Thank Goodness for Litigation News. Celebrating 50 years of excellence

• Pages: 2-2
• Date: 01 January 2026
• Published date: 01 January 2026
• Author: Anthony R. McClure
• Subject Matter: Civil Law

Published in Litigation News Volume 51, Num ber 2, Winter 202 6. © 2026 by the Amer ican Bar Ass ociation. Rep roduced with pe rmission. A ll rights reser ved. This info rmation or any po rtion thereof

may not be copied o r disseminated i n any form or by any means o r stored in an elec tronic databas e or retrieval system w ithout the expres s written consen t of the American Ba r Association .

o you have a group of friends from, say, high

school or college, and you’ve stayed close for

several years or even decades? Do your friends

live all over the country, and when you see each

other, it’s like no time has passed? Consider your-

self lucky.

That’s Litigation News. We are a board of more than 40

law students, attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals

who volunteer their time to make Litigation News the f‌inished

product that you see today. We have dozens of writers who

work tirelessly to write on topical, relevant, groundbreaking

(and sometimes controversial) court decisions from around

the country that aect each of our litigation practices in one

way or another. And we have six unbelievable columnists who

write on important topics anywhere from the nuts and bolts

of civil procedure to the essential foundations of lawyers’

mental health and wellness.

Put simply, these are amazing people.

But more importantly to me, these are my friends. I’ve been

a member of Litigation News in some capacity for longer

than I care to admit. Twice a year, in the spring and again in

the fall, we meet in person as a group for two days to share

ideas on how to improve our product. Our meetings are f‌illed

with fun, laughter, and endless debates on the correct use of

the Oxford comma, the correct number of spaces between

sentences, and whether the use of passive voice is ever appro-

priate. (And at least one f‌istf‌ight over the correct spelling of

“Co-Chair.”)

Each time we meet, it’s like no time has passed. I’ll always

be grateful for Litigation News.

A Rich Histor y

Now, we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary. The f‌irst edition

of Litigation News was released in October 1975. At about

six pages, the quarterly publication focused on committee

activities and conferences sponsored by the ABA Litigation

Section. Litigation News started with about 14 members, with

an idea to be a newsletter for Section leaders. According to

that f‌irst issue, “the News plans to provide the communica-

tion source between the active membership and the member-

ship-at-large.”

Since that time, Litigation News has seen several changes—

both in format and in content. Moving into the 1980s, the

publication grew both in size and frequency. Every other

month, Section members would receive a mailing with a

folded, stapled, paper stock newsletter. At this point, the

articles began to resemble what you see today: summaries of

Thank Goodness for Litigation News

important court decisions, complete with insightful commen-

tary from Section leaders.

In 2008, Litigation News saw yet another change in for-

mat—this time to a glossy magazine. And since 2022, the pub-

lication has gone fully digital.

Through these decades of work, and meetings, and get-

togethers, the Litigation News Board has amassed countless

inside stories and traditions. The Golden Screw. The napkin.

The Ohio maf‌ia. The velociraptor. And of course, the infa-

mous April Fools edition of 2012.

Sustaining the Momentum

Today, Litigation News is read by thousands of readers. It

keeps practitioners up to date on the latest developments and

trends across a wide variety of areas vital to our practices,

including civil procedure, professional liability, e-discovery

and discovery, ethics, trial practice, and more. Our amaz-

ing columns cover topics such as technology in the law, views

from the bench, practice points, business law, and mental

health and wellness.

The publication has certainly come a long way from the

original six-page newsletter that started it all. Our quarterly

e-pub has three features, including a cover story, each diving

into hot topics and pivotal cases. The quarterly version also

includes nine additional stories and original columns.

Between quarterly publications, new stories are posted

online weekly. And Section members receive bi-monthly emails

with top stories and tips. All of it is available online with tags

for common topics, and all of it is keyword searchable.

We’re also very proud of our growing readership. We

started collecting data around 2010–2011. In 2012 and 2013,

emails were opened by approximately 4,000 to 5,000 readers.

By comparison, in the most recent bar year 2024–2025, these

numbers essentially tripled, as our emails were opened by

approximately 14,000 readers. Our most recent open rate was

an eye-popping 49.6 percent.

Here’s to 50 More Years

The future is bright at Litigation News. We are a dynamic,

energetic group that thoroughly enjoys engaging with Section

leaders for their commentary and writing these stories.

We’re always happy to welcome new members to our family.

If you or someone you know might be interested in joining the

group, please send an email to LitNewsWriteOn@gmail.com.

These are amazing people. And I thank my lucky stars they

are my friends.

Thank goodness for Litigation News.

Celebrating 50 years of excellence

By Anthony R. McClure , Litigation News Editor-in-Ch ief, 2024–2026

WINTER 202 6 • VOL. 51 NO. 2

2 | A BA LITIGATION SECTION

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF