The 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association (ABA) convened in Toronto, Ontario, August 6–12, under the theme “Rule of Law Rising: Advancing Law in a Connected World.” The choice of Toronto underscored both the ABA’s longstanding ties with Canadian legal institutions and the increasingly cross-border nature of modern legal practice.

The program offered hundreds of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) sessions, panel discussions, and networking events. Highlights included panels on competition and AI regulation, immigration law and executive authority, and comparative approaches to consumer protection in the U.S. and Canada. The Legal Summit of the Americas brought together voices from across the hemisphere to address shared challenges.

As a delegate in attendance, representing the WCBA, I was able not only to participate in programming but also had the privilege to listen to diverse perspectives and cast votes on consequential measures.

Program Highlights & Key Sessions

Over the course of the week, the meeting offered a wide array of CLE programs, panels, receptions, and forums. Some notable sessions included:

• “Northern Exposure: What Are the Neighbors Doing?” — comparing U.S. and Canadian approaches to competition, consumer protection, and regulatory enforcement.
• “Still Friends? Competition, Innovation & AI Cooperation” — exploring how trade, data regulation, and AI policies intersect across the border.
• “Crossing the Line: Due Process, Executive Power, and the Future of Immigration in the U.S. and Canada” — a featured panel on immigration enforcement, executive authority, and cross-jurisdictional standards. n Panels on technology and ethics (e.g. generative AI, lawyer obligations), judicial independence, business development strategies, and media/law interface were also prominent.
• The Legal Summit of the Americas, organized by the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities, convened lawyers from U.S., Canada, Mexico and other jurisdictions to grapple with cross-border legal challenges.

In addition to substance, the meeting included networking and social events and served as a stage for reinforcing the ABA’s ongoing ties to Canadian legal communities. The program was ambitious and dense, reflecting an agenda focused not just intra-U.S. but on transnational, comparative, and cross-border legal issues—a signal of the ABA’s intention to engage more globally.

The House of Delegates:

August 11–12

The centerpiece of the annual meeting was the House of Delegates (HOD) session where more than 50 policy measures were approved. Highlights include:

• Resolution 509 passed (by voice vote) to oppose government retaliation against legal representation of controversial causes. 
• Resolutions 512 and 511, reaffirming ABA commitment to the rule of law and opposing dismantling of federal agencies without express legislative authority, also passed.
• The education/academic freedom/A.I. resolutions (504, 513, 505) were adopted, signaling the ABA’s push into thoughtful oversight of professional education norms.
• On immigration, Resolutions 510, 602, 603 passed, calling for strengthened due process protections and stricter limits on enforcement tactics.
• Free speech and press protections (Resolutions 514 and 517) passed, emphasizing reporter’s privilege and public employee speech protections.
• The anti-bullying resolution (523) was also adopted, encouraging legal organizations and institutions to examine and guard against bullying in the profession.

In terms of governance, the change to the Board of Governors diversity seat criteria was approved; however, a proposal to shrink the House of Delegates itself (or the Board) was rejected.

At the close of the HOD session, Michelle Behnke of Wisconsin formally assumed the ABA presidency from Bill Bay. The HOD was chaired by Jonathan Cole (Tennessee).

Concluding Thoughts

The 2025 ABA Annual Meeting and House of Delegates session in Toronto unfolded as a nexus of legal ideas, policy judgments, institutional change, and cross-border engagement. The setting in Canada underscored that legal challenges increasingly transcend national boundaries—whether in regulation, immigration, trade, or technology.

Within that frame, the House of Delegates acted with purpose: asserting defenses of the rule of law, legal professional independence, academic and civil liberties, and internal institutional reform. Some adopted measures are largely symbolic, others may guide ABA advocacy and posture in the coming years.

All reports and resolutions can be found on the ABA website. As always, it was an honor to represent the Westchester County Bar Association and I look forward to the Midyear Meeting, to be held in San Antonio, Texas in February.

Hon. Linda S. Jamieson is the WCBA delegate to the American Bar Association. She is a Past President of the Westchester County Bar Association and has been a New York State Supreme Court Justice since 2003; sitting in the Commercial Division for the last ten years.