The Gazette 1993

SEPTEMBER 1993

GAZETTE

N E W S

ABA Conference: Justice For All - All For Justice

i.e. ensuring that landlords treated tenants in an apartment block according to the terms of the lease. "Lawyers must reach out to help the children of America", she concluded, "they need hugs and encouragement, they need to be treated with respect." •

"America's justice system continues to deteriorate and in many parts of the United States is on the verge of collapse due to inadequate funding" said ABA President, Michael McWilliams , at the Í start of the American Bar Association Annual Conference which had as its theme "Justice for All -All for Justice". The Annual Conference attended by over 13,000 American lawyers and lawyers from all common law juris- dictions throughout the world including delegations from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, also focused on the inadequacy of the legal system in serving the needs of America's children. A leitmotif running through many presidential speeches, press briefings and showcase pro- grammes at the ABA was a deepening unease about the level of gun-related violence throughout the United States. Pointing out that nearly one-quarter of all children under the age of six in America live in poverty, Michael McWilliams told a press conference that guns kill or injure forty children every day in the United States and gunshot wounds were the leading cause of death among both white and African/ American teenage boys. Lawyers, he said, must lead the way in calling for reform of the legal system's handling of childrens' cases. "We must give children the same level of zealous advocacy now given to adult and corporate clients. Because if we don't, our children won't reach adulthood with the strength and self-sufficiency necessary to fully ! participate in, and contribute to, both our economy and our democracy - and that puts both in great jeopardy." Michael McWilliams said that teenagers could easily obtain guns through "straw purchasers" because the simple step of performing a criminal background check prior to selling an individual handguns and other firearms was not compulsory. He called for the enactment of the Brady Bill which would provide for a waiting period to ensure that handguns were not purchased over the counter without

Justice for alii

J. Michael McWilliams, President outgoing of the ABA.

background checks being done on the criminal record of the purchaser.

Rights of Children In her address to the Opening Assembly of the ABA Conference, US Attorney

Ide to Tackle Communication The President-elect of the ABA, R. William Ide, III, said during his year as President the ABA would concentrate on helping sole practitioners, communi- cating with the public, improving the justice system, and elevating the standing of lawyers. He said he believed that poor client relations were hurting the image of lawyers. Many lawyers did not return client phone calls quickly enough and needed to brush up in general on their client relations skills. Clients were frustrated in their dealings with lawyers and that contributed to a poor image for lawyers. He said he was unhappy with some of the quality of advertising by lawyers and that the ABA would have to set a norm to eliminate offensive ads. The new ABA President is currently developing a communications plan designed to help the ABA respond more quickly to issues as they arise. In addition to the President and President elect, eighteen members of the ABA will act as spokespersons for the Association throughout the United States.

General, Janet Reno, said that America's children had suffered

indifference and neglect for far too long. Lawyers must rise to the challenge of solving the problems faced by children because without them it would not be possible to maintain America. "We must give our children a chance to grow to be strong, constructive human beings," she said. "If we can send a man to the moon we can do something about teenage pregnancy. There is something wrong with a nation which says, sorry, we have no preventative medical care. Lawyers must join with doctors, teachers and police in working together to make sure that children can have an opportunity to secure their nation and to build their communities." She said lawyers had a duty not to wait until a crisis occurred. "Solve it before it gets to court" she told delegates. She suggested that lawyers must become active in campaigning for a change in welfare law. Advocates should maintain contact with first-time offenders that they represented to make sure that they did not offend again. Lawyers could take community initiatives such as "adopting a block"

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