July 13, 2017

    Nearly 80 New York-area legal organizations join forces with American Bar Association to host the 2017 ABA Annual Meeting

    CHICAGO, July 13, 2017  — Nearly 80 legal organizations in the tri-state area have come together with the American Bar Association to host the nation’s premier gathering of legal professionals, the ABA Annual Meeting, Aug. 10-15 in New York City.

    For the first time, the ABA recruited more than 50 law firms and 28 bar associations based in the New York area to help bolster its conference offerings and showcase the Big Apple’s high-powered law firms and world-famous venues, such as the United Nations headquarters and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

    From that unique collaboration comes a special series of legal programs that will take place across NYC’s Midtown, called “The CLE in the City” series, which will include nearly three dozen educational programs focused on 12 learning tracks. The sessions will be hosted at six prominent New York law firms as well as at the New York Bar Association, Fordham Law Center, New York International Arbitration Center and United Nations. In addition, there will be behind-the-scenes excursions to the National September 11 Memorial Museum and Lincoln Center, among other trips. The meeting will also feature numerous special events, including a rally for legal aid, an Expo with almost 60 vendors and a community service project for Operation Gratitude.

    CLE in the City is the brainchild of ABA President Linda Klein, who seeks to expand the footprint of the annual conference.  “The hard work and generosity of the legal community in the New York tri-state area makes the 2017 Annual Meeting a legal conference like no other,” said Klein. “CLE in the City will take participants out of hotel conference rooms to experience first-hand New York’s vibrant legal community and unparalleled cultural environment. With this new format and a full agenda of compelling speakers and programs, the 2017 conference should be the most memorable Annual Meeting in years.”

    The CLE in the City series will be part of nearly 1,000 social functions, educational sessions and networking opportunities at the ABA Annual Meeting, which will be headquartered at the New York Hilton in Midtown.  Outside of the Hilton and the CLE in the City venues, other events will take place at several nearby hotels, including the Sheraton New York Times Square, Intercontinental New York Barclay, New York Marriott Marquis, Le Parker Meridien, Westin New York at Times Square and Grand Hyatt New York.

    More than 5,000 attendees from around the globe are expected at the 2017 Annual Meeting. Meeting attendees may purchase full access to all ABA Annual Meeting offerings or purchase individual access to CLE in the City sessions for $25 per program.

    Notable highlights of the Annual Meeting and its CLE in the City series include:

    • Unique special events: In light of President Trump’s budget proposal that eliminates legal aid funding, the ABA will host an Aug. 11 rally for the Legal Services Corporation, which annually serves more than 1.8 million low-income Americans though its 812 U.S. offices. The rally will include performances by NY cabaret and Broadway stars. Also, among social events, the ABA will present a “Trial of Two Pizzas,” a networking reception for which attendees will weigh in on a battle between pizza from Brooklyn’s Table 87 and deep dish pizza from Chicago’s Lou Malnati’s.
    • High-profile speakers from New York, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York State Supreme Court Justices Shirley Werner Kornreich, Debra James, Jeffrey Oing, George Silver and Charles Ramos, as well as dozens of local subject matter experts, such as Thomas C. Baxter, former executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Andrew J. Ceresney, former SEC enforcement director.
    • Programs exploring today’s hot legal topics, including cybersecurity; “sanctuary cities;” deportation and due process in the era of Trump; effectiveness of NY veterans treatment courts; sexual violence on college campuses; water rights in Flint, Mich., and other U.S. locations; First Amendment: President Trump versus the press; and much more.

    For a full listing of CLE in the City programming, speakers and sponsors, click here.  And, for a look at the full offerings of the ABA Annual Meeting, click here.

    Online registration for the ABA Annual Meeting is available for news reporters. Credential guidelines are here.

    Reporters may pick up their press badges at the meeting registration area on the 2nd floor (Promenade foyer) of the New York Hilton Midtown. During the Annual Meeting, a press room for accredited journalists will be open on the 3rd floor (Americas Hall II), starting at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10. Thereafter the press room will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will close one hour after the House of Delegates adjourns on Aug. 15.

     

    With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations 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. View our privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on Twitter @ABANews.