By Cleaveland D. Miller
Philip S. Anderson became the 122nd president of the American Bar Association in August at the conclusion of the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto. He is a partner in the law firm of Williams & Anderson in Little Rock, Ark.
Anderson, 63, is past chair of the ABA House of Delegates and served as a member of the Board of Governors for two terms. For three years until 1997, he chaired the ABA Coalition for Justice, which is attempting to strengthen public confidence in the U.S. justice system. The coalition oversees the Justice Initiatives program, which encourages lawyers and judges to involve the community in improving state and local justice systems. He is past chair of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.
By presidential appointment in 1978 and 1979, Anderson served on the U.S. Circuit Court Judge Nominating Commission Panel for the Eighth Circuit. He was a member of the Federal Advisory Committee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 1983 to 1988. He is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, and a fellow and past chair of the Arkansas Bar Foundation. He belongs to the American Judicature Society and the American Counsel Association. His service on the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on (civil) Jury Instructions for 35 years earned him a Special Award for Meritorious Service from the Arkansas Bar Association in 1966.
Anderson received his B.A. and law degrees from the University of Arkansas, and served as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review. His community service includes serving as trustee of the Southwestern Legal Foundation; trustee and past president of the Central Arkansas Library System; and past president of Little Rock Unlimited Progress, Inc., and Friends of the Little Rock Public Library. He is a former member of the Vestry of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Parish.
Last fall, Anderson discussed his goals as ABA president--and particularly his focus on the independence of the judiciary and the need to enhance public confidence in the legal profession--with Cleaveland D. Miller of Baltimore, now immediate past chair of the ABA's Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services.
Miller: Phil, I wanted to start the interview with some questions that are of a personal nature so that we might give our readers some idea of who Phil Anderson is, in addition to being an outstanding lawyer and bar leader. Tell me what motivated you to become a lawyer. Was this something that you were interested in as a young person or did your interest develop later?
Anderson: My interest in being a lawyer began at a pretty early age. I have always been interested in political science and civics and it always seemed to me that lawyers have had a very important role to play in our society. We are a country that is devoted to the rule of law. My interest in law did develop at an early time.
Miller: Was your father or anyone in your family a lawyer? I know that my mother encouraged me to be a lawyer and my uncle was a lawyer. That was an influence on me.
Anderson: No, my father was not a lawyer but he encouraged me to go to law school when he saw how strong my interest was in being a lawyer.
Miller: I know your father-in-law, Edward Wright, served as a president of the ABA (1970-1971) and that you also practiced with him. Was he an important influence on you?
Anderson: Yes, he was one of the most significant influences on my career. I practiced with him for 17 years, and it was a wonderful experience. He was a wonderful person to work with, and I learned a great deal from him.
Miller: Did he encourage you to become active in the American Bar Association?
Anderson: Yes, he did. I first became active through the Banking Law Committee of the Business section. When my father-in-law died, I ran for the position of state delegate from Arkansas, and when I was elected I became much more involved with the ABA.
Miller: I know that you must not have a great deal of spare time at the moment.
Anderson That's certainly true.
Miller: But when you do have a moment here or there, what hobbies, what interests do you have?
Anderson: Well, I enjoy gardening, . . . it is very relaxing for me. My garden is not large and is mostly herbs, but it's relaxing to work there.
Miller: I bet you're also an avid reader.
Anderson: Yes, that's right. I carry several books with me when I travel.
Miller: Tell us what books you're carrying around now.
Anderson: I have one fiction book, An Instance of the Fingerpost, and I'm also reading several books in preparation for the symposia and national conference that will be coming up. One is Gerhard Casper's book of essays on constitutional government, separating power.
Miller: Those sound like very interesting and challenging books. Let's talk now about your plans for your year as president. In your remarks to the House of Delegates in San Antonio (Texas), you stated that there were three major issues facing the bar--the dignity of humanity, access to justice for all members of our society and judicial independence. Will these issues be important during your year?
Anderson: Yes, absolutely. These are the challenges that the bar faces. These are not new issues. The ABA has addressed these time and again, and we need to stay focused on them.
Miller: How do the two symposia and the national conference fit into these issues?
Anderson: Let me begin with the National Conference on Trust and Confidence in the Justice System. That will be in May of 1999 and will be held in Washington, D.C. It will be held in cooperation with the Conference of Chief Justices, the Conference of State Court Administrators and the League of Women Voters. Each state, through the chief justice, has been asked to put together a state team and those teams will meet in Washington to adopt specific plans and to exchange information which can be taken back to each state.
Miller: Tell me now about the symposia.
Anderson: We are planning to hold two symposia. One will be in December 1998 and will be held in Philadelphia. (Already held.) We have an outstanding group of political scientists, historians, sociologists and constitutional scholars assembled to participate, in addition to bar leaders and representatives of the state teams. The goal will be to explore the origins of the separation of powers in the United States between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, and particularly the history of judicial independence in America.
The second symposium will be held in Washington in February 1999 and will explore the current attitude of the public toward the justice system. For this symposium, we are inviting public commentators, public relations specialists, media representatives, as well as members of the judiciary, leaders of the bar and, again, representatives of the state delegations. Our goal here is to understand the reasons why the public feels the way that it does about the judicial system, what it feels about the judicial system and how we might improve the public's perception of the justice system.
Miller: I take it then that the two symposia are designed to provide a foundation for the national conference.
Anderson: That's exactly right. We hope at the national conference to arrive at a number of specific programs that can be used across the country that will inform the public about the judicial system and increase the public's participation and respect for that system. This conference will be held in May 1999, also in Washington. I think this will be an extremely important meeting and will produce very significant programs. We will meet again a year later to measure our programs. The national conference is the beginning of a process; it is not an end in itself.
Miller: I know that you have been very active and have led the ABA's Coalition for Justice. It seems to me that your program for your year is an outgrowth of that coalition for justice initiative.
Anderson: Yes, that's exactly right. Jack Curtin is doing a terrific job in leading the Coalition for Justice now, and these symposia and national conference are a continuation of that effort.
Miller: How successful has the Coalition for Justice been?
Anderson: It's been extremely successful. We've been able to identify 168 specific programs that have been implemented in states across the country as a result of the programs and initiatives that the coalition has sponsored. For example, there was the Citizens Summit of the Louisiana state bar and Supreme Court, the Hawaii State Bar Association's Citizens Justice Conference and the Franklin County Reinventing Justice Task Force in western Massachusetts. These produced concrete reforms to enhance the state justice system.
Miller: A hallmark of the Coalition for Justice has been the involvement of citizens' groups. How will you continue that part of the coalition with the national conference and the two symposia?
Anderson: Yes, you're right, the citizens' involvement with the Coalition for Justice has been substantial and extremely helpful. As we extend invitations to the symposia and the conference, we're going to make sure that we involve citizens' groups as well. We also expect that the cosponsorship of the League of Women Voters will be extremely helpful in this connection.
Miller: Less than half the nation's lawyers belong to the American Bar Association. I know this has been a concern of the bar and that extensive efforts have been made in the past to improve this. What specific plans do you have for your year with respect to membership?
Anderson: Well, as you know, this has been an initiative of the last few presidents and of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and it will certainly continue to be an important part of what we're trying to do. The membership of the ABA actually has gone up and we have more members now than we had three years ago. The increase has not been great, but the trend is certainly there. We are going to be working hard to continue that trend.
Miller: In remarks before the House of Delegates you indicated that young lawyers are "dispirited" with the practice of law and that the ABA "must refresh the soul" of the profession. What are your plans to address this problem among the ABA's young members?
Anderson: You know and I know that the practice of law involves a lot more than just billable hours, and I think that the ABA has to keep making this clear. The ABA can also serve as a place where young lawyers can meet and interact with each other and can work in many ways for the betterment of the judicial process. All of these things add another dimension to the practice of law and will help young lawyers realize that we are indeed in a profession--that it is and can be a very satisfying profession to work in.
Miller: Phil, what message would you want to share with bar association leaders across the country who will receive this issue of Bar Leader?
Anderson: There are two things that I want to stress. First, we need the help of all of the lawyers across the country--in every county and in every state--when we have political issues that we have to address in Congress. We've gotten wonderful support from leaders of bar associations across the country and we need to continue to do that. I will be counting on their support. Secondly, the national conference that we discussed earlier will ultimately rise or fall on the level of support that we receive from state and local bar leaders.
Miller: Yes, as you pointed out earlier, the Coalition for Justice has been very successful in creating new programs among the states, and it would seem that the national conference would be a continuation of that.
Anderson: That is certainly true. We're asking bar association leaders from state and local bars to bring their ideas with them to the national conference, to pick up new ideas there and to take these ideas back with them to their own jurisdictions. Our efforts at the ABA will only be successful if we have the support of bar leaders across the country. The issues must be addressed at the state and local level, and we want to help in that effort.
The author, from Baltimore, is immediate past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services.
