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Contact: Mark Mahoney
Associate Director, Media Services and Public Affairs
Mmahoney@nysba.org
518-487-5532
August 9, 2012
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION ASSUMES MORE PROMINENT
ROLE ON NATIONAL STAGE
The New York State Bar Association has taken a more visible and
active role in the national legal community through its positions on
vital issues, its influence within the American Bar Association, and the
election of one of its members to head the national organization next
year.
State Bar President Seymour W. James, Jr. of New York City (The Legal
Aid Society) said the State Bar has distinguished itself by being
proactive on issues important to the legal community and the general
public. That is reflected in the large number of ABA awards honoring New
Yorkers this year.
“The New York State Bar Association is pleased to be recognized
for its leadership role in addressing adequate court funding, legal
services for the poor, diversity, the wrongfully convicted, equal rights
and other issues,” James said.
New York City attorney James R. Silkenat (Sullivan & Worcester), a
State Bar member for more than 20 years, was elected president-elect of
the ABA at its Annual Meeting in Chicago on Aug. 7. He will become ABA
president in 2013, making him the first New Yorker to head the ABA in
more than 25 years.
The State Bar began taking a more extensive role in the ABA in 2008
under then-President Bernice Leber, with a resolution regarding the
federal government's detaining prisoners at Guantanamo. The resolution,
adopted in 2009, was the first of many subsequent successes, which now
include State Bar-sponsored resolutions on civil legal services, the
ranking of law firms and legal education.
The Bar Association’s current focus in the ABA is on
representation in immigration cases and federal discovery. Both
resolutions are based on reports adopted in June by NYSBA’s House
of Delegates.
“Even if the State Bar isn’t the sponsor of a resolution,
it has an impact on the lawyers here. This is where many of these
matters are being addressed by lawyers, so we have a stake in how almost
everything comes out,” Silkenat said. ”There is a long
history of New York leadership in the ABA,” he said, adding,
“I am very pleased to see the real recognition now of the work
being done by lawyers from this state.”
In addition, the State Bar has been very active in working with
Ethics 20/20, an ABA commission looking into modernizing the Model Rules
of Professional Responsibility. The State Bar also has enhanced its
lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., working closely with the ABA. The
New York association's efforts, which earned it an ABA Grassroots award
in 2011, are geared toward advocating for the courts, legal services for
the indigent and the justice system.
Former State Bar President Mark H. Alcott, who chairs the New York
delegation in the ABA House of Delegates, offered two main reasons for
the State Bar’s more prominent role in the ABA.
“First and foremost, the reason for the recognition is because the
people, the entities and the programs deserve that honor,” he
said. “Secondly, the State Bar has renewed its focus on the
American Bar Association and on national legal matters.”
Alcott said he was encouraged that “the leadership of the State
Bar has risen to take such an active role in ABA business.”
For instance, at a meeting in February of the ABA Commission on Ethics
20/20, then-State Bar President Vincent E. Doyle III of Buffalo (Connors
& Vilardo) testified on non-lawyer ownership of law firms.
The State Bar 2012 report on the need for adequate funding for the
judiciary has been cited by former ABA President William
“Bill” Robinson as an example for other state bars.
Robinson spoke at the State Bar’s Annual Meeting in New York City
in January.
In addition, the State Bar and members of the New York
legal community have been recognized by the ABA on several occasions
this year for their contributions to the profession and to society as a
whole:
• Dorsey Award: NYSBA President
Seymour W. James, Jr., for his efforts in helping the poor obtain legal
services and assisting former inmates transition back into society.
• ABA Partnership Award for Diversity: New
York State Bar Association, President’s Section Diversity
Challenge, for a challenge initiated by then-President Vincent E. Doyle
III to increase diversity in the profession and the community.
• John H. Pickering Award: Former NYSBA
President Anthony R. Palermo of Rochester (Woods, Oviatt, Gilman), for
distinguished service to the profession and the community.
• Alexander D. Forger Awards: Alexander D.
Forger of New York City (Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy), an
inaugural award, for sustained excellence in HIV legal services and
advocacy.
• Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of
Achievement Award: Amy W. Schulman of New York City (Pfizer
Nutrition), for excellence in her field and for paving the way for other
women lawyers.
• ABA Michael Franck Professional
Responsibility Award: Seth Rosner of Saratoga Springs (Seth
Rosner), for his career efforts on behalf of legal ethics, disciplinary
enforcement and lawyer professionalism.
• Pro
Bono Publico Award: State Supreme Court, Appellate Division,
Fourth Department, for efforts under Presiding Justice Henry J. Scudder
in creating a model program to increase pro bono participation by the
court’s legal staff.
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the
largest voluntary state bar association in the country. It was founded
in 1876.
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