ABA Ombuds Committee Outlines its Goals

The American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Section Ombuds Committee  has posted a statement to its website that outlines its vision, mission, and goals.  The Committee was reestablished in December 2013 and this is the first clear explanation of its purpose.  

Vision: An ABA membership that is professionally interested in, properly informed about, and appropriately interacts with ombuds concepts and programs, so that lawyers, law firms, and their clients may expand their awareness and usage of and engagement with all types of ombuds programs.

Mission: The Ombuds Committee seeks to promote a better understanding and increased utilization of appropriately designed, supported, and implemented ombuds programs in organizations of all types, including law firms.

Goals: To fulfill this Mission, the Ombuds Committee will pursue the following goals that align with the three principal goals of the ABA (Serve Our Members, Improve Our Profession, and Eliminate Bias and Enhance Diversity):

1.  Inform and educate the ABA Membership and law firm leadership, as well as private and government organizations, about ombuds programs, including how these programs function, contribute benefits, and advance society;
2. Develop ombuds specific CLE and other educational presentations.
3. Encourage and support publication of meaningful, targeted research that assesses and advances ombuds programs and practitioners alike, to be included in ABA and other publications.
4. Serve as a clearing-house to interested parties, providing information and research in support of the ombuds concept, role, and profession.
5. Evaluate the ABA 2004 Standards for the Establishment and Operation of Ombuds Offices in the current legal, functional and social context and, if warranted by this evaluation and appropriate, lead ABA adoption of an updated resolution.
6. Promote competence in the profession by supporting adherence to and broader adoption of existing codes of conduct and standards of practice for ombuds.
7. Encourage the creation of new high quality ombuds programs, designed and operated in accord with the appropriate codes of conduct and standards of practice, in public institutions and private organizations of all types, including law firms.

By the end of next year, the Committee plans to have, "Distributed an information packet describing ombuds programs suitable for consideration by law firms, their clients, law schools, and other organizations." (ABA DRS Ombuds Committee.)


This large conference attracts a wide range of attendees, including national and international ADR practitioners and organizations, corporate leaders, government employees, judges, court administrators, and academics. Organizers are seeking proposals for presentations for concurrent sessions, skills programming and networking programs.  (ABA DRS 2015 Conf Info.)

Related posts: ABA Dispute Resolution Conference (2007); ABA Dispute Resolution Annual Conference (2008); ADR Conference in New York (2009); 12th Annual ABA Dispute Resolution Conference Set for San Francisco (2010); ABA 2011 Dispute Resolution Conference Set for Denver; 2012 ABA Dispute Resolution Conference in Washington; ABA Launches Ombuds Task Force; American Bar Association 2014 ADR Conference Includes Two Sessions About Ombuds; ABA/Dispute Resolution Section Ombuds Committee Seeks Members; ABA Business Law Section: "The Ombuds Are Coming!"; ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Seeks Submissions for 2015 Conference.