Miami's Bass leads the ABA.

By Rawan Bitar

Associate Editor

At the pinnacle of her career, when many of her women colleagues have already left the profession, Miami's Hilarie Bass has taken on a new role as American Bar Association president.

One of her goals is to study why so many women at the height of their experience abandon their careers in the law by age 50.

On August 15, Bass, 62, co-president of Greenberg Traurig, began her one-year term at the helm of the 400,000-member national organization, with a busy agenda ahead, including working on a nationwide pro bono initiative for homeless youth; and pushing an online resource, ABA Legal Fact Check, to clarify misinformation about the law.

"I'm very excited about taking over as ABA president because there's a tremendous amount that we can accomplish," Bass said. "My focus is on addressing the future of the profession, including the future of legal education, the future of how we provide services to our clients, as well as how we can use technology to more effectively minimize the justice gap."

Bass has been involved with the ABA for over 30 years, having begun in the ABA Young Lawyers Division, as a YLD representative to the ABA Board of Governors, and moving up the ranks in various capacities to eventually chair the 70,000-member Litigation Section (2010-11), the largest section of the ABA.

She said as a young lawyer, a term as YLD president of the Miami-Dade Bar sparked greater interest and involvement in national bar association work.

"It was a great opportunity that I very much enjoyed," Bass said. "You're learning to be a better substantive lawyer. You're helping to make the justice system better. You're getting the opportunity to work with top lawyers throughout the country and creating a network for yourself, which has personal benefits to your practice. You work with other really smart, hardworking people who are all committed to improving the justice system. So there are lots of very valuable benefits to it."

When it comes to her career, Bass said, "Solving people's problems is something I find very satisfying."

In addition to serving as co-president and a member of the executive committee for Greenberg Traurig, which has 38 offices worldwide and 2,000 attorneys on board, Bass is vice chair of the University of Miami's Board of Trustees.

She is a 1981 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, where she was law review editor, and earned her bachelor's degree at George Washington University.

Bass...