Founded in 1938, the ABA Business Law Section is the premier bar organization for business lawyers. The Section’s more than 47,000 members – leaders in the business law arena – represent all areas of business law. Section committees work to further the development and improvement of business law. The Section prides itself in delivering practical resources for the business lawyer.
The Mission of the Business Law Section is to serve its members, the profession and the public by furthering the development and improvement of business law, educating Section members in business law and related professional responsibilities and helping Section members to serve their clients competently, efficiently and professionally.
The over 80 substantive committees produce the Section’s practice-specific publications and electronic newsletters, top-notch CLE programs, reports, model statutes and provide comments on pending legislation. With over 400 subcommittees, the Section covers virtually all aspects of business law—from the basic to the very sophisticated.
In addition to the substantive work produced by committees, the Section produces The Business Lawyer, the premier business law journal in the country. Published quarterly, The Business Lawyer contains articles of significant interest to business lawyers. Also, the Section publishes its magazine, Business Law Today, six times a year. In an easy to read format, Business Law Today reports on late breaking developments and trends of vital interest to business lawyers.The Section also publishes a monthly electronic newsletter, eSource. Published monthly this newsletter brings members the best of the Section of Business Law in an easy to click through format. Each issue links to extensive articles and resources relevant to the business lawyer.
For additional information about the ABA Business Law Section, visit www.ababusinesslaw.org.
DirectWomen is developing strategic alliances with other key organizations committed to increasing the representation of women on boards of directors, and is proud to partner with Catalyst, the preeminent research and advisory organization working with corporations and firms to advance women in the workplace.
Catalyst is the leading research and advisory organization working with businesses and the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work. As an independent, nonprofit membership organization, Catalyst conducts research on all aspects of women’s career advancement and provides strategic and web-based consulting services globally. In particular, Catalyst tracks the advancement of women on boards of the largest U.S.-based public corporations with its Census of Women Board Directors of the Fortune 500. With the support and confidence of member corporations and firms, Catalyst remains connected to business and its changing needs. In addition, Catalyst honors exemplary business initiatives that promote women’s leadership with the annual Catalyst Award. With offices in New York, San Jose, and Toronto, Catalyst is consistently ranked No. 1 among U.S. nonprofits focused on women’s issues by The American Institute of Philanthropy.
For additional information about Catalyst, visit www.catalyst.org.
The Commission was created in August 1987 to assess the status of women in the legal profession, identify barriers to advancement, and recommend to the ABA actions to address problems identified. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first chair of the Commission, set the pace for the Commission to change the face of the legal profession by issuing a groundbreaking report in 1988 showing that women lawyers were not advancing at a satisfactory rate. From this report, the Commission found that a variety of discriminatory barriers remained a part of the professional culture, the significant increase in the number of women attorneys would not eliminate these barriers and a thorough reexamination of the attitudes and structures in the legal profession was needed.
For additional information about the ABA Commission on Women, visit www.abanet.org/women/.
ION
Formed in 2004, ION is a national nonprofit network of 16 regional member organizations across the United States representing more than 10,000 executive-level women from a wide range of disciplines. ION gives its members a national voice to advocate for the advancement of women to positions of power in executive suites and boards of directors of publicly traded companies. To read ION’s Annual Status Report of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Public Companies in 16 Regions of the United States, click here.