Michael S. Greco

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This article is about the former president of the American Bar Association. For the British actor and poker player, see Michael Greco.

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Michael S. Greco was the president of the American Bar Association from 2006 to 2007.^[1] The main theme of his term in office was a renaissance, French for rebirth, "of the legal profession's core values and America's constitutional principles." Among his priorities as president were "protecting the rights and freedoms of American citizens, safeguarding the independence of the judiciary and other institutions of America 's democracy, addressing the legal needs of lower-income citizens, advancement of women, people of color and persons with disabilities in the legal profession, and improvements to the Association and the legal profession."^[2] He is an advocate of pro bono work and public service.^[3] He is currently a partner in the Boston office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP.^[4]

1 Career
- 1.1 Criticism of President George W. Bush for Signing Statements
2 Personal life and education
3 References

[edit] Career

Greco has had 35 years of litigation experience as a trial lawyer, he is an arbitrator and a mediator at all levels of government. He served in the House of Delegates since 1987. From 1993 to 2004, he was elected as the delegate of Massachusetts. At that time, he was chair to numerous committees in the American Bar Association. These include, but are not limited to:

Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary
Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities
Executive Committee of the Conference of State Delegates
Steering Committee of the Nominating Committee
ABA Day in Washington Planning Committee
ABA Task Force on Terrorism and the Law
ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security
ABA Commission on Women in the Profession^[1]

His first task as president of the American Bar Association was to create the Commission on Renaissance of Idealism. This commission emphasizes pro bono work and attorney public service.^[3] This ultimately led to the renaissance of idealism in the legal profession.^[5]

See also: NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

In response to the controversial allegations that President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on residents within the United States via telephone without court approval, Greco formed the American Bar Association Task Force on Domestic Surveillance in the Fight Against Terrorism. This task force was appointed to examine the constitutional and legal issues of the federal government's electronic surveillance, and to report its recommendations to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.^[6] In the end, the task force "urged the president to comply with existing federal laws and called for immediate action by Congress and the courts". In total, Greco created two commissions, five task forces, and several other special committees.^[2]

Michael S. Greco served as president of the Massachusetts Bar Association. During this time, he, along with Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis, appointed a blue-ribbon Commission on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children. This commission led to the protection of legal rights of children. In addition, he was president of the New England Bar Association, president of the New England Bar Foundation and president of the Board of Trustees of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education. He also chaired the Massachusetts Legal Needs for the Poor Assessment and Plan for Action. He was co-founder and co-chair of the Bar Leaders for Preservation of Legal Services for the Poor for 7 years. Appointed by the Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Greco chaired the Court’s Special Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services.

For eight years, Greco served on the state Judicial Nominating Council of Governor of Massachusetts William Weld. From 1993 to 1994, he served on the Special Commission on Federal Judicial Appointments. He was a member of the Board of Overseers of the Newton-Wellesley Hospital and served as vice-chair of the Board of Bar Overseers of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court as well. ^[1]

[edit] Criticism of President George W. Bush for Signing Statements

In the spring of 2006, Greco created another task force in order to address the issue that President Bush, instead of vetoing bills passed by Congress that he finds objectionable, signs the bill, but attaches statements that indicates intentions not to follow certain provisions. Greco and the ABA responded to this by saying that the president's signing statements revokes Congress of its constututional authority to check and balance the executive power. ^[7] This is highly significant because all American presidents in office before President Bush have issued a combined total of 600 signing statements. Bush, however, has issued 800 signing statements over a 5½ period during his term.^[8] Previous presidents, such as Georgh H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have issued signing statements as well; however, these presidents only expressed disapproval of certain provisions in a bill, but did not assert the right to ignore them.^[9] The report released by the task force declared, "The Constitution is not what the President says it is."

The task force that Greco created was bipartisan. The participants included William Sessions, Mickey Edwards, and Bruce Fein.^[10]