Contact:  Andrew Rush
Director, Media Services & Public Affairs
arush@nysba.org
518/487-5530

February 12, 2008

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION WINS NATIONAL SUPPORT FROM ABAON KEY RECOMMENDATION

Support for Pakistani Bar and Bench Approved

The American Bar Association’s (ABA ) House of Delegates has endorsed a recommendation sponsored by the New York State Bar Association at its mid-year meeting in Los Angeles.  The NYSBA recommendation pledging continued support for the Pakistani bench and bar was approved by the largest voluntary professional association in the world.

“Supporting the rule of law is a core value of our profession, and it is important to send a message to our colleagues in Pakistan that they are not forgotten and the American legal community stands with them as they continue to struggle under oppressive rule,” said New York State Bar Association President Kathryn Grant Madigan of Binghamton (Levene Gouldin & Thompson LLP). “New Yorkwas one of the first states to express support for the bench and bar of Pakistan and we will continue to speak out until the rule of law is fully restored.”

The ABAunanimously approved the recommendation sponsored by NYSBA that expresses support and solidarity with the Pakistani bar and bench and calls upon the President of Pakistan to restore that nation’s constitution as it existed before November 3, 2007. The resolution also calls for the reinstatement of Pakistan’s Supreme Court justices and high court judges who were removed from office and the release of all judges, lawyers and others who were wrongly arrested during the state of emergency.

The 74,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers in New Yorkand the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation.  Founded in 1876, NYSBA programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.

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