AN ARRAY OF HIGH-PROFILE SPEAKERS TO PARTICIPATE IN ABA ANNUAL MEETING

CHICAGO, July 26, 2006 – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, and former U.S. Solicitor General and independent counsel Kenneth Starr are among the high-profile speakers who will be attending and presenting remarks at the American Bar Association 2006 Annual Meeting.

These and other guest speakers will present keynote addresses as well as take part in panel discussions on such critical issues as national security versus civil rights, judicial independence and health care liability.

Thursday, Aug. 3

From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 317A, 3rd Floor of the Hawaii Convention Center, “Historical Trial: The Massie Case” will take place. Seventy-five years ago in 1931, Thalia Massie, an aristocratic Navy wife, accused five Honolulu men of assaulting her after she left a club near the Ala Wai Canal. The criminal trial that followed rocked the city and transformed the nature of race relations in Hawaii. In this high-tech hearing, you'll hear skilled litigators review the trial evidence with two modern-day forensic scientists. The audience will then participate in jury deliberations. Speakers include Hawaii Lt. Gov. James R. Aiona Jr.

Friday, Aug. 4

At 7:30 a.m., the Second Annual Healthcare Liability Continental Breakfast program will take place at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort, South Pacific IV, Mid-Pacific Conference Center. The program will focus on current issues affecting health care liability, and will feature Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. The program will conclude at 8:30 a.m.

At 10 a.m., ABA President Michael S. Greco will hold a news conference in the Hawaii Convention Center, 3rd Floor, Room 321A.

Saturday, Aug. 5

From 7:30 – 9 a.m. in the Hawaii Convention Center, 3rd Floor, Room 311, the program, “Chief Justice Rehnquist: An Interactive Retrospective,” will occur. The session will explore the contributions and legacy of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in the form of a mock argument, a panel discussion and audience participation. Speakers will include former Solicitors General Drew E. Days III and Kenneth Starr, as well as Rehnquist’s former law clerks Maureen E. Mahoney and Jeffrey L. Bleich.

“Judicial Independence in the Context of the Rule of Law in the World Today” will consist of a dialogue focusing on the interrelationship between the rule of law and judicial independence in the United States and beyond. Panelists will include U.S. Supreme Court columnist and author Joan Biskupic; television commentator, producer and talk show host Lynn Doyle; former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. of the Supreme Court of the Philippines; and ABA President elect nominee William Neukom.
The 9:30 a.m. program will take place in the Hawaii Convention Center, 3rd Floor, Room 310.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, along with Chief Justice (ret.) of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Hilario Davide, Jr., will be honored at the 2006 ABA International Rule of Law Luncheon. Admiral William J. Fallon, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, will present keynote remarks at the noon lunch that will occur at the Hawaii Convention Center in the Kalakaua Ballroom. Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court Ronald T.Y. Moon will present opening remarks.

Kenneth Starr, former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, will moderate “What do Judges Do? Being a Judge in America.” The program, which will run from 1 – 4 p.m. in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Lobby Level, Regency Room II, will compare judicial decisions to decisions made by the executive or legislative branches.

At 4 p.m., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will present the keynote address at the Opening Assembly of the 2006 ABA Annual Meeting. The event will take place in the Maui/Kaui Rooms, 2nd Floor, of the Sheraton Waikiki.

Sunday, Aug. 6

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend will keynote the 16th Annual Margaret Brent Lawyers of Achievement Awards Luncheon. The luncheon recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence in their area of specialty and have paved the way to success for other women lawyers, and will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in the Hawaii Convention Center, 4th Floor, Kalakaua Ballroom.

Monday, Aug. 7

At 9 a.m., ABA President-elect Karen Mathis will hold a news conference in the Hawaii Convention Center, 3rd Floor, Room 321A.

The ABA policy-making House of Delegates will host a panel discussion at 11 a.m. titled “Liberty vs. Security.” Guests will debate the critical constitutional and legal questions raised by efforts to keep the United States safe from unprecedented terrorist threats while protecting civil liberties and individual rights vital to American democracy. Panelists at the program, which will take place at the Hawaii Convention Center, Kalakaua Ballroom, 4th Floor, will include Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, dean of the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and former general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency; John Yoo, professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and former deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice; Neal Sonnett, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and chief of the criminal division for the Southern District of Florida; and Catherine Crier, Court TV anchor and former Texas judge.

Reporters with ABA credentials are welcome to attend and cover any event at the meeting. Credentials can be obtained in the full-service Press Room in the Hawaii Convention Center, 3rd Floor, Room 324.

The Press Room opens at Noon on Aug. 3 and will open daily thereafter at 8 a.m. It will close one hour after the adjournment of the House of Delegates on Tuesday, Aug. 8. Credential guidelines can be found online at www.abanet.org/media/credentials.html. Beginning Aug. 3 the on-site Press Room phone number is 808/792-6622.

With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society.

Archived Releases | Media Relations Home | ABA Network Home