National Office

2026 Annual Meeting in New York

Registration for the Annual Meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria New York, October 22-25, will open July 13. This meeting will feature a private event on Ellis Island, unique tours and activities – including optional Broadway tickets – and a lineup of exceptional speakers, including Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, The Hon. David Lametti KC PC. We anticipate this meeting to garner significant interest, so plan to register early. Check out all the information on our Annual Meeting webpages.

National Office

Podcast

All six episodes of Season Fourteen are now available. Recent episodes feature Past President Fran Wikstrom, New Jersey Fellows discussing the high-profile prosecution of New Jersey power broker George Norcross III, and a candid conversation about Mental Health with former Chief Justice of Ontario The Honourable George Strathy. Listen at actl.podbean.com or on your favorite podcast app.

National Office

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

The Mental Health Awareness Committee is tasked with the mission of raising awareness of mental health issues within our profession and proposing urgently needed reforms. One key focus of the committee’s work has been to examine what law firms are doing to address mental health and substance abuse issues faced by their lawyers and to propose best practices on these critical issues. 

Following substantial research and study, including interviews of and other input from law firm representatives, consultants, and many other valuable information sources, the Committee has composed, and the College’s Board of Regents has approved for publication, a White Paper on Law Firm Mental Health Best Practices. The White Paper can be accessed by clicking here. The White Paper includes a set of recommendations for institutional culture changes to enable firms to effectively address the mental health and substance abuse challenges of their lawyers and to help them find needed resources. 



We ask that you share this White Paper with your firm’s Managing Partner, General Counsel, Board and other leadership and that you consider implementing these recommendations within your firm or organization. And please do not hesitate to contact Committee Chair James Brown at jabrown@liskow.com with your thoughts, input and suggestions.  

In The Spotlight

John Day

President John Day has released the fourth edition of his book, Day on Torts: Leading Cases in Tennessee Tort Law. The 1300-page book identifies and summarizes the leading cases on 579 Tennessee tort law topics and references over 2000 additional tort decisions. The edition also identifies state statutes relevant to the practice of tort law in Tennessee. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.

In the Spotlight

Alan Levine

Downstate New York Fellow Alan Levine was honored with the Leon Silverman award at the Downstate New York Fellows dinner. The award is presented to “a practicing lawyer or retired judge whose career has exemplified the qualities of ethics and professionalism embodied in the College’s Code of Pretrial and Trial Conduct and whose actions and accomplishments manifest a lifetime of commitment to advancing the administration of justice through service in the legal profession, the judiciary, government or public service.” 

In The Spotlight

Mike Turco

Mike Turco, Michigan State Committee Vice Chair, was recently honored as a Michigan Lawyers Weekly “Hall of Fame” award recipient.  

Heritage Committee

DID YOU KNOW

Fellow Ian Kelly teaches children to ice skate on Sundays? In the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis, Ian’s church sponsored two refugee families. Little did he expect that it would lead to him strapping on his ice skates after a twenty-year hiatus, or to spending his Sunday afternoons at the local Glacier Arena. But after eight years of teaching Syrian children how to ice skate, Ian is still doing exactly that.

Newfoundland winters can be long and cold. Finding healthy winter activities is important, but particularly so for the children of the Syrian refugee families who arrived through Canada’s Syrian refugee program. Re-settling is a challenge at the best of times, but harder still when a child leaves a traumatic war-torn environment for something as completely foreign as ‘life on The Rock,’ as Newfoundland is often called.

In 2018, 8-year-old Sima saw a frozen pond and told Ian’s wife Donna that she’d like to learn to skate. Despite Donna’s warning that he might end up in hospital, Ian dusted off his skates and his 1978 certified hockey helmet to go skating with Sima. The other children in the two families soon joined in. Then children from other refugee families. It wasn’t long before Ian was the “responsible adult” on the ice with up to thirteen children!

Ian still stores and brings the used skates and helmets he’s collected over the years, with the support of his law firm. Once the kids are properly outfitted, Ian is on the ice with them for over an hour. Cana, Sima’s sister, started eight years ago at age four. Now twelve, she speeds past Ian and easily does thirty laps of the rink. Ian has recently been joined by his associate, Sonya Vey, who played high school hockey. Sonya is an excellent teacher and a wonderful role model, especially for the girls in the group. Ian, a prolific community volunteer, says this activity is just plain fun. And seeing the children’s sense of accomplishment at success warms his soul. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

Furthering the Mission

General Committees

International: A dedicated faculty comprising seven ACTL fellows: Judy Barrasso (New Orleans. LA), Brent Barriere (New Orleans, LA), Kim Boyle (New Orleans, LA), Susan Harriman (North Kingstown, RI), Stephen Schwarz (Rochester, NY), Bart Dalton (Wilmington, DE), and Adam Balick (Wilmington) conducted a successful trial advocacy teaching program in Cape Town South Africa from March 30-April 2, partnering with the Cape Town Bar Association. The program included interactive lectures on various trial skills, ethics and AI, demonstrations and break-out groups in the High Court courtrooms, where the attendees presented openings and closings, direct and cross examinations of fact witnesses and expert witnesses, and mediations. In addition, four ACTL Fellows, Magistrate Judge Caroline Cinquanto, Bernard Taylor, and Diane MacArthur from the United States, and Simon Potter from Canada, participated in a trial practice and mediation training program in Pretoria, South Africa from April 13-17. The young South African advocates who participated in the program ranged in years of practice from under twelve months to up to ten years. The group also spent one afternoon with a talented group of 90 students from the University of Pretoria. Some of those students conducted a mock trial in a defamation case and, during their presentations, the students wore the formal black robes used by advocates in court. The ACTL Fellows, as well as our PSA hosts, provided critiques.

Mentoring: The Committee has launched the fifth year of the Summer Judicial Internship Program in partnership with Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization, through which the College provides Fellows as mentors to first-generation law students who will be interning with federal judges around the country. This year, eighty judges in twenty-five states are participating, with 102 interns being paired with Fellows. Training for the mentors is May 19 and 20, 2026, and the program runs June and July. The individual mentoring is supplemented with two Committee webinar presentations, one on Career Opportunities on June 11, 2026, and another on Professionalism, Ethics, and the Role of the College on June 23, 2026. We very much appreciate everyone who already has stepped up to be a mentor and encourage others who receive a call to join us – the experience is incredibly rewarding for the law students and the Fellows serving as mentors.  

Appointments and Designations

Elevated to the Bench

Mark W. Haigh

Rapid City, SD

Judge Haigh

US District Court, District of SD

March 2026

Melanie S. Morgan

Telluride, CO

Judge Morgan

San Miguel Combined Court

March 2026

Mark A. Friese

Bismarck, ND

Justice Friese

North Dakota Supreme Court

March 2026

Mark Your Calendars

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