The Bar Leans Left

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Historically, the American Bar Association has been a conservative group led by men in pinstripes and wing tips. But at this year's annual convention in San Francisco, the lawyers' group took a distinctly liberal turn. On Sunday, Hillary Clinton, who until 1991 chaired the A.B.A.'s commission on women, paid tribute to one of the profession's most recent female celebrities, Anita Hill. "All women who care about the equality of opportunity, about integrity and morality in the workplace, are in Professor Anita Hill's debt," said Clinton, a corporate lawyer. Hill received an award from the A.B.A. and a standing ovation from the crowd. Later in the week, the A.B.A. voted to fight laws that restrict a woman's right to an abortion; the group also allowed the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association to join.

The A.B.A.'s tilt to the left on these issues is attributable partly to the increasing political clout of women. In the past 12 years, women have gone from 8% of the legal profession to 21%. Said the A.B.A.'s outgoing president, Talbot D'Alemberte: "The future of this profession lies largely with women, and women care passionately" about abortion. Predictably, the A.B.A.'s action displeased fellow lawyer Dan Quayle, who won a good deal of support last year for his more precisely targeted complaint about exploding legal costs. "The American Bar leadership," said the Vice President last week, "is just one more special interest group of the Democratic Party. We now know why Bill Clinton can never support legal reform."