers, the ABA Annual Meeting is the nation's premier gathering of legal professionals. 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," from 2 - 4 p.m. in Room 714A, 700 Level, South Building, Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Stephen G. Breyer is presenting the keynote address, and Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin will give opening remarks during the Opening Assembly on Aug. 6. The event begins at 5:30 p.m., and will take place in Koerner Hall, The Historic Royal Conservatory of Music, 273 Bloor Street West. On Aug. 7, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will host its 21st Annual Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Luncheon at the MTCC, beginning at 11:45 a.m., Exhibit Hall F/G, 800 Level. 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 in the MTCC, Exhibit Hall F/G, 800 Level, South Building. 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. Deliberations begin at 8:30 a.m. each day. 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" * "Class Action Litigation After Dukes v. Walmart" * "Twenty Five Years and Counting: A Look at Justice Scalia's Tenure on the Supreme Court" * "Shattering the Legal Glass Ceiling: The Myths and Realities of Law-Firm Compensation" * "The Once and Future Firm: Facts v. Fiction" * "Our Highest Courts: A Comparison of the Canadian and U.S. Supreme Courts" * "Access Across America: First Report of the Civil Justice Infrastructure Mapping Project" * "The Postville Raids and Agri-Processors Case: Internal Investigations, Criminal Prosecutions, and Immigration Consequences for Corporations & Individuals" * "Commission on Ethics 20/20 Public Hearing" * "'Implicit Bias' and The Myth of Equal Justice" * "9/11 - A Decade Later, and a World Apart" * "The Road to Independence: 101 Women's Journeys to Starting their Own Law Firms" * "Multijurisdictional, Cross-Border and International Class Actions: Where Are We Heading?" * "The Annual Dinner in Honor of the Judiciary and Preservation of the Justice Center John Marshall Award" * "Commission on Civic Education in the Nation's Schools Panel Discussion" * "WikiLeaks, National Security and Free Speech" * "The Globalization of Anti-Corruption Law" * "Investigating and Forgetting on the Web" * "Reconciling the First Amendment and Antidiscrimination Policies: The Implications of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez" Published: Thu, Jul 28, 2011