The American Bar Association House of Delegates Nominating Committee recently held a Candidates Forum at its Midyear Meeting in Phoenix for the four lawyers who announced their intention to seek nomination for candidacies to serve as an officer of the association with terms beginning in August 2026.
February 17, 2025 2025 Midyear Meeting
ABA 2026 officer candidates make their case for leadership
Laura Farber from California, who has served in numerous ABA leadership positions since 1994 including as a member of both the Board of Directors and House of Delegates, is running unopposed for president-elect for the 2026-27 term. Aurora Austriaco of Illinois is running unopposed for chair of the House of Delegates for the 2026-28 term. Victor Marquez and Elizabeth Kelly Meyers, both from California, are facing off to run for ABA secretary for the 2026-29 term.
The candidates gave brief remarks then answered questions from the Nominating Committee and the audience.
Farber, who recently served as co-chair of the Coordinating Group on Practice Forward, shared her personal story and talked about how her family came to the United States from Argentina when she was just 2 years old because America represented freedom and hope. “Those freedoms are the reason I chose this profession,” she said.
A partner at Hahn & Hahn in Pasadena, California, Farber recounted the devastation of the recent wildfires and how supportive her ABA family has been. She said the ABA has been “front and center” during the disaster with the Young Lawyers Division quickly offering legal services. “We take care of each other,” she said. “That’s what families do.”
Farber also stressed the need to stand up for what is right: “We need to speak out for others. That’s what lawyers do.”
As for the future of the ABA, Farber said, “We have to communicate the value of being a member in ways that will reach them.”
Farber is bullish about the ABA’s future. “I’m a cup is half-full person,” she said. We will move forward, and we will thrive.”
Austriaco served eight years as Illinois State Delegate to the House of Delegates before her appointment to the Board of Governors. She currently is chair of the Finance Committee of the board and serves on the ABA’s Executive Committee. In addition, she has held many other legal positions including president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents and president of the Chicago Bar Association.
In her remarks, Austriaco recounted coming from humble beginnings in the Philippines, landing in the U.S. at 18 and eventually in law school at Depaul University in Chicago. She discussed the vital role the House of Delegates plays not only in the ABA but also in the legal profession. “It is important that we continue to have a place where we can have debates on issues that are important to all of us — the protection of the rule of law, the preservation of our democracy, access to justice and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said.
Austriaco also discussed the issues that some House members have concerning voting on resolutions due to their membership in mandatory bars. After the 2020 Supreme Court Janus decision, some mandatory bar members have had to abstain from votes on issues not directly pertaining to the practice of law. Austriaco talked about ways to streamline the abstention process or perhaps create a group chat so these issues can be dealt with in advance.
The two candidates for ABA secretary also spoke of their journey to becoming lawyers and the importance of growing ABA membership and stabilizing finances.
Marquez, who has served on the ABA Board of Governors, in the ABA House of Delegates, as chair of the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as well as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, talked about how his childhood in a Mexican mining town and the strong work ethic of his mother instilled in him a respect for women and the working class. Marquez said that he will not back down from the ABA’s Goal III, which is to eliminate bias and enhance diversity in the legal profession and the justice system, adding that he wants “to continue the work I have been doing.”
Meyers said her No. 1 priority would be to find innovative ways to grow membership and enhance the membership experience. She also talked about her commitment to Goal III as a Hispanic woman. “I hope the ABA can be the robust association it has been in the past,” she said.She also shared her journey to a career in law, recounting how she worked at Burger King in high school to help pay for school and advance her education. She said she eventually became the first woman in her family to go to college and a first-generation lawyer, adding it “was a Whopper of an accomplishment.”
Nominations for these positions will be made by the Nominating Committee at the 2026 Midyear Meeting.
At the 2025 Midyear Meeting, the Nominating Committee voted Barbara J. Howard, principal at Barbara J. Howard Co. LPA in Cincinnati and past chair of the House of Delegates, as president-elect for 2025-26. Howard is currently chair of ABA Day and has served as president of both the Ohio State Bar and the Cincinnati Bar.
The committee also approved Andrew Schpak, co-managing partner at Barran Liebman in Portland, Oregon, for the role of ABA treasurer for the 2026-2029 term. Schpak serves on the ABA Standing Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work, the Standing Committee on Audit and as the State Membership Chair liaison to the Standing Committee on Membership. He has served as a member of the ABA Board of Governors and House of Delegates as well as chair of the Young Lawyers Division.