Corporate Counsel
The Metropolitan
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Volume 14, No. 12
© 2006 The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Inc.
December 2006
Issues & Overview
A Tale Of Two Bars
China’s national bar association, the
All China Lawyers Association, this
year is commemorating its 20th
anniversary. The American Bar Association, founded in 1878, is in its
129th year. ACLA’s growth and impact
on the legal profession in China during
its first two decades bear comparison
to that of the ABA during its first quarter century.
I have had the opportunity to
observe first-hand the many achievements of these two great national bars,
and to work with ACLA’s leadership
during the past twelve months on
issues of mutual interest. The strengthening relationship between the ABA
and ACLA thus provides grounds for
optimism not only for the two organizations but for the role of the legal
profession in our two nations.
My first visit to China was in
November 1986, the year of ACLA’s
birth, when I led a delegation of
lawyers and judges on a 22-day mission to China. My next trip was not
until 19 years later, in my capacity as
president of the ABA. On the latter
trip I had the opportunity and pleasure
to meet with ACLA’s president, Mr. Yu
Ning, and his ACLA colleagues, and
with leaders in China’s Ministry of
Justice to discuss substantive issues of
common interest to the legal profession in our countries. I also observed
remarkable changes that had occurred
since my earlier trip.
For example, the entire lawyer population of China in 1986 – which was
also ACLA’s membership – was fewer
than 3000. It is now 110,000 and
growing. Many of the important
issues that ACLA has addressed these
past 20 years have interesting
antecedents in the ABA’s early years.
The 120 or so lawyers from across
the U.S. – leaders of state bar associations – who traveled to Saratoga, New
York, in 1878 to form America’s
national bar association did so because
of a pressing need to address serious
problems and issues then besetting
America’s legal profession and society.
What were some of those troubling
issues in the ABA’s infancy?
There were no standards for legal
education in the U.S. There were no
codes of ethics for lawyers or judges.
The administration of the justice system frustrated and angered the public
due to ineffectiveness and perceived
unfairness. Consumer protection laws
were many decades away, as was any
serious consideration for the protection
of the environment. There were denial
of civil rights and discrimination
toward racial and ethnic minorities and
women, in both American society and
the legal profession (Brown v. Board
of Education would not be decided for
another 75 years). Access to the justice
system was denied to the vast majority
of America’s poor, and even today 80
percent of the legal needs of America’s
poor continue to be unmet each year.
Women and persons of color were
denied full and meaningful entry into
the legal profession, and even today
lack of diversity in the legal profession
persists. The concept of a Rule of Law
movement supported and advanced by
the ABA is a phenomenon of only the
last fifteen years, with creation of ABA
CEELI, followed by similar rule of law
initiatives in Asia, Africa, Latin America and increasingly here at home. The
list could go on.
For its part, ACLA (which unlike
the ABA is under the supervision of
the Chinese government), has made
notable progress on those issues that it
has made a priority during its first
twenty years. ACLA committees have
not only played an important role in
China’s economic reform, but have
also become influential in advocating
for an enhanced role for lawyers’ participation in such areas as environmental protection and criminal justice.
The legal profession in China,
through the daily efforts of 110,000
lawyers who strive to incorporate law
and legal standards into discussions
with and advice to enterprise, government, and the citizenry, is one of the
strongest forces in China for creating
genuine rule of law – for the important
reason that lawyers are treating law as
relevant and as a source of authority.
Importantly, ACLA in recent years
has been increasing substantially its
outreach to and participation in the
international community of lawyers
and jurists, thus facilitating greater
understanding between China and
other nations on legal cultural differences and similarities, and helping
China to integrate better into the world
community. This I know first hand
because of the opportunities I have had
Volume 14, No. 12
© 2006 The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Inc.
during the past twelve months to meet
and collaborate with President Yu and
his ACLA colleagues at conferences
and meetings across the world. We
enjoy a strong and growing friendship,
both professional and personal, based
on mutual respect and trust.
ACLA, on behalf of the legal profession in China, is unambiguously
and understandably proud of its
increasing openness and participation
with its counterparts in the international community. Primary among the
reasons to welcome such participation
is the great potential presented for a
united legal profession in all nations to
serve as a strong force for advancing
the rule of law throughout the world.
The rule of law not only protects the
dignity of all peoples, but the stability
that it ensures in legal systems is vital
to the economic development of
nations.
And so I commend ACLA for the
important progress it has made in its
first twenty years on the issues that it
has been able to address. Other issues
await ACLA’s attention, and that of the
legal profession in China, as is the
case with the ABA and the profession
in America.
The ABA, ACLA and bar associa-
December 2006
tions throughout the world have had
and will continue to have a vitally
important role in improving the legal
profession and its ability to serve
humankind. To be sure, in its 129 years
the ABA and its members have
achieved a great deal and have much to
be proud of. But in America we still
have a long way to go before fulfilling
the eloquent promise etched above the
entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court
building: “Equal Justice for All.”
As important as achieving that fundamental goal is for our nation, and for
all nations, equally important is the
global journey of all nations working
together to achieve it.
Michael S. Greco, Partner,
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
and immediate past President of the American Bar Association