Lynne Marek reports on NLJ, "The American Bar Association announced this week that it's cutting the cost of dues for solo practitioners, government lawyers, judges and attorneys working for nonprofits as part of an effort to respond to lawyers' differing financial circumstances and the effects of the economic downturn."

Personally, I quit the ABA after I read their brief in Sawyer v. Smith, 497 U.S. 227 (1990), a case in which I also wrote a brief. Theirs was a straight defense-side brief with no semblance of consideration for the other side. The briefs I have seen them file in criminal cases in the twenty years since have been similarly tilted.

So I'll pass, despite the reduced dues. I will rejoin the ABA when it becomes evenhanded on criminal law or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first.