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Report from Governmental Affairs

April 9, 2025, 6:00 am CDT

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3. Top 10 Your Voice columns of 2024

Year in Review

Top 10 Your Voice columns of 2024

By Lee Rawles

December 24, 2024, 9:00 am CST

At the ABA Journal, we revel in our readers’ passion and engagement. Most legal professionals are wordsmiths, with much to share from their work and personal experiences.

Since 2018, we have featured their words in our Your Voice section, inviting guest columnists to spark conversations about issues relevant to the profession.

Check out the 10 most-read Your Voice columns from 2024 below or our full Your Voice archives for more evergreen advice and thought-provoking pieces of writing.

By Judge Kimberly McTorry

As a lawyer mom of four, I am all too familiar with the angst derived by a question as small as, “What are we going to eat tonight?” You have spent your entire day lawyering and solving other people’s problems, but somehow this is the one that topples the tower—not because it’s burdensome but because the question is a glaring reminder that at least one aspect of your life is a mess. My work is done, but I haven’t fed my kids. Or I made it to every game of the baseball tournament, but I missed the important fundraising gala.

By Kent A. Halkett

I was young, single, healthy, confident and “bulletproof” when I entered law school immediately after college in 1978. I did not have any personal experience with anyone suffering mental health challenges. Mental health education and services were the furthest things from my mind.

By Rod Kubat

Ever have that thought? “I must be losing my mind because I can’t remember where I parked my car or set my iPhone, your name—although I recognize your face—an address, a birthday, a password, a set of numbers, what I was looking for, etc.” Many aging lawyers have—including me.

By Joachim B. Steinberg

From pretty much the moment that we start law school, we get advice on how to be better writers. Most of it is from lawyers (or ex-lawyers). That’s fine to start. Legal writing is a genre and has unique considerations that you have to master, if only because courts demand it, like The Bluebook.

By Samantha Divine Jallah

My dear sister (in law), welcome to our profession of stress, anxiety, depression, negativity, endangerment, sickness and suicide (also known as “SADNESS”). In addition to the SADNESS, many of us carry secrets, scars and an insatiable longing for change. They all dishearten, discourage and divide us in devastating ways. Yet you can prepare for and overcome them.

By Tracy Hresko Pearl

My high school trigonometry teacher was, by his own admission, “old school.” He didn’t allow us to use calculators. Ever. Instead, all decimals had to be divided by hand, all formulas known by memory, and all square roots worked out on paper. We were unlikely to walk around with calculators when we got older, he explained, and so we had to be able to work things out with only a pencil and our brain.

By Tracy Hresko Pearl

While my students have found professional success in a wide variety of settings—large law firms, small firms, nonprofits, government agencies, courts, etc.—I have been highly troubled by the number of students who have been subjected to hiring and employment practices at small firms that I would describe as unethical at best and deceptive and exploitative at worst.

By Neil Handwerker

Management consulting firms and Big Four accounting firms have a secret weapon. It’s not particularly well-camouflaged. It’s there for anyone who bothers to look. Both of these thought leaders hire lawyers for a wide variety of nonlegal jobs. And they’ve been doing so for decades—everything from business development to crisis management to marketing.

By Mohit Gourisaria

I remember being on cloud nine as I drove home from work not too long ago—two hours late but excited to sneak up on my 1-year-old as she played in the bath. I was working as a federal prosecutor, and some agents and I had finally cracked (through equal part persistence and luck) a cross-border money laundering case that had seemed to be hopeless until that morning.

By Xenia Tashlitsky

Ten years ago, I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young attorney, fresh from a federal clerkship and eager to start my litigation career. One year later, I was a sleepless, burned-out basket case on my way out the door asking myself, “Did I make an awful mistake when I went to law school?” Fast forward almost a decade, and I can answer that question with a resounding no.

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Want to see your words of wisdom featured in 2025? ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

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These columns reflect the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

As legal professionals, the importance of our collective voice in shaping the future of our profession and society cannot be overstated. The American Bar Association is once again inviting its members to participate in the ABA Legislative Priorities Survey, providing members with a vital opportunity to help the association prioritize its advocacy issues in Washington, D.C.

As the tumultuous 118th Congress draws to a close, the 119th Congress will convene on Jan. 3, 2025. With a new president and new Congress in office, the political landscape in Washington, D.C., is poised for significant power shifts and unpredictable developments, with border security, government funding and tax policy likely to become areas of focus. The survey is a critical tool to help determine the focus of the ABA’s advocacy efforts in the coming 119th Congress.

The ABA Legislative Priorities Survey is more than just a questionnaire; it is a powerful instrument that helps the ABA to align its efforts with the concerns and priorities of its membership.

Participation in the survey is available exclusively to ABA members. It opened on Nov. 11 and will close Dec. 11, and it takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Most members will receive an email with a personalized link to the survey, but it can also be accessed at ambar.org/prioritiessurvey.

In the previous survey for the 118th Congress, we saw a tremendous response, with more than 5,000 members taking the time to participate.

Their input was invaluable in guiding the ABA’s advocacy on key issues that impact our profession, justice system and the communities we serve. Priorities for the 118th Congress included access to legal services; civic education and election integrity; criminal justice system improvements; cybersecurity; elimination of discrimination; immigration reform; independence of the judiciary; international rule of law; judicial oversight of the legal profession; and legal education.

Building on the success of previous years, the ABA enhanced the survey process this year by partnering with a professional survey company. This collaboration will allow us to gain an even clearer and more detailed understanding of our members’ priorities. For those who participated in previous surveys, your engagement made a difference, and we thank you. We once again encourage you to lend your voice to this important initiative. For those who are new to the process or have yet to participate, now is the time to get involved.

The year’s survey covers a broad spectrum of potential policy issues on behalf of the legal profession, including access to justice; judicial security; criminal justice reform; burdensome regulations on lawyers engaged in the practice of law; and student debt relief. It will also solicit members’ feedback on their priorities for evolving areas of the law, such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

The survey results will be presented to the Board of Governors at the ABA Midyear Meeting in January. The Board will consider survey results alongside the following criteria to determine the ABA’s legislative priorities in the 119th Congress:

• Breadth and strength of the ABA interest
• Importance to the practice of law
• Public perception of the profession
• Opportunity for impact
• Potential for achievement
• Timeliness of issue
• Expertise of lawyers on the issue
• Importance to society
• Importance to the administration of justice

Once the Board establishes the ABA’s federal legislative and governmental priorities for the 119th Congress, the Governmental Affairs Office will post the information on the ABA’s Priorities & Policy page. These priorities will guide ABA leadership, the GAO’s team of lobbyists and our grassroots outreach as we advance the ABA’s policy interests for the next two years.

Thank you for taking advantage of this opportunity to provide your response. By participating in the ABA Legislative Priorities Survey, you are playing a vital role in shaping the ABA’s advocacy efforts as the voice of the legal profession. We will continue serving our members, our profession, and the public by defending liberty and delivering justice.

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This report is written by the ABA Governmental Affairs Office and discusses advocacy efforts by the ABA relating to issues being addressed by Congress and the executive branch of the U.S. government.

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3. Top 10 Your Voice columns of 2023

Year in Review

Top 10 Your Voice columns of 2023

By Lee Rawles

December 22, 2023, 8:56 am CST

One of the ABA Journal’s most precious assets is our access to engaged legal professionals with a knack for writing and a point of view to share. With that in mind, we launched our Your Voice section in 2018, inviting guest columnists to spark conversations about issues relevant to the profession. Your Voice is chock-full of five years of evergreen advice and thought-provoking pieces of writing, but these 10 were the most read from 2023.

David M. Fryson’s exploration of why lawyers aren’t given the honorific of “Dr.” was the runaway favorite Your Voice column this year, becoming the second-most read piece on the website after its publication in May.

It was also featured in the August-September 2023 issue of the print magazine and prompted a slew of letters to the editor.

1. “The curious case of why lawyers are not called ‘doctor’” by David M. Fryson

2. “Three Scary Letters: Big. Law. ALS.” by Nick Warack

3. “A look at Paul Hastings’ viral ‘no exceptions, no excuses’ presentation missteps” by Norm Tabler

4. “Law schools face an inflection point with diversity, equity and inclusion” by Josh Blackman

5. “My career approach could have killed me” by Andrea “Lee” Negroni

6. “The ABA needs ideological diversity to ensure its future” by Josh Blackman

7. “Why you should unlearn certain valuable legal skills” by Andrea Gilliam

8. “How fully remote work has enabled me to thrive in the face of adversity” by Colleen R. Smith

9. “On Better Terms: What should we do with ‘nonlawyer’?” by Kenneth A. Adams

10. “Law schools should take on students’ mental health and substance use from day one” by David Jaffe

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ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

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These columns reflect the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.