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    December 30, 2024 Judicial Division

    JD Chair's Column

    Hon. Heather Welch

    I am excited and honored to serve as your Chair of the Judicial Division (“JD”) of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) for the next year. I want to thank Judge Julian Mann for his service to the ABA JD as the Chair for the 2023-2024 year. As many of you know, JD Director Tori Jo Wible has retired from the ABA, and we will miss her! We are so lucky that the new JD Director is Kris Berliant. Kris is a familiar face to many JD members and has worked for the ABA for 29 years, serving the JD for 27! Speaking from my experience with daily and weekly interactions with Kris, I can say we are in good hands.

    The JD had an exciting and productive Annual Meeting in Chicago in early August. ABA President Mary Smith hosted an ABA wide Judicial Reception and JD member, Judge Michelle Childs of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit spoke to the attendees, delivering a powerful and motivating speech about the importance of the judiciary in the US. The Judicial Division had the honor of recognizing several award winners for their outstanding work. The Honorable William D. Missouri Civility Award was presented to the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and Judge Peter Reyes Jr. of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Justice and Rule of Law Award was presented to the National Judicial College and was accepted by their President, Judge Benes Aldana. Finally, the Lawyers Conference's 2024 Burnham “Hod” Greeley Award was presented to the National American Indian Court Judges Association and was accepted by A. Nikki Borchardt, the executive director of the association.

    Once the gavel was passed to me by Judge Mann, I shared my two themes for the 2024-2025 year: Judicial Security and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”).  As all of you know, in the last several years judicial threats have more than doubled. Our Judicial Security Committee led by Chair Judge John C. Allen, IV and Vice-Chair Jonanthan Shirts has made significant accomplishments. During the 2024 Annual Meeting, the House of Delegates adopted the JD’s Resolution which Urges Congress to pass the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, S.3984 and H.R.8093, 118th Cong. (2024), or similar legislation establishing a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center charged with providing technical assistance and training for heightened judicial security, monitoring threats, developing standardized incident reporting and creating a national database for reporting, tracking, and sharing of threat information.

    Now, the committee is working to establish an ABA Judicial Security Task Force to assist in urging Congress to pass the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act and develop tools to implement that will assist federal, state, appellate and trial judges, and administrative law judges at all levels. Please take a look at our website for more details.

    As to my second theme, having a diverse judiciary and legal profession is the key to success. We must continue to work to achieve diversity on the bench. I ask all of  you to consider volunteering for the ABA Judicial Clerkship Program. The 25th annual Judicial Clerkship Program, presented by the ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the ABA Judicial Division, will be held during the ABA Midyear Meeting January 30th to February 1st, in Phoenix, Arizona. We will welcome approximately 100 law students from 20 or more law schools for a multi-day program.  We are starting to see results with students who participate in this program serving as law clerks for judges at all levels. You can make a difference by participating and if you are interested, please email Kris Berliant at [email protected].

    Finally, I encourage you to become more involved in shaping the US judiciary by participating in the JD of the ABA. There are many ways to get involved and it is enjoyable but valuable work. Here are just a few:

    1. Attend the ABA Mid-Year Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona there is no registration fee and you can register online
    2. Join a JD committee
    3. Encourage your colleagues to get involved in the ABA JD via the group membership which is a great deal

    I look forward to the year ahead and welcome any ideas, suggestions, or questions about how we can improve the ABA JD and also the judiciary.

    Heather Welch, Retired Judge

    2024-2025 Chair, Judicial Division

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