Special Message to Our Non-US Lawyer Members
Friends and Colleagues – We are extremely proud of your active roles - as members and as important leaders of our ABA International.   Non-US members (you hail from over ninety different countries) bring us the international balance we strive for in our business and legal practice outreach across the globe.   Most of our committees are led by a combination of US and non-US lawyers, and our policies, publications, projects and programming in the US and abroad increasingly reflect the transnational scope of our activities.   Thanks to you, ABA International has a very special role at the interface of US and non-US law and practice – made relevant by the international perspective that you contribute on a regular basis.  As an organization, we deal with legal issues that transcend US law and US thinking, but our treatment of them enhances their relevance to US and international practitioners alike.

Did you know that four of our twelve division chairs are not US-qualified lawyers?  They are currently based in The Netherlands, Argentina, Nigeria and Canada.  Moreover, more than forty of our committee chairs/co-chairs are non-US lawyers.  A very large number of our Council members, our committee officers and other leaders are based outside the US; some are US lawyers; many are not.  All of you make the difference in ABA International – our diversity is our strength.

Special Message to All Members
If you read the preceding paragraphs, you know.   Even if you did not read them, you know how important our non-US members are to all that we do.  All of us are very serious about continuing to expand our membership base (and our leadership) of non-US lawyers.    Increasing our non-US lawyer base is “priority one” for us as a Section of the ABA.  It is one of the key things that sets us apart from (but that makes us relevant to), the rest of the 400,000+ members of the ABA.  Each one of you, each member, can contribute in a meaningful way to this unique and special quality of ABA International.  

I challenge each of you to take the time to recruit new members, particularly non-US lawyers, into the Section and into the scores of committees in the Section.  It’s a great way for you, yourself, to reach out to meet new friends and members.   You will see how gratifying it will be.   Get new colleagues to see the value of what we do and to join our ranks – its fun, it’s fulfilling, it’s important for our cross-cultural experience, and it enhances the quality of all our membership, geometrically.

Those of you who are active know first-hand how valuable your free committee memberships are.  And, by reaching out to our colleagues around the world, we will continue to highlight ABA International’s very special role, leading the world’s international lawyers for over 130 years.

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ABA International: your gateway to international practice
ABA International is the gateway to international practice for US lawyers with transborder practice issues and for lawyers outside the US.  We help US lawyers transcend the legal, cultural and linguistic gaps in international practice, and we help non-US lawyers bridge the gap between their jurisdictions and the US, providing invaluable input and assistance multi-dimensionally.  We are proud of the fact that ABA International has very close links with the major bars and lawyers’ associations outside the US.  Our leaders are in constant contact with the leaders of the CCBE, the bar associations of India, Japan, China, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Nigeria, Austria, the German Federal Bar,  the Law Society of England and Wales, the Bar Council, the Paris Bar, the Danish Bar, the Deutsche Anwaltverein, the bars of Brussels, of Israel, the UIA, AIJA, the IBA, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Korea, Hong Kong, Turkey, Lebanon, the Brazilian Bar, the Peruvian Bar, the Chilean Bar, and quite a few others – and we attend their annual and other important meetings on a regular basis – so the exchange among the world’s lawyers across the ABA International bridge is fluid and dynamic.

Aaron Schildhaus, Section Chair

Video Message from the Chair