Q&A with ABA House of Delegates Chair
Steve Zack

Steve Zack

YourABA recently spent time with ABA House of Delegates Chair Steve Zack of Miami, to get his thoughts about the policy-making body of the association and his role as its head.

Q: What is the ABA House of Delegates?

The House of Delegates was established in 1936 as the policy-making body of the association, and the ultimate governing body of the ABA. It meets twice each year, at ABA Annual and Midyear Meetings. The policy positions of the ABA are adopted by the House following vigorous debate by the 547 delegates who represent all regions of the country, all points of view and all areas of the law. The House of Delegates operates as a national lawyer legislature that prides itself on reasoned dialogue and debate. Action taken by the House of Delegates on specific issues becomes official ABA policy.

Q: Who are the delegates?

The 547 members of the House include 52 state delegates representing the states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; delegates from each section and division of the ABA, representing the many different practice areas and practice settings; state and local bar association delegates from all around the country, as well as from the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; more than two dozen delegates from affiliated organizations, including minority bar associations, women's bar associations and specialty bar associations; present and former officers and members of the Board of Governors; and a number of delegates-at-large, who are elected by ABA members in attendance at the Annual Meeting. The Attorney General of the United States is an ex officio member, as is the director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. All of this is spelled out in the ABA Constitution and Bylaws [PDF], which is readily available on the Web.

Q: How does a recommendation get brought before the House, and what are the procedures the House follows to debate an issue prior to voting?

Most recommendations come to the House from an ABA member group - a section, division, forum, committee, etc.- or from one or more of the other groups represented in the House. But any member can bring a matter before the House. The recommendation, and a supporting report, must be made in writing and filed with the secretary by a date determined by the Committee on Rules and Calendar. Filing instructions are available in advance of each meeting on the House of Delegates Web site. State bar associations are allowed to file reports with recommendations at any time before the House convenes. Rules and Calendar then determines the calendar and time constraints on debating the recommendations and will also accept "late reports" from others under certain circumstances

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Q: Is the House of Delegates a truly representative body?

I've been involved in numerous organizations over my lifetime, and I have never found any organization that is as representative of its membership as is the ABA House of Delegates. That is also reflected by the diversity of the House, where we have state bars, local bars, sections and divisions, the judiciary, the ex officio members, minority members, the Board of Governors - that's what makes it so vibrant and such an exciting place to be part of.

Q: The ABA purports to be the voice of the legal profession, and the House of Delegates adopts policies that purport to represent the view of the legal profession. How do you respond to members who maintain that some of those policies do not reflect the personal views of many members, and the House should avoid considering such measures as not germane to the business of the association

The Rules and Calendar committee is the ultimate gateway to the House, and determines whether a matter is germane, and the House has established its own parliamentary technique for declining, as a body, to take up "non-germane" matters. But I think Will Rogers' famous line says it best: "Where you stand depends on where you sit." The ABA has more than 410,000 members, all of whom have strong views and all of whom are very knowledgeable about current events. And you cannot expect them all to agree on what should come before the House.

Q: How were you chosen to chair the House of Delegates?

I was nominated for the position by the Nominating Committee of the House, and elected by the members of the House. The nomination followed two opportunities for me to make presentations and debate various issues affecting our profession before the Nominating Committee.

Q: What are your responsibilities as Chair? How long is your term?

My term is two years. The main responsibility, of course, is to preside over the House during both the Midyear and Annual Meeting, and my main goal in fulfilling that responsibility is to make sure that the debate in the House is fair and that all sides have an opportunity for their voices to be heard.

In addition, I preside over the Nominating Committee, and attend meetings of the Board of Governors, where I preside if the president must be absent. The president can also ask me to preside over other events where the president or president-elect are absent. In addition, I appoint the committees of the House, such as Rules and Calendar and the Nominating Committee. I am also an ex officio member of such entities as the ABA Journal Board of Editors and of the House Standing Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work.

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Q: Some people say that some of the best debate within the House has been lost. Do you agree?

I do agree, and I miss it. That's why I set up the "Emerging Issues Committee" as part of the last Annual Meeting agenda. The great House debates about the important issues have not recently been as much part of the process as in the past. Much of the reason for that is that delegates now make increased efforts to resolve contentious issues prior to the meeting, which is positive. But there are so many serious legal issues confronting the profession and the nation, and debates in the House are an important way of highlighting and explaining them.

Q: Everyone seemed to enjoy that session. Is that something you would like to see continued?

I wanted to see how the members of the House felt about it. When you have the best and brightest of our profession coming together as they do at our meetings, we should have an opportunity to discuss the important matters that face our society. We took a poll of the delegates who were present, and there was an overwhelming desire to continue the program and to discuss such matters before the House.

I think that as long as we continue to maintain that kind of quality of debate and can discuss the issues that are truly important, we not only should continue to do so, we have an obligation to do so. If we don't talk about them, then where will they be discussed? It's not just members of our profession here in America, but lawyers and people around the world who want to hear how the lawyers of America feel about these issues.

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Q: What has been your most rewarding experience to date? Your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge was clearly the Annual Meeting debates on governance, which occurs every 10 years and I happened to draw the lucky straw. That meeting was the culmination of years of discussion and debate about the issues of ABA governance, which always are important and very emotional and bring out strong feelings on both sides, sometimes numerous sides, of every issue.

To me, it was important that when everyone left that meeting that they felt they had been treated with the utmost respect, and treated professionally and fairly. And regardless of winning or losing, they felt good about the process and knew that they had been given a fair forum. That was a very, very difficult meeting, as you can imagine.

It was gratifying to see the respect delegates gave each other - even if they lost the vote - because they felt the process was fair.

Q: And your most rewarding?

I think the most rewarding is just chairing the House! To be able to watch the debate that occurs in the House on issues that really affect our very fundamental liberties is really amazing. I wish every member of our association - and, quite frankly, our profession - could sit where I do for a moment and see from that vantage point how we deal with the issues confronting our society. They would be very proud. I hope some lawyers from the Chicago area will take the opportunity to come watch the House in action at the February meeting.

Q: How would you like your term as Chair of the House to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered as someone who brought before the House the important issues of our time, such as the program on judicial independence. And certainly I would like to be remembered as someone who took his job very, very seriously, but tried not to take himself too seriously.

Q: Any other thoughts on your tenure as Chair, either looking back or looking forward to the rest of your term?

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