Barbara J. Howard, Patron Fellow, was named as the president-elect of the American Bar Association at the close of the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto. She will assume the role of president at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago in August 2026.
She has long been active in bar association leadership, specifically serving as chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and being involved in the ABA Young Lawyers Division. Among other ABA leadership positions, Howard has served as Chair of the ABA Day in Washington annual grassroots lobbying event in 2023 and 2024 and as Chair of the ABA standing committees on membership, meetings and travel, specialization, substance abuse, and constitution and bylaws.
Howard is the principal of the Barbara J. Howard law firm in Cincinnati, Ohio, where her practice focuses primarily on family law including custody, parenting matters, complex property matters and support issues. She is a former president and board member of the Ohio State Bar Association and recieved the Ohio Bar Medal, the OSBA’s highest honor, in 2013.
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