PRESIDENTIAL INITIATIVE AWARDS

Under the theme AI 2035: The Legal Profession and the Judiciary in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, the CBA launched the nation’s first comprehensive bar association AI initiative. This included ten working committees, 70 free continuing legal education programs, and a three-day symposium that brought together the brightest legal minds in this country to wrestle with the most consequential questions facing our profession.

Presidential Excellence in AI Leadership Award

The winners of this award are leaders who understand the law and the moment we are living in. All were instrumental to the success of the AI 2035: The Legal Profession and the Judiciary in the Age of Artificial Intelligence initiative. Justice Rena Van Tine and Judge Megan Goldish served as Co-Chairs of our AI 2035 Strategic Leadership Team. They brought intellectual rigor, judicial wisdom, and an extraordinary commitment to this initiative. And Joel Bruckman served as the Vice-Chair — the engine that kept everything moving forward.

Together, these three individuals guided ten working committees, oversaw seventy free CLE programs, and helped produce a three-day national symposium that put The Chicago Bar Association on the map in the conversation about AI and the law. They did not just lead a committee. They helped make history.

Congratulations to Justice Rena Van Tine, Judge Megan Goldish, and Joel Bruckman.

Presidential Distinguished Committee Chair Award

The Presidential Distinguished Committee Chair Awards recognize the attorneys and judges who said yes to a presidential initiative before they knew exactly what it would require of them. And then they delivered. Each of them led a committee of legal professionals through some of the most complex and consequential questions of our time — questions about AI and criminal justice, data privacy, courtroom operations, ethics, and the future of legal education. They did it with excellence, with dedication, and with the kind of commitment that makes this Association great.

AI and Access to Justice — Judge Corinne Cantwell Heggie.

AI and Courtroom Operations — Judge Kerrie Maloney Laytin.

AI and Criminal Justice — Judge Beatriz Santiago and Judge Ankur Srivastava.

AI, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity — Judge Michael T. Mullen.

AI and Ethics in Advocacy — Judge Debjani Dasgupta Desai.

AI and Fairness, Transparency and Inclusion — Judge Tracie R. Porter.

AI and Future of Legal Education — Judge Lloyd J. Brooks.

AI and Law Firm Economics — Judge Sarah Rodak Johnson.

AI and Legal Practice and Litigation — Judge Michael J. Zink and Judge Loveleen Ahuja.

AI and Legal Research and Writing — Judge Allen P. Walker.

Presidential Distinguished Committee Vice-Chair Award

Behind every outstanding chair is a vice chair who made it possible. The Vice-Chairs of the AI 2035 Working Committees worked just as hard, gave just as much, and deserve to be recognized just as fully.

AI and Access to Justice — Alexis Crawford Douglas.

AI and Courtroom Operations — Margaret Mendenhall Casey.

AI and Criminal Justice — Ashonta Cherron Rice.

AI, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity — Ronak Y. Shah.

AI and Ethics in Advocacy — Madhavi Seth.

AI and Fairness, Transparency and Inclusion — Angela C. Spears, Jonathan Scott Safron, and Taylor Tyler.

AI and Future of Legal Education — Andre Alan Hunter, Jr.

AI and Law Firm Economics — Daniel Jacob Berkowitz.

AI and Legal Practice and Litigation — Roman Edward Solowski and Peter Conrad McNamara.

AI and Legal Research and Writing — Anthony M. Sam.

President’s Special Citation — Joel Bruckman

This award recognizes Joel Bruckman for his outstanding contribution to AI 2035 and for going above and beyond in every instance.

The AI 2035 Symposium required sponsorships. It required someone to pick up the phone, make the ask, and bring in the resources that made a three-day national event possible. Co-Chairs Justice Van Tine and Judge Goldish, as sitting judges, were legally prohibited from raising funds for this initiative, so that responsibility fell entirely on Joel.

His belief in this initiative and his commitment to the CBA led him to secure more than $100,000 in sponsorships for the AI 2035 Symposium. His efforts helped make the impossible possible.

The Chicago Bar Association and the Coalition of Chicagoland Bar Associations issue this statement in condemnation of the personal threats, harassment, and politically motivated attacks directed at Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Lyke Jr. following the tragic shooting at Swedish Hospital on April 25, 2026. 

The death of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew is a profound loss. We extend our deepest condolences to Officer Bartholomew’s family, to his partner who remains hospitalized, and to the entire Chicago Police Department. The grief of this community is real, and we do not minimize it. 

It is precisely because this moment is so serious that we must be clear: the rule of law is not served by threatening those who administer it. 

Judge Lyke has served the people of Cook County on the bench since 2016. He is a Chicago-Kent College of Law alumnus, a former Assistant State’s Attorney, and a former defense attorney with fifteen years of service to underserved communities. He has presided over criminal matters and veterans’ treatment court and has dedicated his career to this community. 

The calls for Judge Lyke’s removal, demands for his impeachment, and any personal threats directed at him raise serious concerns that extend well beyond this individual case. When judges cannot exercise independent judgment without facing harassment or threats of personal harm, the integrity of the entire judicial system is compromised. Every judge in every courtroom is then subject to public pressure rather than the authority of law. 

The appropriate response to disagreement with a judicial ruling is an appeal to a higher court or, where warranted, a legislative remedy. These are not mere procedural preferences; they are the mechanisms by which a constitutional democracy resolves disputes and maintains public confidence in its institutions. 

The Chicago Bar Association and the Coalition of Chicagoland Bar Associations call upon elected officials and community leaders to publicly condemn any threats or intimidation directed at Judge  Lyke or any member of the Cook County judiciary, and to reaffirm their commitment to the principle that an independent judiciary is fundamental to the rule of law. 

This moment reflects a broader national pattern in which judges face increasing personal and political pressure for decisions made in the discharge of their duties. The Chicago Bar Association and the Coalition of Chicagoland Bar Associations remain committed to defending judicial independence as a cornerstone of our legal system. 

The Coalition of Bar Associations 

The Chicago Bar Association 

Arab American Bar Association of Illinois 

Black Men Lawyers Association 

Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago 

Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago 

Decalogue Society of Lawyers 

Filipino American Lawyers Association 

Haitian American Lawyers Association of Illinois 

Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois 

LAGBAC – Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association 

Puerto Rican Bar Association 

CBA President Judge Nichole C. Patton declared AI her theme at the start of this bar year, sharing that she believes “we are standing at a consequential crossroads in our profession, a moment that will define how we practice law and what it means to be a lawyer in the decades ahead. AI has already transformed the legal profession and will continue to do so. This symposium is designed for legal professionals who want to stay ahead of both ethical obligations and competitive change and have the opportunity to learn, debate, and start shaping what legal practice will look like in the years to come.”

The event will feature keynote addresses from leading AI experts, interactive CLE sessions, live technology demonstrations, panel discussions on emerging ethical challenges, and networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration across practice areas.

Charles Elliott, the Head of Industry Architects for Google will present the opening plenary keynote presentation “AI Fluency for Lawyers: From Intimidation to Competence – A Practical Playbook for the Next Decade,” on Monday, May 11 at 9:00 a.m. Judge Jeffrey A. Goffinet of the Circuit Court of Williamson County and Co-Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court AI Task Force, will present during the May 11 luncheon on “Same Rules, New Tools: What the Illinois Supreme Court’s AI Policy Means for Judges and Lawyers-In Court, In Chambers and In Filings.”

The May 12^th plenary session “AI Regulation and the Law: What Lawyers Need to Know About Emerging Federal, State and Global Frameworks,” will feature panelists Adam Aft, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Jessi Brooks, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Ribbit, and Eric Posner, Professor, The University of Chicago Law School. The May 12^th luncheon session, “The In-House AI Equilibrium: An Intersection Where Business Operations Meets Legal Governance,” will feature panelists from the Chicago Cubs, including Chase Carpenter, Vice President, Strategy and Analytics; Steve Inman, Vice President, Technology; Taylor Riskin, Associate General Counsel; and Michael Lufrano, Executive Vice President, Community, Government and Legal Affairs.

The May 13^th plenary session “Human + Machine Collaboration: Redesigning Legal Workflows for the Next Decade,” will feature panelists Alicia Hawley of Counsel, K&L Gates LLP, Daniel Linna Jr., Director of Law & Technology Initiatives, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and Michael O’Malley, Executive Director, Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board.

Attendees will gain practical insights into implementing AI tools in their practice, understand regulatory developments, and participate in shaping the future of the legal profession in an increasingly digital world. Each day will explore a distinct dimension of AI’s impact on the law—foundational knowledge, applied ethics and innovation, and forward-looking mastery. Attendees will be invited to breakout sessions across three tracks—Litigation, Transactional, and Administrative/Operational—designed to unpack AI’s impact across practice areas.

The program will take place in person at VenueSix10, 610 S. Michigan Avenue. One-day and three-day passes are available for purchase, and up to 18 IL MCLE credits are available. For more information on fees, sessions, and speakers, visit: www.chicagobar.org/AI2035CLE.

AI 2035: The Legal Profession and the Judiciary in the Age of Artificial Intelligence sponsors include the Innovator Sponsor, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton; the Accelerator Sponsor, LexisNexis; and the Integrator Sponsors, Relativity, Spellbook, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg Law, and Consilio.

Coffee Break Sponsors include Corboy & Demetrio and Levenfeld Pearlstein.

Other supporters include Dykema, K&L Gates, Taft, and Aronberg Goldghen.

Exhibitors include August Law, Clio, Concorda, Framework IT, InfoTrack, and Percipient.

“Our 2026 Vanguard Honorees represent the absolute best of our legal community, and their contributions to access, equity, and excellence in the law are truly deserving of this recognition. The CBA is incredibly proud to recognize our honoree, Judge Fredrick H. Bates, for embodying this mission throughout his distinguished career, including as the Founder and Past Chairperson of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, a transformative organization dedicated to advancing racial and ethnic diversity across the legal profession,” said CBA President Judge Nichole C. Patton.

Distinguished award recipients include: Advocates Society, Judge Diann K. Marsalek,
Arab American Bar Association of Illinois, Anthony (“Tony”) Michael Abou Ezzi, Asian American Bar Association, Ajay K. Mehrotra, Justice Goodwin H. Liu, and the American Bar Foundation for work on “Portrait Project 2.0: Asian Americans in the Legal Profession,”Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc., Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, Daniel R. Murray, Chicago Bar Association
Judge Fredrick H. Bates, Cook County Bar Association, Cannon Lambert, Sr., Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Judge Abbey  Fishman Romanek, Filipino American Lawyers Association, Mark J. Calaguas, Haitian American Lawyers Association, Judie Lyn Smith,
Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois, Judge Koula A. Fournier, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Nancy Andrade, Justinian Society of Lawyers, Judge Jill  Cerone-Marisie, Korean American Bar Association, Caroline K. Kwon, LAGBAC -Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Judge Mary M. Rowland, Muslim Bar Association of Chicago, Naheda  Zayyad-Hussien, Puerto Rican Bar Association, Judge Lucy Vazquez-Gonzalez,
South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, Avani Patel, and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, Judge Patrice M.  Ball-Reed (ret.).

The CBA’s honoree, Judge Bates, is a Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Previously, he clerked for the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, was an associate at a major Chicago law firm, served as an equity partner at two large law firms, and was the President of the first minority-owned corporate law firm in the country, where all of the partners had been partners at major corporate law firms. He also served in the Administrative Law Judiciary for over 15. He has served the legal profession as President of the Cook County Bar Association and as Co-Chair of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, which he co-founded as the brain trust of the organization in 1987, well before diversity awareness and inclusion initiatives were generally accepted in the workplace. He is widely considered a leading national expert on diversity initiatives in law firms, and under his leadership, Chicago’s large law firms took the lead in ushering in collaborative efforts to recruit, retain, and promote lawyers of color. Judge Bates is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow with an extensive record of service to the community, having served on over 20 not-for-profit Boards. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his community service and service to the profession and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Association.

Tickets are $75 per person and $750 per table. The reception begins at 11:30 a.m., and the luncheon and awards start at noon. For more information, go to https://www.chicagobar.org/Vanguard.

Featured speaker Hon. Jeremy Fogel (ret.), a distinguished state and federal jurist, is the founding Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, a center at Berkeley Law School whose mission is to build bridges between judges and academics and to promote an ethical, resilient, independent judiciary.

“While courts and judges have been the subject of controversy at other times in our history, our present circumstances are particularly concerning. Public officials and government lawyers are straining constitutional and ethical guardrails, and social media are amplifying their message. Judges who rule against the government are facing credible threats to their safety, and lawyers and law firms who have spoken out on behalf of disfavored clients have been the target of retaliation. This program will highlight the role of the legal community in responding to these very serious challenges,” said Fogel.

Attendees will gain insight into both the challenges facing the judiciary today and the concrete steps lawyers and institutions can take to help protect our republic.

“Attacks made against those who have been appointed to administer the rule of law undermine our democracy and judicial independence and compromise the integrity of our legal system. The Under Siege program provides a significant opportunity for our legal community to come together to discuss ways we can help to promote and defend the independence of our judiciary and the rule of law at such a critical time in our society,” said CBA President Nichole C. Patton.

The full lineup of speakers and topics is outlined below: 

• Welcome Remarks
  • Daniel J. Cummins, The Cummins Family Justice Foundation
• The Landscape of Attacks on Judges 
  • Hon. Jeremy Fogel (ret.), Executive Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute. Recorded remarks: Hon. Esther Salas, U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey. Joan Lefkow, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Hon. P. Scott Neville, Jr., Chief Justice, Illinois Supreme Court
  • Hon. James L. Robart, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
• Judicial Independence Under Pressure: Ethics, Constraints, and Public Engagement 
  • Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Hon. Virginia M. Kendall, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Hon. Debra L. Stephens, Chief Justice, Washington State Supreme Court
  • Charles Gardner Geyh, Distinguished Professor and John F. Kimberling Professor, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
• Luncheon
  • Hon. Stephen Breyer (ret.), United States Supreme Court
  • Hon. Diane P. Wood (ret.) U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Director of the American Law Institute and Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School
  • Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Protecting the Integrity of the Judicial Disciplinary Process 
  • Robert H. Tembeckjian, Administrator & Counsel, New York State Commission on Judicial ConductRobert P. Deyling, Assistant General Counsel, Administrative Office of the U.S. CourtsHon. Teri L. Jackson, Presiding Justice, California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Five, Paula Wolff, Illinois Courts Commission
  • Vincent E. Doyle III, Partner, Connors LLP
• Where Do We Go from Here? Lawyers, Institutions, and the Duty to Safeguard the Rule of Law 
  • Robert Cummins, The Cummins Law Firm, P.C., Hon. Rubén Castillo (ret.), U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Daniel A. Cotter, Member, Aronberg Goldghen, Hon. Jeremy Fogel (ret.), Executive Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute, Maurice Possley (ret.), Chicago Tribune, Joseph H. Thompson, Founding Partner, Thompson Jacobs PLLC; Former Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Andrew W. Vail, Partner, Jenner & Block
  • Elizabeth Wright, Executive Director, Utah State Bar
• Closing Remarks
  • Molly Cummins, The Cummins Family Justice Foundation

The program will take place in person at the CBA (321 S. Plymouth Court) and will be available via webcast on May 5, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be served, and the program will be followed by a networking reception. Space is limited. The cost is $25 to attend in person and complimentary for the webcast, and 5 IL MCLE Credit is available. Register: www.learn.chicagobar.org/p/UnderSeige.

The Founder’s Award was established in 1994 and was first awarded to Laurel G. Bellows, the founder of the Alliance. This award is given to women who have demonstrated a sustained, active commitment to the advancement of women throughout their careers. The Alta May Hulett Award is named for the first woman lawyer in Illinois and is awarded to a woman who meets the Founder’s Award criteria but has been qualified to practice law for fifteen years or less. 

Recipients of these prestigious awards use their positions of leadership to help advance and empower women, support, and promote positive change among women within the legal profession and reflect the highest standards of professional ethics and excellence.

Nominees with a connection to the Chicago legal community are preferred. Current and former members of the Alliance Executive Committee are not eligible for consideration for either award until such time that they have not been members of the Alliance Executive Committee for three consecutive bar years. 

Nominations for The Founder’s Award and The Alta May Hulett Award are being accepted through May 8, 2026. The winners will be announced in late May and will be honored in early June 2026. For information on nomination requirements, visit www.chicagobar.org/afwawards.

About the Alliance for Women

The Alliance for Women works within the CBA to advance interests of women in the legal profession and the larger community. Through speaker forums, debates, meetings, networking events and direct community service, the Alliance tackles issues including career advancement, balancing work with outside interests, cultural diversity, ending violence against women, community service, and equality in education.

The CBA stands in support of these law firms in their continued fight against these unconstitutional efforts. Targeting firms based on their representation of clients in matters adverse to the current Administration violates the fundamental tenets of our nation’s legal system, including the core principle that every person is entitled to legal counsel.   

The following bar associations signed the briefs: 

Metropolitan Bar Associations 

New York City Bar Association  

Beverly Hills Bar Association 

Boston Bar Association 

Brehon Law Society of New York City and Nassau County 

Chicago Bar Association 

Colorado Bar Association 

Denver Bar Association 

King County Bar Association (Seattle) 

Los Angeles County Bar Association 

New York County Lawyers Association 

Philadelphia Bar Association 

San Diego County Bar Association 

Bar Association of San Francisco 

Affinity, Specialty, Regional and Local Bar Associations: 

Asian American Bar Association of New York 

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area 

Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley 

Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers 

Lawyers Club of San Diego 

Metropolitan Black Bar Association 

Monroe County Bar Association 

Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle 

Muslim Bar Association of New York 

National Association of Women Lawyers 

National LGBTQ+ Bar Association 

Queens Bench Bar Association 

Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York 

Women Lawyers on Guard Action Network 

Read the Brief Here: 

While it is not a new idea that economic inequality continues to inform political thought, it is clearer today that the line separating politics and law was always perhaps an artificial one. Private property rights — “capital” — that coordinate disparities in both wealth and income have come to almost entirely personify developed nations. The wealthiest 10 percent of income earners, for instance, now own over 93 percent of all stock market wealth among U.S. households. As property law evolves, we continue to confront questions about the scope of rights for those laying claim to useful property, for how long and why.

Ideally a jurisprudential tilt to preserve fair exchange and socially beneficial behavior should consider how stakeholders are not always all on equal footing. Placing property law’s historical canon at the fore could remind courts why a privileged gentry acquired and fortified their rights to a fledgling nation’s economic core by either conquest or endowment. But with a new legal framework that helps generate an equitable distribution of the economic pie, we may create a political economy resilient to the whims of those with real clout to make law opposed to egalitarian goals.

One obstacle in realizing this vision, however, lies within the treatment of property law in its wellspring 1L course. Here, several motifs about how humans relate to one another (e.g., between landowner and migrant farm worker; between tenant and landlord) are often straightjacketed. Only the casebook drives discussions, and the curriculum presents a challenge- students must learn many arcane laws of property, professors must trim the fat in order to provide what the market demands of graduates — preparation for the Bar exam.

Lost in translation, then, is deeper examination of a doctrine that often stamps “winners” and “losers” in pervasive ways. This seems surprising given that property law purports to balance “societal interests against economic development.” So how might we better appraise the role that legal institutions have in rectifying actionable conduct through the lens of property?

One way to find out is by turning to New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), which holds authority to restrict rent increases on rent-stabilized housing. With the artificial boundary between the law and political goals laid bare, the RGB must balance housing policy (social interests) clashing against the interests of owners — both individual and corporate — who make up a bulk of the city’s housing market (economic development). Given the concentrated control of property in one of the least affordable cities in America, some economists show that rules permitting rent prices to exceed operating costs of privately-owned buildings is a boon to landlords because it extracts wealth from tenants, then transfers that wealth upward at a premium.

A recent New York Appellate Court decision reveals a mechanism making these extractions methods possible. The Court defeated a law which protects tenants who pay their rent with “source of income” vouchers, burdening those low and fixed income renters in their search for adequate housing. The Court determined that the voucher system policy violated the constitutional rights of owners because it requires building safety inspections. This outcome effectively proscribes housing access which, in turn, reinforces a systematic tendency of courts to safeguard some interests while throttling others.

Direct state action that successfully weighed the social interests of those similarly disenfranchised against the rights of owners came during the Civil Rights Movement. Kinetic racial segregation pressured Congress to codify the Fair Housing Act (FHA) into law in 1968. The FHA expanded enhanced housing standards to roughly 12 million people, inducing meaningful economic mobility — a goal the RGB ostensibly shares. The FHA represents a landmark initiative to protect our vulnerable neighbors from unscrupulous practices, creating a basis to achieve housing equality against friction from property law’s problematic legacy in America.

To build a moral economy better positioned to defend tenants and workers against wayward actors, we must fully appreciate the historical context still animating property law disputes today. Honest introspection of uneven bargaining and market power means repairing the principles within property law’s own synthesis that degrade broader visions of economic justice. With yawning contempt for cracks throughout our institutions, it is time to mold property law for the 21st century.

About the Author

Tyler Clark is a current 1L at UIC Law.  He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Utah. His research focuses on Law & Political Economy, Antitrust, and Economic History. 

The benefit begins with a reception at 6 p.m. with the CBA’s Scales of Justice, a small jazz ensemble, providing lively music. There will be a silent auction featuring tickets for the Wait, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me show, sailing excursions on Lake Michigan, wine from the band leader’s personal cellar, a week-long retreat in Michigan on 25 acres, performances by CBA musical groups, vacation stays in exotic locations, and much more. from. Visit https://app.betterunite.com/BBBBB2026 to see all the auction items.

Later in the evening, the full 25-piece Barristers Big Band takes the stage while guests enjoy food and drinks. Shortly into the first set, professional dancers will demo some amazing dance moves, then teach a group dance lesson for everyone. All can show off their skills in a dance contest with giant trophies for winners.

“The Barristers Ball is not only a wonderful celebration of great music, but also the social event of the year for our legal community,” said John Vishneski, clarinetist and Band Leader.

The Barristers Big Band was founded in 2000 by The Chicago Bar Association members whoshare a love of big band jazz and want to keep the music of the great big band era alive. Its members come from every walk of the Chicago legal community – big firm partners, solo practitioners, government lawyers, law students, and, for much of its history, even a sitting federal judge. With a full set of saxes, including a bari, a powerful brass section, a rhythm section that swings like mad, and numerous vocalists, the Big Barristers Band is ready to provide the best music of the swing era and beyond.

Advance tickets are $80 for CBA Members. Tickets are available at the door for $100. Dress is black tie optional. To purchase tickets or for more information, go to www.chicagobar.org/BarristerBall.

Since January 2025, the Administration has terminated or sought to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of at least thirteen countries: Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Syria, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Cameroon, affecting more than one million individuals. This litigation now spans multiple district courts and four federal circuits, generating competing rulings that create uncertainty for TPS holders, their employers, and the legal practitioners who serve them.

On March 16, 2026, the Supreme Court granted certiorari before judgment in Trump v. Miot et al. and Noem v. Doe, consolidating the Haiti and Syria TPS challenges for oral argument in April 2026. The CBA commends the Court’s decision to decline an immediate stay of the district court’s ruling and allow the district court orders to remain in effect during its review. That decision appropriately recognizes that displacing reasoned lower court findings through the emergency docket, without full briefing or argument, is inconsistent with the institutional norms that protect the Court’s legitimacy and the rule of law.

The Associations take no position on whether any specific TPS designation should be extended or terminated. We do take a firm position that the emergency docket must be reserved for genuine emergencies, not as a vehicle to circumvent appellate review of contested questions of administrative law. When the government disagrees with a lower court ruling, the appropriate path is the ordinary appellate process: full briefing, circuit court review, and, where warranted, a petition for certiorari grounded in a fully developed record. Bypassing that process, repeatedly and across multiple circuits, threatens judicial independence and deprives litigants, practitioners, and the public of the reasoned guidance they are entitled to expect.

The CBA and the BWLA join the Haitian American Lawyers Association (HALA) of Illinois, HALA of New York, HALA of Georgia, and their co-signatories in urging the Supreme Court, Congress, and the Executive Branch to respect the structural integrity of the judicial process, in TPS litigation and in all matters where the emergency docket is sought as a substitute for customary, deliberate appellate review.