Colorado attorney
begins term as American Bar Association president Denver, Colo.,
attorney Karen J. Mathis earlier this month took over as president of the American
Bar Association (ABA). Seattle lawyer William H. Neukom became president-elect.Mathis
is a business, commercial and estate lawyer, and the association's first president
from Colorado. She began her one-year term as president on Aug. 8, at the close
of the ABA's Annual Meeting. Mathis' three presidential initiatives are:* Youth
at Risk. Mathis intends to rally lawyers to work with youth groups to help America's
at-risk youth, with a special focus on "status offenders," such as runaways
and truant students; foster children who lose social service assistance when they
turn 18; and the growing problem of violent girl gangs. * Second Season of Service.
In the next 10-15 years, 400,000 of the nation's 900,000 practicing lawyers from
the "baby boom" generation will leave full-time legal practice. The
Second Season initiative is seeking to turn that into an asset by creating a Website
where retiring lawyers can find meaningful volunteer and service activities.*
International Rule of Law. The ABA is continuing to expand its work over the past
15 years to promote sound legal institutions in countries that have lacked them.
The ABA is co-hosting a symposium in September, with the International Bar Association,
that will focus on rule of law efforts.Mathis earned her law degree from the University
of Colorado School of Law in 1975 and her Bachelor of Arts from the University
of Denver in 1972.
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