The Commission is grateful for the truly global input received from the profession and the public, and thank all individuals, organizations and bar associations that identified issues that needed to be addressed and offered possible ways of addressing those issues. All of those comments, testimony, and suggestions helped shape the Commission’s work.
Outreach
At its first meeting in September 2009, the Commission agreed that transparency, broad outreach and opportunities for frequent input into its work would be crucial. In November 2009, the Commission released its Preliminary Issues Outline,[1] and subsequently released for comment a wide range of documents, including issues papers, draft proposals, and drafts of Informational Reports. We held eleven open meetings where audience members participated; conducted public hearings and roundtables, domestically and abroad; created webinars and podcasts; received and reviewed over 350 written and oral comments from the bar, the judiciary, and the public. To date we have made more than 100 presentations about our work, including presentations to the Conference of Chief Justices, the House of Delegates, ABA Board of Governors, the National Conference of Bar Presidents, numerous entities, and local, state, and international bar associations.
The Commission created seven Working Groups with participants from relevant and outside entities.[2] Included on these Working Groups were representatives of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline, ABA Standing Committee on Client Protection, ABA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, ABA Section of International Law, ABA Section of Litigation, ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, ABA Task Force on International Trade in Legal Services, ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, ABA Young Lawyers Division, ABA Standing Committee on Specialization, ABA Section of Law Practice Management, and the National Organization of Bar Counsel. The Commission thanks the individuals from these entities for their time, expertise and wisdom.
- ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 Preliminary Issues Outline (November 19, 2009).
- Those Working Groups were tasked with studying and developing recommendations regarding the following topics: Implications of New Technologies; Domestic and International Outsourcing; Conflicts of Interest, Uniformity, and Choice of Law; Alternative Litigation Financing; Law Firm Ratings and Ranking; Alternative Law Practice Structures; and Inbound Foreign Lawyers.