Indianapolis attorney Hickey to serve on ABA Board of Governors

An Indianapolis attorney with a long resume of bar association leadership is now representing a three-state contingent on the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors.

Christine Hickey, a creditors’ rights and collection lawyer with Rubin & Levin, will begin serving as the District 18 representative to the ABA Board of Governors after the ABA Annual Meeting in August. District 18 includes Indiana, Washington and Connecticut.

As the District 18 representative, Hickey said her role in the 43-member body will be to “roll up (her) sleeves, work hard with some amazing people, have fun, and help the ABA continue to be a strong voice of and for our profession.”

“While this role was not planned, sometimes life has a way of leading you in a direction that just seems right,” Hickey wrote in an email to Indiana Lawyer discussing her new role. “I have reaped the benefits of the organized bar more than one person could ask for in a lifetime. I see the value of coming together as lawyers and doing big things, being a strong voice, making a difference, and making great friends along the way.”

Hickey is no stranger to bar involvement and leadership. She’s served as the president of four legal organizations, including the National Conference of Bar Presidents, the National Conference of Bar Foundations, the Indianapolis Bar Association and the Indianapolis Bar Foundation. According to the Rubin & Levin website, Hickey is one of only two attorneys in America to have been president of both national organizations.

Hickey has likewise been a member of the ABA since she was admitted to the bar, and she has worked collaboratively with the organization during her leadership of NCBP and NCBF, both of which are ABA-affiliated entities.

As a member of the Board of Governors, Hickey will serve as liaison to the ABA Law Student Division, the Center on Children and the Law and the National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary. She’s particularly excited to work on issues related to law students and children and the law.

Hickey has also been appointed as a member of the Profession, Public Service, and Diversity Committee.

The Indianapolis attorney said the ABA has provided her with materials to help her acclimate to her new role, and she also thinks her past bar involvement and leadership has equipped her to do the job well.

“The people that I have worked alongside through the IBF and the IBA, and nationally through the NCBF and NCBP, have given me a passion for bar association service that extends well beyond the here and now,” Hickey said. “Fantastic bar leaders make you want to do more. Be more. They make you want to do big work to accomplish big things.

“I don’t know of any better way to take on a new role like this than with the collective support and wisdom of all those great lawyers and judges that inspire me daily.”

Hickey’s three-year term begins at the adjournment of the annual meeting Aug. 13 and will end in 2022. She will succeed current District 18 representative Paula E. Boggs of Washington.