More than the law

• Author: Stephanie Francis Ward
• Pages: 59-60

SEPTEMBER 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 59

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM SALYER; EKARYABIS/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

your Aba

EDITED BY LEE RAWLES

LEE.RAWLES@AMERICANBAR.ORG

MORE THAN

THE LAW

Incoming President Robert Carlson

sees expansive roles for attorneys

By Stephanie Francis Ward

Butte native Robert M. Carlson says that

besides practicing law, Montana lawyers take on

signifi cant volunteer positions with the state’s

food banks, school boards and university alumni

associations. As president of the American Bar

Association, Carlson hopes to promote the idea

that there’s more to being an attorney than pro-

viding legal representation.

“Lawyers are a focal part of their communities,

and that’s true everywhere else in the country;

people look to lawyers to do things,” he says.

“The Montana bar is full of diverse lawyers, in

terms of practice type and fi rm size. They are

active in this state just about every way I can

think of, and without them it would not be as

good of a place to live as it is.”

The partner with Butte’s Corette Black Carlson

& Mickelson says that for now, he has no plans to

create new task forces or commissions during his

ABA presidency.

“We have been talking about this as being a

relay, not a sprint. There are a lot of good things

that are happening, and we want to keep moving

them forward,” says Carlson, who hopes that

during his term the ABA will carry on its work

toward bringing in more members and promot-

ing the importance of an independent judicial

system. He’d also like to see continued work

involving changes in legal education and bar

admissions, and the promotion of wellness for

lawyers and law students.

Regarding member recruitment, Carlson

mentions ABA Blueprint, which will include

new features. The next version of Blueprint will

also have a more robust tech infrastructure, with

a focus on data analytics that will allow the ABA

to make quicker improvements in the app and

provide members with more services.

He’s also hopeful about a new membership

model that the ABA House of Delegates approved

at the August annual meeting. It reduces the

dues categories from 157 to fi ve, ranging from

$75 for lawyers with less than fi ve years’ experi-

ence to $450 for those with 20 or more years of