Ep 046: Incoming ABA President Judy Perry Martinez

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judy Perry Martinez is a lawyer who has made public service a part of her career from the start. She continues that legacy in August as she assumes the presidency of the 400,000-member</span> <a href= "https://www.americanbar.org/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">American Bar Association</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">during its annual meeting in San Francisco. On this episode of LawNext, Martinez joins host Bob Ambrogi for a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing the ABA and the profession at large. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over more than 30 years, Martinez has held various leadership positions at the ABA, including as chair of the ABA Presidential Commission on the Future of Legal Services, which three years ago released it seminal study on access to legal services,</span> <a href= "http://abafuturesreport.com/"><em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States</span></em></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Martinez also chaired the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which evaluates all prospective nominees to the federal bench. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other roles in which she has served include as the ABA’s lead representative to the United Nations, a member of the ABA Task Force on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System, a member of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, a member of the Council of the ABA Center on Diversity, and a member of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She spent much of her career at the law firm</span> <a href= "https://www.spsr-law.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">in New Orleans, where she is of counsel. In 2003, she joined Northrop Grumman Corporation as assistant general counsel-litigation, eventually rising to become vice president and chief co