For Laurel Bellows, the path to president of the American Bar Association began in her backyard. “My roots run deep in the local bar,” says the business litigator and executive compensation lawyer, who served as president of the Chicago Bar Association from 1991 to 1992 and focused on revamping the juvenile justice system in Cook County, Illinois, with husband Joel. “As president, I was fortunate to become actively involved with the National Conference of Bar Presidents and then become president of the NCBP. This eye-opening experience with the power of bar associations working in concert to effect real change set the stage for my journey into national bar leadership and introduced me to the world of the ABA.”
But it was Bellows’ involvement in the ABA’s Commission on Women in the Profession that made her a believer in what the association stands for and can accomplish. “Working hand in hand with these capable and dedicated women lawyers on substantive issues, I was empowered and incentivized to create real change,” she says.
Now Bellows, the new ABA president, plans to create change in her role by advocating for gender equity in the profession and fighting against human trafficking, among other goals.
YourABA spoke with Bellows about her background and her ABA initiatives.
See Article:
http://www.americanbar.org/content/newsletter/publications/youraba/201209article01.html
