Q & A

Bob Evans

Bob Evans, director of the ABA’s Governmental Affairs Office, talks about how the ABA decides what topics to lobby on, how members can stay informed, whether the association is able to be successful without a PAC, how members can get involved in the grassroots program, and what topics will be coming before the 110th Congress.

Q: Now that the 110th Congress has begun in earnest, what issues do you see coming before it that are of key interest to ABA members?

Many issues critical to the legal profession will be taken up in the new Congress, including a much-needed pay increase for federal judges, legislation to ensure that federal prosecutors don't coerce enterprises they are investigating into waiving the attorney-client privilege and rights of their employees as a precondition to favorable treatment, efforts to provide programs of loan forgiveness for law graduates in public service, increased funding for the Legal Services Corporation so low-income Americans can obtain needed legal help, establishment of due process procedures for immigration, strengthening of the military tribunals, and restoration of favorable tax treatment for prepaid legal services programs. The ABA lobbies on well over 100 issues each Congress, and this Congress will be no exception.

Q: Can you talk a bit about the successes from this past Congress?

The ABA was a leading player in a number of successful efforts in the 109th Congress, including the removal of a statutory bar, which has existed since the Civil War, against veterans being able to be represented by counsel in VA proceedings; an increase to $65 million in authorized funding for the civil legal needs of victims of domestic violence; the U.S. Sentencing Commission's amending its rules to drop a bonus given in criminal sentencing proceedings to corporations for waiving their attorney-client privilege rights; the rejection of federal legislation preempting state medical professional liability laws; the blocking of various proposals to take away the jurisdiction of federal courts to decide specified classes of cases involving constitutional rights; and, through a case filed in federal court, overturning a Federal Trade Commission interpretation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy legislation that attorneys were “financial institutions” subject to some of the act's onerous and confusing requirements.

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Q: How does the ABA choose its legislative priorities?

The Board of Governors chooses 10 or so matters as the association’s Legislative Priorities each February. A survey of almost 900 bar leaders is conducted the preceding fall to get input on what the priorities should be, and the Governmental Affairs Office provides the Board with an analysis of the survey result and of the prospects for action on various issues the Board may wish to consider for Priority status. The Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs also makes recommendations to the Board.

Q: Once a recommendation becomes ABA policy, how does the governmental affairs office promote the policy before Congress and the executive branch?

The ABA communicates its views to Congress and to executive branch officials in a wide variety of ways – testimony, detailed letters, meetings and phone calls with members and staff. We also bring together hundreds of lawyers from around the country for a two-day round of visits on Capitol Hill each spring. And we work closely with the association's experts in media relations to reach appropriate public audiences when this can be useful to our lobbying efforts.

Q: Does the ABA have a political action committee?

No, the ABA does not have a “PAC,” and it does not otherwise provide campaign contributions or endorse candidates for office. While this is highly unusual in Washington, we have not found it to be a big detriment. Rather consistently, in each Congress the ABA ends up on the prevailing side of 85 percent of enacted legislation on which we lobbied.

Q: What is the ABA “grassroots” effort all about?

Since the association does not have a PAC, it relies upon its effective advocacy in Washington and on the willingness of interested members to contact their own representatives and senators about the legal profession's concerns. About 10,000 lawyers around the country are members of our “Grassroots Action Team,” and they are asked periodically to contact their members when ABA priority issues are reaching critical stages in the legislative process. We are blessed to have in our ranks people who are highly knowledgeable about the issues, are extremely articulate, and know members of Congress personally.

Q: How can ABA members become involved in promoting the association's policies?

The best way for members to become involved is to join the Grassroots Action Team, which they can easily do by going to the GAO's homepage on the ABA Web site.

Q: Are there ways for ABA members to keep informed about what the governmental affairs shop is up to, and about its successes?

Absolutely. The easiest, again, is to go to our Web site, which contains a wealth of material about the numerous issues on which we work each year. And of course we would welcome hearing from members directly, either by email or phone.

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