Something for Everyone at First In-Person Annual Meeting in 3 Years

Something for Everyone at First In-Person Annual Meeting in 3 Years

12.6.2022

By NYSBA Staff

The New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting is returning to the Hilton Midtown for the first time in three years, and the six-day conference is jam-packed with a variety of panel discussions and social gatherings including a gala dinner at the Rainbow Room and the week’s premier educational event — the presidential summit.

Presidential Summit

The summit will focus on “Mental Health and the Justice System: Impacts, Challenges, Potential Solutions” and be held on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Untreated mental illness and the inability to access treatment and a lack of funding have created a crisis at every level of the criminal justice system. It impacts everyone from attorneys and their clients to judges, courthouse staff, incarcerated individuals and more. This issue has been exacerbated by the multi-year Covid crisis and compounded by deepening societal inequities.

During the panel entitled “Mindfulness and Mental Health,” professionals in the legal and mental health industries discuss the importance of creating a work environment that recognizes and promotes mental wellness.

The effects of mental illness on the criminal justice system is the focus of a third panel during the summit.  The “Criminalization of Mental Illness: Incarceration’s Effects on Mental Health and Trauma” panel will be about how people with mental health disorders have not been deinstitutionalized but have been shifted to another, less-humane form of institutionalization- jails and prisons. Panelists will also discuss the dehumanizing and often arbitrary environment in most jails and prisons.

Constance Baker Motley Symposium & Diversity Awards Program

The symposium will focus on the fight for constitutional rights for residents of the U.S. Territories, which is one of the association’s legislative priorities. Following the symposium, the President’s Reception: A Celebration of Diversity will highlight the work of the Task Force on the U.S. Territories and the Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Presidential Gala: Building A Stronger Future and the Gold Medal Award

The signature event at Annual Meeting is the Presidential Gala. The 2023 event will be held at the Rainbow Room atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Friday January 20. The flagship event is a black-tie dinner with live entertainment and an auction to benefit The Bar Foundation. The evening’s highlight is the presentation of the Gold Medal Award, the New York State Bar Association’s highest honor.

The 2023 recipient is nationally recognized civil rights attorney and law professor Sherrilyn Ifill. She is a senior fellow at the Ford Foundation, a position she began in early 2022 following ten years as the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In addition to her work on the board of the Mellon Foundation, she is a trustee at New York University School of law.

Section Meetings & Events

Each section hosts practice-specific panels and workshops during Annual Meeting. Members are welcome to register to attend section events that are not in their area of practice.

Many members say the best part of Annual Meeting is the networking with other attorneys and learning new information. “I have a very niche practice and it’s nice to commiserate with other property tax or real property attorneys in getting different viewpoints,” says Amy D’Ambrogio who is a member of the Real Property Section.

“You learn a lot by coming to these events that you might not ordinarily learn about what’s going on with the judiciary, what’s going on in the courts,” says NYSBA member Richard A. Klass.

New in 2023, six sections will be holding virtual programming during Annual Meeting There will be no in-person events for these sections and their programs will take place on Jan. 23 and 24.

The virtual-only sections are:

Business Law

Food, Drug & Cosmetic Law

Intellectual Property

International

LGBTQ Law

Local & State Government Law

With more than thirty programs offered in addition to special events and receptions included with the general registration, there is something for everyone. For up to the minute schedules and registration information, visit nysba.org/AM2023.