Although it is only February, the coming fall presidential and congressional elections are front and center as candidates attempt to stake out leadership positions. The campaigning for these offices makes it a challenge to remember that this country has three co-equal branches that include the judiciary along with the executive and legislative branches.

This Bar Leader Toolkit focuses on the judiciary, the branch that aspires to provide fair and impartial courts, the branch that allows judges to deliver decisions without fear of reprisals, the branch that has the power to overrule either of the other two.

Under our system of government, judges defend our rights by considering the facts of each case and the law involved. Like referees, judges make difficult decisions even when they know those decisions will not be popular.

This Bar Leader Toolkit looks at the role a fair and impartial judiciary plays in upholding our rights under the Constitution. We make use of materials prepared by the ABA Standing Committee for Judicial Independence, offer a possible community program as well as an op-ed, letter to the editor and bar publication column.

You may recall that Bar Leader Toolkit Issue 2 provided information on advance directives. We have learned that an Advance Directives Day is scheduled for April 16. Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization among others, the day will call attention to the need for each of us to complete these documents.

The day also provides an opportunity, if you have not done so already, for you to use the materials in the Bar Leader Toolkit. A show of support - through an op-ed or letter to the editors - will focus attention on this important issue.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on this toolkit.

Sincerely,

Roseanne Lucianek
Director, Division for Bar Services

Back to top.

© 2008 American Bar Association