The Gazette 1979

SEPTEMBER 1979

GAZETTE

Report of attendance at American Bar Association Annual Convention in Dallas, Texas

GERALD HICKEY, President.

Some of the fellow guests from overseas were: John Stebbings, President of the Law Society, London. David Hirst, Chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales. Neil McKelvey of St. John, Newfoundland — President of the International Bar Association. Thomas J. Walsh of Calgary, Alberta — President of the Canadian Bar Association. Robert D. Nicholson, Melbourne, Australia — President of thé Law Council of Australia. Lawrence H. Southwick — President of the New Zealand Law Society. Apart from the above named, I have a full list of all persons involved and their addresses, which I will hand on to my successor in due course. I feel it was useful that my wife and I met these prominent people in legal affairs from the American and other jurisdictions, and I feel that the level of contact made by us on behalf of our profession in this country, was a useful one. Strangely enough, one of the most interesting meetings that I attended, although the hour was a bit uncivilized, was a Prayer Breakfast at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Dallas. The principal non-religious item on the agenda for this meeting was an address by one of the Justices of The Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. H. A. Blackmun, and his address on world affairs and the history of the law in the United States in the last fifty years was really one of the finest addresses I have heard, even though in relation to the landmarks of recent American history, he did appear to overlook a little matter like the atom bomb at Hiroshima, and devoted only a line or two to Vietnam. One feature that struck me particularly about the American Bar Association was the extremely good relations between members of the Bench, whether Federal or Local, and the members of the A.B.A. I believe, as I always have, that the equality of primary qualification and the fact that, in theory at least, any duly qualified Lawyer in the United States can become a Judge of The Supreme Court, are unifying influences in contrast to the divisive character of our system in which the Bar and ourselves are separated by different qualifications, dif- ferent institutions and different attitudes. It is interesting to 185

In accordance with the Council's instructions I accepted the invitation of Mr. S. Shepherd Tate, President of the American Bar Association to myself and my wife to attend the Association's Annual Conference in Dallas between 8th and 15th August, 1979. On arrival at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, we were met by Mr. Hershel H. Friday of Arkansas, and his wife, who had been named as our host and hostess to look after us during the Conference. They were a very friendly and charming couple, and the level of hospitality to which we were treated throughout, and their kindness and consideration were outstanding. The size of this American Conference is something that it is difficult for us to comprehend. The number of registered conferees was in excess of 9,000 and, with their spouses and families, there were about 20,000 people in Dallas for the Conference. The Dallas Conference Centre is rather like Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and is quite the most enormous Conference Centre I have ever seen. There were literally hundreds of meetings taking place every day — the earliest commencing at 7 a.m. The entertaining and the social events were on the same sort of scale. I list for information some of the office bearers of the A.B.A., and some of the other prominent people, with their wives, whom we met: S. Shepherd Tate — President A.B.A., Memphis, Tennessee, whose term expired at the end of the Conference. Leonard S. Janofsky, Los Angeles, California — now President, A.B.A. William Reece Smith, Jnr., Tempa Florida — President Elect, A.B.A. Herbert H. Sled, Virginia — Hon. Secretary A.B.A. Arthur W. Leibold Jnr., Arlington, Virginia — Hon. Treasurer A.B.A. Lewis F. Powell Jnr. and Harry A. Blackmun, both Justices of The Supreme Court of the United States. Leon Jaworski, and one of his partners, Gibson Gayle, Jnr., both of Houston, Texas — Mr. Jaworski was the final Watergate Prosecutor, and seemes to be one of the most famous Lawyers in the U.S. Robert Strauss — President Carter's Ambassador for Middle East affairs, who made a very interesting speech at the meeting. Bert H. Early, Chicago, who is Executive Director and Chief Executive of the A.B.A.