Martha Barnett

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Martha Barnett
President of the
American Bar Association
In office
2000–2001
Preceded byBill Paul
Succeeded byAlfred P. Carlton, Jr.
Personal details
Born (1947-06-01) June 1, 1947 (age 76)
Dade City, Florida, U.S.
Alma materTulane University (BA)
University of Florida (JD)

Martha Walters Barnett (born June 1, 1947) is an American attorney who served as the President of the American Bar Association from 2000 to 2001. She is now a partner at the Holland & Knight law firm.[1]

Education[edit]

Barnett earned her bachelor's degree from Tulane University, and she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida. In 2006, she was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Florida.[2]

Career[edit]

After graduating from law school, Barnett became the first woman hired by Holland & Knight, where she served for the next 40 years. Barnett was selected as the president of the American Bar Association in 2000, and served alongside then-first lady Hillary Clinton on the inaugural ABA Commissionon Women in the Profession.[3][4]

During Barnett's tenure as president of the ABA, the White House formally ended the practice of allowing the American Bar Association to pre-screen judicial nominees before they were officially announced.[5] The ABA continues to maintain a rating system of federal judges and nominees.[6][7]

Barnett was nominated to serve on the Florida Constitution Revision Commission by Governor Lawton Chiles and the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission by Governor Bob Martinez.

She was appointed by Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles to serve on the 1997-98 Florida Constitution Revision Commission.[8]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ "Martha Barnett, former ABA president, partner, Holland & Knight | UF | Bob Graham Center". www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  2. ^ "Holland & Knight - Biography for Barnett, Martha". Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
  3. ^ "Martha Barnett | UF | Bob Graham Center". www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  4. ^ Strickland, Sandy. "EVE speaker: Attorney Martha Barnett was second woman leader of the American Bar Association". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  5. ^ Lewis, Neil A. (2001-03-23). "White House Ends Bar Association's Role in Screening Federal Judges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  6. ^ "Judicial Nominations/ABA Role". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  7. ^ "Bush Dumps Bar Ratings of Judges". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  8. ^ Florida Constitution Revision Commission website archive Archived 2016-08-28 at the Wayback Machine