National Office

Action Items at Annual Meeting

At the conclusion of the Annual Meeting in New York, the following officers were installed:

• President Sandra A. Forbes
• President-Elect Catherine M. Recker
• Treasurer Jeffrey E. Stone
• Secretary William P. Keane
• Immediate Past President John A. Day

Four new Regents were also installed. Please read this Press Release for additional information. Additionally, 87 new Fellows were inducted at the Induction Ceremony and Banquet on Friday, October 23.

The Board of Regents also held its 2026 Fall Meeting in the days leading up to the Annual Meeting. In addition to approving 78 candidates for Fellowship, their business included the following:

• Approval of fiscal year 2026 audit
• Approval of the Treasurer’s Report
• Discussion of the CORE Task Force’s work and approval of various recommendations.
• Approval of The Arbitration Handbook, written by the Arbitration Committee
• Approval of Judicial Endorsements and the First Amendment: The Implications of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Holding That the Canon of Judicial Ethics Rule Barring Such Endorsements Is Unconstitutional, a White Paper written by the Rule of Law Committee
• Approval of several awards to be presented at future meetings
• Review of the status of the U.S. and Canadian Foundations
• Review of the “How to” series of guides to support the work of State and Province Committees, which will be posted to the actl.com website in the coming weeks

National Office

Looking for an Easy Way to Get Involved?

You don’t have to join a committee to make a difference. Through two College programs, The Reputation Project and the Partnership with the National Constitution Center to teach civics, Fellows can share their experience and help shape the next generation of lawyers and informed citizens.

The Reputation Project gives Fellows an opportunity to teach law students about the importance of building and maintaining a strong professional reputation. Through the College’s partnership with the National Constitution Center (NCC), Fellows are helping middle and high school students better understand civics and the principles that underpin our system of government.

Help fulfill the College’s mission to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and civility. Both programs require only a brief time commitment, and all materials are provided. Visit the College’s website to learn more and find out how you can participate.

U.S. Foundation

Foundation Update

Every Fellow Counts. Every Gift Delivers Justice.

The U.S. Foundation’s Giving Challenge is underway, and we encourage every Fellow to participate. This friendly competition is designed to increase the percentage of Fellows who donate to the U.S. Foundation. The goal is simple: Which chapter can achieve the highest rate of Fellow participation? It's not about how much you give; it's about being part of the effort. Every Fellow counts. Every gift delivers justice.

At the time of this writing, Northern California Fellows are in the lead! We hope Fellows across all Chapters will join the challenge and demonstrate the collective commitment of our Fellowship to supporting the U.S. Foundation’s work.

Your contribution helps the Foundation continue supporting organizations that support and expand access to justice and the improvement of trial advocacy. During the Annual Meeting in New York, the U.S. Foundation Trustees met and approved grants such as:

• $40,000 to the World Justice Project to support the launch of a three-year initiative to strengthen the Rule of Law at the state level by collecting practical data on the Rule of Law in all 50 states and working with partners to advance evidence-based reforms where needed
• $40,000 to the University of Buffalo School of Law’s Innocence & Justice Project to fund a part-time social worker who will assist clients, attorneys and students with sentencing and resentencing applications for survivors of domestic violence convicted of crimes against domestic partners, as well as parole applications and innocence-related criminal proceedings. 

These grants are two examples of how the Foundation puts Fellows’ generosity to work. Remember, every dollar contributed goes directly to deserving grantees.

There are several ways to donate:

• Credit card: Click here, then click on the “Donate Now” button. 
• Check: Make your check payable to the Foundation of the American College of Trial Lawyers and mail it to:  The American College of Trial Lawyers, 4041 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 140, Newport Beach, CA 92660. 
• Stock or IRA Transfer: You may also contribute through a transfer of stock or funds from your IRA, both of which may offer tax advantages. Please contact Amy Mrugalski at (949) 752-1801 for assistance. 

If you haven’t yet donated to the Foundation, now is a great time to start. The need could not be greater, and we all share a deep commitment to supporting the rule of law, ensuring access to justice and protecting the independence of the judiciary. Every Fellow Counts. Every Gift Delivers Justice.

With gratitude,

Susan J. Harriman

President, U.S. Foundation

In the Spotlight

Kim Herlihy

Ohio State Chair Kim Herlihy appeared in a 60-Minutes segment on AI. You can watch the segment here, starting at around 4:55.

In the Spotlight

Roberto Martinez

Florida Fellow Roberto (Bob) Martinez authored an opinion piece that appeared in the Miami Herald, titled “Americans are becoming increasingly violent toward judges, risking our democracy.” Read the OpEd here.

Heritage Committee

DID YOU KNOW

Did you know ACTL was a founding sponsor of NITA? The College’s U.S. Foundation was established in the early 1960s as an ambitious student loan fund. It quickly evolved into a driver of the trial skill programs that we support today. At that time, the U.S. Foundation focused on the development of the model course on advocacy for young lawyers and the establishment of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). NITA grew out of a concern over a growing backlog of cases that many attributed to the lack of skill of many young lawyers in the courtroom. The College was one of the founding sponsors in 1971 and annually thereafter.

In the succeeding years, the College took on a more active role in seeking to improve the training of new advocates. Among those efforts, Past President Robert Clare chaired a special advisory committee in 1974 to recommend changes in legal education and training to improve the quality of trial lawyers. The result was the “Clare Report” (dubbed “A Clare and Present Danger” by some) which challenged the predominant legal education of the time as “too theoretical.” To enhance trial advocacy and better prepare new lawyers for trial work, the committee recommended that lawyers seeking admission to federal district courts be required to have experience, either in law school or thereafter, in evidence, federal procedure, criminal law and procedure, professional conduct and trial advocacy. Although encountering some resistance from the schools and the ABA, the Clare Report did result in new courses in trial advocacy at several law schools and set the stage for our continuing efforts to improve the teaching of advocacy in law schools and thereafter. NITA’s training programs have helped strengthen the trial skills of many of our Fellows and continues to improve the advocacy skills of lawyers everywhere.

Furthering the Mission

State Committees

New Jersey: The New Jersey State Committee, in conjunction with the United States District Court Historical Society, presented the third installment of its Great Trials Program in the ceremonial courtroom of the federal courthouse in Trenton on October 14. The program explored three landmark cases held in the Trenton federal vicinage, featuring the Fellows of the College who tried them: United States v. Hugh Addonizio (1970); United States v. Robert Brennan (2001); and United States v. Tony Mack (2014). The speakers shared firsthand accounts and media from these dramatic trials, the challenges of high-profile cases that attracted national media attention, and how the jury’s ultimate decision depended on the art of trial advocacy. Participants included former Chief Judge Garrett Brown Jr., former Chief Judge Freda Wolfson, former Judge Herbert Stern, Fellows Joseph A. Hayden, Jr., Henry E. Klingeman, Eric W. Moran, Eric R. Breslin, and attorney Mark G. Davis. We were joined at the program by incoming President-Elect Catherine M. Recker and her husband Matt Pappajohn. In addition, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Robert L. Frazer and a number of sitting federal judges were among the attendees.

Mark Your Calendars

View all upcoming events at www.actl.com/events