NATIONAL NEWS
Battiste Sworn in as National President of the American Board of Trial Advocates
L uther J. Battiste, III (Beta Rho 1968), was installed as Na- tional President of the Ameri- can Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) at the organization’s National Board Meeting at the Hotel Bennett. He is a founding shareholder of Johnson, Toal & Battiste, P.A., and took the oath of office from retired Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Battiste is the first African Ameri- can to serve as National President. He also made history in 1983 by becoming one of the first two African Americans elected to Columbia City Council since Reconstruction. He served 15 years as a member of the Columbia City Coun- cil, including two terms as Mayor Pro Tempore. In 1998, the City of Columbia dedicated to Luther J. Battiste, III the Monument and Plaza in honor of his dedicated service as a public servant. He was admitted to ABOTA on January 29, 2000, and has served as a National Board Member since 2005. He served two terms as National Treasurer and has served as a chair or member on a number of committees and task forces. In 2011, he served as the President of the Southeastern Chapters of ABOTA, a regional organization representing
11 ABOTA chapters. He is active with the ABOTA Foundation and has long recognized that civics education has been neglected in this country and that failure has resulted in a serious diminu- tion of citizens’ understanding of the key role of an impartial judiciary and the jury system in our constitutional democracy. Brother Battiste and his wife, Judy, are spearheading the Foundation’s new- est effort launching this year, the Civics Education Literacy Program, which pro- vides free books related to the U.S. Con- stitution to elementary schools. ABOTA members are financially supporting the program and are serving as volunteers to read to the students. Battiste recognized his mentor, The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr., who served as the first African American United States District Judge in South Carolina. “Judge Perry demonstrated under difficult circumstances that lawyers who practice with skill, civility, and integrity are respected,” he said. “We should continue, as an organiza- tion, to stress that in an increasingly intemperate world civility and integrity matter. We must continue the efforts of the ABOTA Foundation to communi- cate the need for civility among lawyers and to educate our youth through civics
education.”
As a board member for the National Center for State Courts, Brother Battiste said that working closely with judges na- tionwide provided a perspective into the challenges faced by the Third Branch. “We must continue to support mak- ing the judicial system accessible to all and responsive to the changing needs of technology. Advocating for an indepen- dent judiciary is essential,” Battiste said. “Understanding the past and preparing for the future to protect our valued legal system should be our greatest pursuit.” ABOTA is an invitation-only national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Seventh Amend- ment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to civil jury trials. ABOTA’s primary goal is to educate the American public about the history and value of the right to trial by jury and is dedicated to elevating the standards of skill, integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession. Brother Battiste is a Life Member of the Fraternity and a member of the Columbia (SC) Alumni Chapter.
THE JOURNAL ♦ WINTER 2019 | 15
Publishing achievement for more than 105 years
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker