On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, we speak with ABA President James Silkenat, on his first day in office, about his goals and initiatives for the ABA agenda.

James Silkenat has been working in international law for more than 40 years. He joined the ABA’s first delegation to China in the mid-1970s and since then has chaired the International Law Section. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the American Law Institute, and has served as a Fellow in the U.S. State Department Scholar/Diplomat Program. As well as numerous other positions in and outside of the ABA, he will now serve as the president of the nation’s largest legal organization.

In our interview, Silkenat discusses his major platform goals for his presidency, including tackling the legal education financing system and student debt, a legal job corps, the ABA’s stance on gun violence, and more.

Listen to or download the show at the Legal Talk Network.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.