by Jonathan Shirts

This year’s American Bar Association Midyear meeting was held in Louisville, KY from January 31 to February 5. For a baseball nerd like myself, I’ll admit I was a little excited when I found a break in my schedule that allowed me an opportunity to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory – not every day you get to hold bats that were used in games by Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski and Babe Ruth. (I might be a Red Sox fan and 1920 still stings, but my kids absolutely love the Sandlot, so a chance to hold a bat used by “the Great Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, the Titan of Terror, the Colossus of Clout,” [i] was something I couldn’t pass up). If you ever get a chance to visit Louisville, I highly recommend a visit – there’s a behind-the-scenes tour of the factory that lets you watch how the bats get made. I wasn’t able to get to the other great Louisville attraction – Churchill Downs – but there wasn’t the excitement there the first weekend in February like I’m sure there will be the first weekend in May.

Outside of baseball, there are a number of things that happen in and around the ABA’s Midyear Meeting. Each Midyear Meeting, the ABA’s Judicial Division puts on a major event – the Judicial Clerkship Program. This program is designed to put together law students and judges from across the country and from every level, State and Federal.[ii] This year, “[n]early a hundred students from 21 law schools around the country got an up-close-and-personal look at what it’s like to work as judicial clerks.”[iii] Every judge and law student I had an opportunity to speak with about this program raved about it, especially the law students, who also expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to get to know and work with these judges. As a law student not-so-long-ago myself, I had the opportunity to be involved with the ABA and the ABA’s Judicial Division in particular. The Judges I met and worked with during that time made an enormous difference in my life, and I now consider many of them to be great friends. The Midyear Meeting next year is in Phoenix[iv] – much closer to Boise, and warmer, too – and I would encourage any Judges reading this (active, past, or retired) to consider participating in this program. For anyone from a law school, this is an amazing opportunity for your law students – especially those that are traditionally underrepresented.

The lead-up to the House of Delegates meeting was packed with meetings and ceremonies honoring some amazing lawyers from across the country. During the last couple years, I have been able to get to know two individuals who were honored this year with Spirit of Excellence Awards:[v] Capt. Benes Z. Aldana and Juan Thomas. They are both true trailblazers, with stories that are truly inspiring, and getting to know them, and many others like them, is one of the greatest things I’ve been able to do through the ABA. How else could someone like me – born and raised in tiny towns in Southern Utah, graduate of a North Idaho high school, and a first-generation lawyer – have the opportunity to rub shoulders with legal leaders like that? It’s humbling, yet exciting.

Throughout the entire Midyear Meeting, there were a great number of conversations about the future of the ABA and how to make membership more valuable and attractive. I would venture a guess that many people who pick up this issue of The Advocate won’t read this article; it will just be skipped because “ABA” is in the title. So why aren’t more Idaho lawyers interested in joining the ABA? I’ve heard from some attorneys that they don’t feel the ABA is “right” for them, that it doesn’t represent their interests, or that it costs too much. While I would love to have a conversation with each person reading this, individually, that’s a tall task, so let me have a hypothetical conversation with each of you:

You: “What is the point of the ABA? What does it even do?”

Me: “The ABA is primarily made up of volunteer lawyers and judges who are trying to ‘Advocate for the Profession, Eliminate Bias & Enhance Diversity, Serve [Its] Members, and Advance the Rule of Law.’”[vi]

“OK, but what does that mean to me as an Idaho lawyer?”

“Well…”

“Exactly. And it’s not like I can find anything on that website anyway…”

“Oh, I know – I swear it’s being worked on.”

“So, the website’s broken, and it’s going to cost me extra because the ABA just raised dues…”

“Yes, but it’s the first time since 2015 and the increase is only $45 a year, $0.12 a day…”[vii]

“OK, that’s all good and fine, but why should I spend even just a little more of my very hard-earned cash to join something that’s just an ‘old man’s club?’ Or that will only advocate for me if I believe in the same thing as people who don’t have the same beliefs as me? What’s in it for me, personally?”

“Well, here are a couple reasons I think ABA membership could be worth it for you: First – there are over 500 CLE included for members…”[viii]

“Wait, did I hear that right?”

“Yes, you did. Isn’t your CLE reporting period coming up the end of this year? I’d challenge you to find that many CLEs for that cheap somewhere else.”[ix]

“OK, what else? You have my attention, for about 30 seconds…”

“Second, what are you interested in as part of your practice? Construction Law? There’s a Section for that.[x] Intellectual Property Law? There’s a Section for that.[xi] Family Law?[xii] Health Law?[xiii] Environmental Law?[xiv] Yeah, there are Sections for each of those, too.

Or are you looking for something that isn’t just in a specific area? For instance: Do you need some help running your law practice?[xv] Are you currently thinking about hanging your own shingle or already running a solo or small firm?[xvi] Maybe you haven’t been practicing that long and are looking for a place where everyone around you is going through the same challenges with student loans and getting used to billable hours?[xvii] There is a home for each of those in the ABA.”

“So, what makes the ABA so important to you?”

“Personally? Well, I’ve been part of the Judicial Division[xviii] since I was elected to be the ABA Representative my 1L year of law school. Because of that, I have been able to get introduced to State and Federal judges and justices from across the country. But I’ve also been able to get to know attorneys in various practice areas around the country with my role as the Idaho State Bar’s Delegate to the ABA’s House of Delegates. I am also currently serving as the Judicial Division’s Liaison to the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs,[xix] and as a member of the Judicial Security Committee.[xx] Because of my membership on the Judicial Security Committee, I was able to present a Resolution to the ABA House of Delegates last year,[xxi] and as a result of that effort, the Judicial Security Committee will be presenting another Resolution this August in support of a newly introduced bi-partisan Senate Bill[xxii] that would create a State judicial threat intelligence and resource center at the State Justice Institute.”[xxiii]

The point I’m trying to make to each of you is that the ABA has a place for everyone if you want it. As John F. Kennedy famously said when he paraphrased Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”[xxiv] I am not content with doing nothing, which is why I am grateful for the opportunities the ABA has presented me to make a difference and do something. This Midyear Meeting, for example, the House of Delegates passed Resolutions regarding academic freedom standards for law schools,[xxv] more transparency and enforcement regarding how deaths in custody are reported,[xxvi] and the plight of Native Americans – especially women – who are at a higher risk of abduction or violence.[xxvii] As the new Executive Director of the ABA said, the ABA is and should be the “ultimate resource” for every attorney across the country.[xxviii] It has been for me, and I know it could be for each of you, regardless of whether you’ve been practicing for just a couple months or for a couple of decades.

But if all of this hasn’t been enough to convince you that membership in the ABA is worthwhile, a report was published that details what impact the ABA has had in advancing the rule of law, both here in the United States and across the world – it’s worth a read.[xxix] As always, please feel free to contact me – I’d be happy to have an individual conversation with anyone who has questions about how the ABA might be able to help them.