FOR THE NEXT several days, Baltimore will have more than its share of legal eagles, as the American Bar Association convenes its mid-year meeting here. The ABA, long regarded as one of the ultimate old-boys establishment groups, is now under the leadership of its first woman president. When Patricia Cooper Ramo, 53, left law school, few law firms were hiring women. Today women lawyers still face unjust obstacles in many firms, but they are a major presence in the profession.
Under Ms. Ramo, the ABA is addressing a number of issues related to women, such as domestic violence and the difficulties women face in climbing the ladder in large law firms. More important, it is also grappling with problems facing the country's justice system as a whole.
At this meeting, the ABA is announcing a new initiative to provide help for judges, lawyers and others involved in high-profile trials who suddenly find themselves in the glare of public attention. No doubt Judge Lance Ito is only one of many people who wish, in retrospect, they had been able to call on a task force of people who had already been through such a grueling experience.