388 LECTURE FEDERAL CHAMBER OF ADVOCATES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Presentation at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum May 19, 2016 KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW By William C. Hubbard (United States) Author Partner with the Columbia, S.C., Office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Immediate Past President of the American Bar Association Meridian, 17th Floor, 1320 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201 william.hubbard@nelsonmullins.com Abstract Issues of legal systems, the mandate and mission of the ABA. <...> Task is to describe some of the significant challenges that the legal profession in the US has recently been facing and the specific projects that the American Bar Association has implemented to help address these challenges. <...> Keywords Law, legal profession, justice, American Bar Association 10.17803/2313-5395.2016.2.6.388―395 www.kulawr.ru Volume 2 Оctober 2016 Issue 2(6) William C. Hubbard Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation 389 I thank President Pilipenko for inviting me to be a part of this important conference on the most significant challenges currently facing the legal profession in Russia and throughout the world. <...> Although there are some differences between our organizations and legal systems, the mandate and mission of the ABA and your bars are the same: to ensure the establishment of justice and the protection of the rights of citizens by supporting and strengthening the legal profession and ensuring its integrity and competence. <...> Just this month, I spoke at the graduation ceremonies at the University of South Carolina, a university in my state in the US that has 32,000 students. <...> As I understand, one task here today is to describe some of the significant challenges that the legal profession in the US has recently been facing and the specific projects that the American Bar Association has implemented to help address these challenges. <...> As you may know, ABA Presidents serve for one year. <...> The big drivers of that change are globalization and technology. <...> Some here are dealing with substantial changes to fundamental areas such as: the criminal justice system, legal education, legal assistance requirements, and legal profession regulation. <...> For example, I understand that in Russia there is an effort to subject lawyers to a uniform set of professional regulations. <...> When I began my year as President of the American Bar Association <...>