Officially Speaking

Which Path Will You Take: Lead or Leave?

A fellow law student recently forwarded me an e-mail from a faculty member titled "Why I’ve Quit the American Bar Association: An Open Letter to the Law School Community." In the letter, the professor talks about his belief that the ABA has "betrayed its professed principles" and that it has "become an advocacy organization for a variety of left-wing causes." The letter ends by citing as the final straw in his decision the ABA’s invitation to President Clinton to speak at its 1999 annual meeting.

It was difficult to determine what disturbed me the most about the letter. Was it the fact that someone who had been an ABA member for 11 years was leaving the organization? Was it the fact that by leaving he could no longer be an agent for change? Or was it the fact that instead of leaving the organization and keeping his decision personal, the professor instead felt the need to announce his views to all the school’s students?

I was troubled by all of these things. But why did the actions of one professor at one law school strike so close to home?

One reason is that I believe in the ABA. Over the past year, I have been able to see the true breadth and depth of the programs, services, and leadership provided by the Association. Whether it’s debating an issue like multidisci-plinary practice, providing public education, or working to ensure that our profession in the coming years will be representative of those we will be serving, there is a place for everyone in the ABA.

This does not mean that every member agrees with the Association on every position it takes or program it supports. The ABA provides a means for opposition to be voiced. Leaving the organization is not an effective way to be heard or to promote change.

Another reason the letter made me stop and think is because I have heard similar criticisms about the Law Student Division. Members with quite differing ideologies criticized the Division and the LSD Assembly for some of the resolutions we considered at the annual meeting. The reality, though, is that as the policy-making body of the Division, the Assembly is supposed to consider those issues properly brought before it.

Like the Association of which we are a part, the LSD has ways to get involved and to make change. I encourage you to support the work of the Law Student Division through programs like Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Diversity. If there are programs or policies you would like to see added or changed, I urge you to get involved. Become the ABA representative or SBA president at your law school. Become a circuit governor, Division delegate, or national officer. Get involved, and work to make a difference.

The ABA exists to serve its members and the profession. To accomplish its goals of "Defending Liberty and Pursuing Justice," the ABA needs you. I hope your membership in the LSD is the beginning of a lifetime of membership with the ABA.

Kyle V. Mitchell
Chair, ABALaw Student Division