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THOSE lawyers sure know how to throw a convention. I have never seen anything quite like it: 13,000 lawyers of the American Bar Association, 2,000 guests, 2,500 meetings, 1,525 featured speakers, a 375-page schedule, 23 hotels, a fleet of buses shuttling around the clock. A press room covering 9,200 square feet, 200 phone lines, 12 Internet connections. And documents—every law manual, journal, study, or handbook you ever dreamed of owning. To quote an ABA press release, “150,000 pounds of materials” borne in on “five semi-trailers,” plus another “450,000 pounds of sundry documents produced on site.” It was “the largest gathering of lawyers ever in one place.”

I figure at a total of 600,000 pounds of documents, and 15,000 total members and guests, I was entitled to exactly 40 pounds of material. As my footman did not accompany me on this trip, however, I was able to carry off just 23 pounds. The documents are now piled here right beside me awaiting my study and review.

About the Author

Matthew Scully

Matthew Scully is the author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. He served as literary editor of National Review and as a senior speechwriter to President George W. Bush.

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THOSE lawyers sure know how to throw a convention. I have never seen anything quite like it: 13,000 lawyers of the American Bar Association, 2,000 guests, 2,500 meetings, 1,525 featured speakers, a 375-page schedule, 23 hotels, a fleet of buses shuttling around the clock. A press room covering 9,200 square feet, 200 phone lines, 12 Internet connections. And documents—every law manual, journal, study, or handbook you ever dreamed of owning. To quote an ABA press release, “150,000 pounds of materials” borne in on “five semi-trailers,” plus another “450,000 pounds of sundry documents produced on site.” It was “the largest gathering of lawyers ever in one place.”

I figure at a total of 600,000 pounds of documents, and 15,000 total members and guests, I was entitled to exactly 40 pounds of material. As my footman did not accompany me on this trip, however, I was able to carry off just 23 pounds. The documents are now piled here right beside me awaiting my study and review.

About the Author

Matthew Scully

Matthew Scully is the author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. He served as literary editor of National Review and as a senior speechwriter to President George W. Bush.