ABA Newsroom
Karen J. Mathis
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
2007 - 2008
Karen J. Mathis, a partner in the Denver, Colorado, office of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, is immediate past president of the American Bar Association.
Mathis is a business, commercial and estate planning lawyer with more than 30 years of experience. She earned her law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law and has received honorary degrees from Siena College, the University of Denver, Michigan State University College of Law, Southwestern Law School, and an honorary Order of the Coif from the University of Colorado. A member of the Colorado and International Women's Forums, Mathis has been honored as an outstanding lawyer by the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations, the University of Colorado and the University of Albany School of Law. The National Law Journal named her among the "50 Most Influential Women in America."
Mathis has been an active member of the ABA for almost 30 years. She is the third woman to serve as ABA president and the first president from Colorado. From 2000 to 2002, she served as chair of the ABA House of Delegates, the association's second-highest elected office.
Mathis has served as a member of the House of Delegates since 1982. She is also a member of the ABA Board of Governors and has served on its Executive Committee, Operations Committee and Program and Planning Committee.
Mathis's extensive ABA involvement includes leadership of numerous ABA entities. She was chair of the 30,000-member General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section (now a Division) in 2002 to 2003; chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession from 1997 to 2000; and chair of the Standing Committee on Membership from 1994 to 1997.
Mathis has been active for many years in the Denver Bar Association and Colorado Bar Association. She has held offices in the young lawyers sections of both bar associations, and she served as vice president of the CBA from 1992 to1993.
Mathis has long been an advocate for children and youth, serving on the Colorado Commission on Child Care and as a member of the Mile Hi Council of Girl Scouts. In addition, she has spoken on five continents about the future of the law and women’s place in the profession.
Her presidential initiatives were Youth at Risk, Second Season of Service, Direct Women Institute and Rule of Law.
