ABA leadership. Meet the Nominees

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 63-68

Annual Meeting in August, after which

she will become the president-elect.

Reginald Turner is currently serving

as president-elect and will assume his

one-year term as president at the close

of the annual meeting. He will pass the

gavel to Enix-Ross after the 2022 ABA

Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Experience matters

Enix-Ross aspired to serve as president

of the ABA after realizing all her experi-

ences helped her understand its different

facets and constituents. After practic-

ing in various settings throughout her

career, she also felt she could understand

lawyers who were not members and

how they might be encouraged to join

the association.

She began her career as a staff

attorney at MFY Legal Services Inc. in

New York City and later served as the

U.S. representative for the International

Chamber of Commerce International

Court of Arbitration.

She was the rst African American

woman in the position and appointed

other diverse lawyers from the United

States to serve as arbitrators in ICC

cases.

Before joining Debevoise & Plimpton

in 2002, Enix-Ross worked as the senior

legal ofcer at the World Intellectual

Property Organization Arbitration and

Mediation Center in Geneva. In addition

to advising lawyers and businesses on

the use of alternative dispute resolution,

she was responsible for training and

appointing lawyers from around the

world as arbitrators in internet domain

name disputes.

“It made me think, ‘I can contrib-

ute, and if I can contribute, I ought to

contribute,’” she says. “For me, it’s less

about the position and more about,

‘What are my strengths, and what’s the

best way of using those strengths?’ As I

was moving through the association, it

became clear that I feel I have some tal-

ents and certainly some energy to offer.”

The three Cs

When Enix-Ross accepted her nomi-

nation at the ABA Midyear Meeting in

February, she reminded members that

her plans for the association include a

call to action in three areas: civics, civili-

ty and collaboration.

This trio continues to resonate

with her, particularly as the country

remains divided because of “a lack of

understanding of how our branches of

government should operate, divisive

politics, erosion of respect for the rule

of law and even the way we manage

COVID-19,” she says. And as her grand-

mother would say, “People need to be

able to disagree without being disagree-

able.”

Enix-Ross points to the importance

of civics education, which gives citizens

a better understanding of how govern-

ment works as well as what to do when

it isn’t working properly. They may have

differing views on how to approach

government, she says, but that’s where

civility plays its part.

“We are all responsible for main-

taining civility, but as lawyers, we are

called to demonstrate what that looks

like and how that can be effective,” she

says. “You can be an advocate and have

strongly held views, but it doesn’t have

to devolve into the kind of chaos and

disruption that we have seen.”

That focus on civics and civility can

happen only with better collaboration

between lawyers and people in all pro-

fessions—and in all political parties—

around the world, Enix-Ross adds.

“Some may say the ABA should be

focused just in the U.S., but what we

do in the U.S. has an impact across the

world,” she says. “And if the pandemic

has shown us anything, it is that what

happens across the world can have an

impact here for us.” Q

Deborah Enix-Ross joined the ABA “to

be around the best, smartest leaders in

the legal profession.”

ABA Insider | ABA LEADERSHIP

ABA LEADERSHIP

Meet the Nominees

Board of Governors candidates share their motivations to serve

BY AMANDA ROBERT

Ahead of the 2021 ABA

Annual Meeting, we asked

candidates for the Board of

Governors the same three

questions: What positive experiences

have you had with the ABA? What

would you like to accomplish during

your term? And nally, why would you

encourage other lawyers and judges to

join the association?

For their full responses, go to

ABAJournal.com/2021BOG.

Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr.

District 3

Member of

Cozen O’Con-

nor in Philadel-

phia. Member

of the House of

Delegates. Past

member of the

Standing Com-

Photos by Arnold Adler/ABA Journal; courtesy of Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr.

ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021

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-ABA PM