Aba House of Delegates Midyear Meeting Agenda Report: February 4-5, 2002, in Philadelphia

• Publication year: 2002
• Pages: 31

31 Colo.Law. 31 Colorado Lawyer 2002.

2002, January, Pg. 31. ABA House of Delegates Midyear Meeting Agenda Report: February 4-5, 2002, in Philadelphia

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Vol. 31, No. 1, Pg. 31

The Colorado Lawyer
January 2002
Vol. 31, No. 1 [Page 31]

Departments
ABA Delegates' Report
ABA House of Delegates Midyear Meeting Agenda Report February 4-5, 2002, in Philadelphia
by Fred Rodgers

Comparison of Current ABA Model Rules 1.11 through 8.5 with the Colorado Rules and Ethics 2000 Report

The House of Delegates ("House") is the policymaking arm of the American Bar Association ("ABA"), and it meets twice a year to discuss debate, and approve ABA policy. It met last August in Chicago in conjunction with the ABA summer Annual Meeting1 and will resume activities at the upcoming Midyear Meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, February 4 and 5, 2002, in Philadelphia. The "City of Brotherly Love" last hosted an ABA Midyear Meeting fifteen years ago in February 1987. The bitterly cold weather that confronted the Delegates on that occasion called to mind the apocryphal adage that the ABA perversely selects its winter meeting venues for their chill factors and the summer ones for their sweltering heat

There will be heat generated by the House debate in Philadelphia over the proposed revision of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct ("Rules"). As reported earlier,2 the Rules occupied most of the Delegates' time at the Chicago Annual Meeting last August, and unless the House can conclude its work on them in Philadelphia, the Rules will continue to be a major agenda item in Washington, D.C., at the Annual Meeting of the House in August 2002. Some other issues that will occupy the Delegates at the February Midyear Meeting are described below.

State and Local Bar Association Proposal

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York has sponsored Report 8A, which urges Congress to enact a qui tam citizens' suit provision for Animal Welfare Act ("Act") violations. If adopted, ABA lobbyists in Washington will attempt to persuade Congress to amend the Act to permit suits by animal rights activists and others to enforce the provisions of the existing law. Under House Rules, proposals originating from state and local bar associations are exempt from filing deadlines and are assigned preferential numbering.

Criminal Justice

The ABA Criminal Justice Section has...