Report from governmental affairs. Global Impact

• Pages: 66-67

municipal judge pro tem for the cities

of Clarksdale and Grenada. He serves

as president of the National Bar As-

sociation and is active in several other

bar associations, including the ABA,

the American Association for Justice,

the Mississippi Bar, the Magnolia Bar

Association, Mississippi Association

for Justice and the Grenada County

Bar Association. He previously served

on the Board of Commissioners for the

Mississippi Bar.

“In the post-George Floyd era,

it’s evident that there is a problem in

America. I thought with the election of

our rst Black U.S. president, Barack

Obama, we would live in a post-racial

society, but that is furthest from the

truth. It is incumbent on each of us to

do our part to make America live up to

our ideals. We have great ideals, but we

have failed to live up to them. It’s going

to take individuals like each of us, the

lawyers and judges and professionals,

to do our part to make this a more

equitable and inclusive society and

profession.”

Adrienne C. Nelson was appointed

to the Oregon

Supreme Court

in January

2018. She is

the rst African

American to sit

on the state’s

highest court,

and she was

elected to a

six-year term

in November

2018. Prior to that, she was appoint-

ed to the Multnomah County Circuit

Court in 2006, making her the second

African American female judge in her

state. She graduated from the Univer-

sity of Texas at Austin School of Law

and has served in many ABA roles. She

is a member of the House of Delegates

and chairs the Diversity and Inclusion

Center and the Diversity & Inclusion

Advisory Council.

“I’m humbled and full of gratitude

for the recognition. I look forward

to [contributing] to the legal pro-

fession.” Q

ABA Insider | REPORT FROM GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

REPORT FROM

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

Global

Impact

The ABA’s advocacy has influence

on the international stage

The ABA’s efforts to improve

laws and regulations and

defend the rule of law are not

limited to the United States;

the ABA’s voice is also heard around

the world.

Opening jurisdictions to U.S. law

rms, strengthening the rule of law, and

improving the quality of laws through

education, law reform and advocacy

are important components of the ABA’s

global work. Here is a sampling of

the ABA’s efforts and the impacts they

have had.

The ABA has for decades supported

enabling U.S. law rms to establish of-

ces overseas and associate freely with

foreign lawyers and law rms. The ABA

Governmental Affairs Ofce regularly

communicates with the Ofce of the

United States Trade Representative

and Department of Commerce on legal

services-related issues in ongoing trade

negotiations, and ABA leaders routinely

engage directly with bar leaders and

government ofcials in foreign countries

to press for enhanced market access.

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative has

worked to combat hereditary slavery

(being born into slavery) in Mali.

ROLI’s Mali program has advocated

with the Malian legislature to crimi-

nalize descent-based slavery. It also has

partnered with civil society organiza-

tions to train judges, lawyers and civil

society advocacy groups on how to

litigate slavery cases, and it has helped

community leaders with using alterna-

tive dispute resolution techniques to

negotiate victims’ freedom. As a result

of the program, 40 victims of slavery

have so far been freed.

In Poland, the ABA Center for

Human Rights repeatedly has fought

attacks on judicial independence. In

July 2017, then-ABA President Linda

Klein expressed concern about threats

to judicial independence, including

then-pending legislation that would

have forced the early retirement of the

majority of Poland’s Supreme Court

judges. A few days later, Poland’s presi-

dent vetoed the law.

But the ABA’s work was not done.

Responding to the Polish government’s

continued efforts to undermine the

independence of the judiciary, successive

ABA presidents Hilarie Bass and Judy

Perry Martinez also released statements

and engaged in follow-up advocacy.

The Center for Human Rights

continues to monitor proceedings and

publicly document fair-trial violations

in Poland.

The ABA International Law Section

is a leader in developing policy in the

international arena, promoting the rule

of law and educating international law

practitioners. As part of its work, it

develops “rule of law” letters for ABA

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022

Photo courtesy of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession; Shutterstock

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