Leading the bar in tense times

Michael S. Greco tomorrow becomes president of the 400,000-member American Bar Association. Born in Italy to an American mother and Italian father, Greco, 62, of Wellesley, immigrated to the United States at age 7. A graduate of Princeton University and Boston College Law School, he has practiced in Boston for more than 30 years, most recently as a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP. He spoke last week with Globe reporter Robert Gavin.

Q.Let's start with the topic of the day: Judge John Roberts. What do you think of his nomination to the Supreme Court?

The nomination of Judge Roberts is being evaluated by the ABA standing committee on the federal judiciary. Since that evaluation is underway, it's inappropriate for me to prejudge.

Q.Well, given the battles in Congress over judicial nominations, do you believe the process has become too politicized?

The ABA takes no political position. But if you ask me as a private individual, the answer is yes. There's been a level of acrimony that I think is unhealthy for our democracy.

Q.Is the process discouraging the best legal minds from serving? To get through, it seems you can't have done a lot of writing or established much of a public record.

If this polarization continues, there are very highly qualified lawyers and judges who won't want to go through this kind of process. Let me add something else. We have political leaders who, for political or other purposes, are attacking judges for doing their job, and that shows great disrespect for what I think is the most important branch in our government.

If we destroy the respect for our judiciary, then we have done real harm to our democracy. The difference between the United States and so many countries is we are blessed with an independent judiciary. If we lose that independence, we lose the fabric of our democracy.

Q.With the recent bombings in London, we've seen random searches in subways. Are we going too far as we try to balance safety with liberty?

What we have to do as we try to make people safe is make sure we're not destroying the ideas, principles, and freedoms we're fighting for.

America is great because we have due process. It has been fundamental that someone who is arrested must be represented by counsel and afforded the opportunity to be heard in open court. The burden is on the government to prove somebody guilty. The ABA's concern is that has not been happening. There are 600 people, plus or minus, in Guantanamo, and the vast majority continue to be behind bars, without ever having been charged with a crime, not being able to consult counsel, not having their situations reviewed by a judge.

We have to secure our country, but we also have to secure our freedoms. If we give those up voluntarily, then we've done the work of the terrorists.

Q.You immigrated here as a child. Do you have any concerns about post-9/11 immigration policies?

My first sight of the US was the Statue of Liberty, and when I first set foot on American soil, it was a moment I've never forgotten. So, does my background inform my view about the way immigrants are treated now? The answer is yes.

We can look back and name the immigrants just in science and technology who have made America great, and those people now are being discouraged from coming here. The flow of talent is being interrupted by war-on-terror policies, and I think we're losing in this country.

Q.We hear lawsuits drive up the cost of doing business and hurt our economic competitiveness. Do we need reforms?

I know doctors are embattled because their premiums have skyrocketed, and lawyers are looked at as the cause. I disagree. The ABA has looked very carefully at the issue, and what we've found is the number of lawsuits filed now as opposed to 25 years ago is very similar. The number of big verdicts has been consistent. One thing is different. Insurance companies continue to increase premiums. The insurance industry has suffered on investments, and that's the cause. When insurance companies' stock returns are high, we don't hear about a crisis.

Q.Lawyers are sometimes viewed as greedy, but you've been talking about lawyers giving more time to public service. What do you want to do as ABA president?

I have three initiatives. The first is a commission to make sure people are getting the grounding in our system of government, with emphasis on the importance of an independent judiciary.

A second commission is looking at how we can free up more lawyers to do public service and pro bono work. I'm very concerned that lawyers have obstacles to do that work, in demands for billable hours and in the huge loans that young lawyers come out of law school with.

The third commission is considering whether we should find in the Constitution a right to counsel in serious civil matters affecting the poor. In 1963, our Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, found a constitutional right for poor people facing imprisonment to have a lawyer represent them.

It's time to decide whether we should have the same right for people who can be imprisoned just as assuredly in poverty or discrimination.