Ex-Officio, Biographies
William T. Robinson III
President, ABA
Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III is Member-in-Charge of the Northern Kentucky offices of Frost Brown Todd LLC, a regional law firm with almost 500 lawyers in 9 offices located in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Indiana. Throughout his career, Bill has served as a leader in his profession and in his community. He successfully completed his three year term as ABA Treasurer in August, 2008 and recently became ABA President-Elect Nominee. He has been active in the American Bar Association for over 25 years in various leadership roles, including 7 years on the ABA Board of Governors. Bill will continue to serve ex officio on the ABF Board when he becomes ABA President-Elect in August, 2010 and ABA President in August, 2011.
Bill is a past Board Chair of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, a Past President of the Kentucky Bar Association and a Past Chairman of the Kentucky and the Northern Kentucky Chambers of Commerce. He has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee, the Lincoln Award from Northern Kentucky University, the Themis Award from the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Jacob E. Davis Award from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Kentucky Bar Association and in 2006, the Oak Award as Outstanding Alumnus of Kentucky from the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education. He is a graduate of Thomas More College and the College of Law, University of Kentucky where in 2004 he was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
Laurel Bellows
President-Elect, ABA
Laurel Bellows, a principal of The Bellows Law Group, P.C., represents executives, in the United States and internationally. Laurel is an experienced business lawyer counseling senior executives and corporations on employment matters, employment and severance agreements, executive compensation, and workplace disputes. Her expertise in executive compensation matters also includes mid-level management compensation and benefit plans and matters involving incentives, pension, retirement, and workforce restructuring.
The Bellows Law Group, P.C., offers transactional, counseling and litigation services to entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations. Client matters range from commercial litigation to business startups.
Laurel is currently unopposed to be nominated as President-elect of the American Bar Association. She is immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, the ABA’s policy-making body; the second-highest elected office in the ABA. Laurel was the second woman president of the 22,000 member Chicago Bar Association in 1991. Her many accolades include: Crain’s Chicago Business annual list of Power Players, one of 28 Power Lawyers in the city by Chicago Magazine, one of Chicago’s 100 Women of Influence in 1996 by Crain’s Chicago Business, one of Working Mother Magazine 25 Most Influential Working Mothers in the country in 1997, served on the Illinois Supreme Court Special Commission on the Administration of Justice and on the United States Senate Judicial Nominations Commission for the State of Illinois, Past President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, Past Chair of The Chicago Network, Past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, and as Past Chair of the Finance Committee of the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors.
Ms. Bellows is highly regarded for her many contributions to the Chicago and National community. Laurel is admitted and qualified as an Attorney and Counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States and is a mediator, certified through the Institute for Conflict Management. Laurel is licensed to practice in Illinois, Florida and California.
Linda A. Klein
Chair, House of Delegates, ABA
Lucian T. Pera
Treasurer, ABA
N. Lee Cooper
President, ABE
Alan Kopit
Chair of the Council of the FJE
Alan Kopit, a partner with Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP for more than 25 years, also manages the firm’s Cleveland office. His practice is focused in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Creditors' Rights, Reorganization & Bankruptcy, and Government Relations (a practice he co-chairs). He has been recognized for his work in the most recent editions of Ohio Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy/Creditor-Debtor Rights Law.
Alan currently serves as chair of the American Bar Association’s Fund for Justice and Education. He is a past president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation, and was appointed by Cleveland Mayor Michael White as co-vice chair of Cleveland’s Bicentennial Commission. Locally he is on the board of trustees for both the Cleveland Entrepreneurial Preparatory School (an inner city charter school) and the Cleveland Scholarship Programs.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed Alan to serve as a White House Fellow, where he was assigned as the Special Assistant to Secretaries of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Frank Carlucci. Today, Alan serves on the board of directors and is the Vice President of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association, the alumni arm of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.
Daniel B. Rodriguez (effective 1/2012)
Dean, Northwestern University School of Law