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January 20, 2025 2025 Midyear Meeting

Upcoming Midyear Meeting hosts big events, top awards

The 2025 American Bar Association Midyear Meeting heads to Phoenix, Arizona, Jan. 29-Feb. 3, offering attendees an array of timely panels, award presentations and the semiannual House of Delegates policymaking session.

The 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix, AZ will feature the nation's top legal professionals debating critical public policy issues.

The 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix, AZ will feature the nation's top legal professionals debating critical public policy issues.

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Equity, diversity and other hot topics such as water rights and police reform are among key legal issues on the agenda at the in-person conference.

The meeting concludes Monday, Feb. 3, with the one-day session of the ABA House of Delegates, the association’s policymaking body.

The Midyear Meeting also includes meetings of the Board of Governors and other ABA entities. One of the highlights, the “Present and Powerful Speaker Series: A Conversation with Natasha Adair”, features the head coach of the Arizona State University women’s basketball program who will share lessons learned during her near 30-year career in student athletics. Adair will speak on Friday, Jan. 31, from 4- 5:30 p.m.

Several CLE and topical discussions are planned. Panels will explore alternative paths to licensure and the recent usage of non-lawyers in several U.S. states, among hot topics with notable impacts on the horizon for the legal profession. Also, two programs will dissect the findings from two recent ABA reports:  “Legal Careers of Parents and Child Caregivers” from the Commission on Women and “Legal Obstacles Impeding Latinos’ Access to Equitable Civic Engagement” from the Hispanic Commission.

Additional noteworthy events include:

  • Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession’s annual Spirit of Excellence Awards on Saturday, Feb. 1, from noon- 2 p.m., recognizing lawyers who promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. Honorees are Col. James M. Durant III, Craig B. Glidden, Judge Diane J. Humetewa, Kalpana Kotagal and Karol Corbin Walker.
  • Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’s annual Stonewall Awards on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 5-7 p.m.,honoring those in the legal profession who champion the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Recipients are Kristen Galles, founder of public interest law firm Equity Legal; Victoria Kolakowski, adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law; and D. Zeke Ziedler, former justice of the California Supreme Court.

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