Game changers: Members in action

The American Bar Association’s first-ever ABA Impact Report describes many of the tangible ways that ABA members use the power of law to advance justice in the United States and throughout the world.

Volunteers like you achieve meaningful accomplishments across an array of legal areas, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, as well as economic turmoil and political division on our shores.

A sample of the many ways ABA volunteers made a big recent impact include these seven achievements:

1. The Young Lawyers Division’s Disaster Legal Services assisted more than 700 survivors in Florida after Hurricane Ian and more than 650 survivors in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona with civil claims. Since 2007, ABA volunteers have responded to more than 283 declared disasters in 45 states and five U.S. territories.
2. ABA Free Legal Answers, which gives income-eligible users the ability to pose civil legal questions to volunteer attorneys, surpassed 250,000 questions in November. More than 11,000 attorneys in 41 jurisdictions have participated.
3. More than 1,200 pro bono events, including advice clinics on family law, expungements and immigration, were held during National Celebration of Pro Bono, thanks to widespread member participation. In the 13 years since the celebration began in 2009, more than 13,000 events have taken place in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada.
4. ABA members--from those in the Judicial Division, to the Antitrust Law Section and so many others---are devoted to diversifying the legal profession—by nurturing a new generation of lawyers. In one example, The Litigation Section’s Judicial Intern Opportunity Program  in 2022 placed 186 students from 79 law schools with 139 judges across the country.
5. The Afghanistan Response Project inspired dozens of pro bono attorneys to work with about 500 Afghan legal professionals and their families to successfully relocate from refugee camps to various destinations, primarily in the United States.
6. The Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, a subgrantee of the Rule of Law Initiative, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for the work of its volunteer lawyers.
7. Members help their colleagues excel by developing unique professional development opportunities, such as cutting-edge continuing legal education programs. Last year members from 33 different ABA entities came together to present 365 live webinar CLE, creating a robust catalog of more than 2,000 online offerings.

The ABA’s four goals are to serve its members, improve the legal profession, eliminate bias and enhance diversity, and advance the rule of law. “But goals are meaningless without action, and action is empty without impact,” ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross said.

ABA Impact Report, compiled by the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and Center for Public Interest Law, highlights many of the association’s major achievements and the large impact the ABA has had around the world.