ABA President Bill Bay said the award, which is typically given to a Canadian, 'means a great deal'
The Ontario Bar Association presented American Bar Association President Bill Bay with an award on Thursday afternoon, in recognition of what OBA President Kathryn Manning called “the courage of the ABA and individual US lawyers” in protecting the rule of law.
The OBA President’s Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to advancing justice. Presenting the award to Bay, Manning noted that the award is typically given to a Canadian. However, she said the OBA’s board elected to make an exception “in light of the extraordinary work American lawyers have been called upon to undertake this year.
“Bill has been the reasoned voice, steady hand, and recognizable face of this critical, unexpected battle,” Manning said. “He has stood in front of and beside us all.” She added that Bay “did not have the luxury of anonymity.”
The award should serve as a reminder “that you have our gratitude and we have your back,” Manning said.
Accepting the award, Bay, whose one-year term as ABA president expires in August, said, “It’s been an extraordinarily challenging year. It’s not the year we anticipated, but the year we have.”
Bay acknowledged that the OBA rarely gives its President’s Award to a non-Canadian. “That means a great deal, especially in this environment,” he said.
Bay said that over the past year, he has been “heartened” by bar associations around the world that have issued statements in support of the rule of law. “They have rallied to the moment,” he said. “They’ve proved again that we’re all partners in the profession, but more than partners – friends.”
He added, “This is the fight of our lifetime, ok? The fight of our lifetime.”
The OBA award kicked off a conference jointly presented by the OBA, the ABA, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association on Thursday. The conference takes place on the second day of the ABA’s week-long annual meeting, which is being held in Toronto this year, and includes panels on cross-border issues and political polarization.
Since US President Donald Trump took office in January, Bay has repeatedly criticized Trump’s targeting of lawyers, law firms, and judges he disagrees with, as well as his administration’s efforts to bypass established rules and procedures.
In a statement in February, Bay wrote on behalf of the ABA, “We have seen attempts at wholesale dismantling of departments and entities created by Congress without seeking the required congressional approval to change the law. There are efforts to dismiss employees with little regard for the law and protections they merit, and social media announcements that disparage and appear to be motivated by a desire to inflame without any stated factual basis.
“This is chaotic. It may appeal to a few. But it is wrong. And most Americans recognize it is wrong,” Bay wrote. “It is also contrary to the rule of law.”
Under Bay’s leadership, the ABA has launched multiple lawsuits challenging decisions by the Trump administration. In June, the association filed a federal lawsuit against the US government, arguing Trump was using the executive branch “to coerce lawyers and law firms to abandon clients, causes, and policy positions the President does not like.” The bar association asked the court to declare these actions as unconstitutional.
The same month, Bay criticized the US Department of Justice’s decision to cut the ABA out of the process of evaluating Trump’s nominees, and refuted US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s characterization of the ABA as an “activist” group.
