Past ABA President William Bay to Deliver School of Law Precommencement Address
William R. “Bill” Bay, the immediate past president of the American Bar Association, will address the Saint Louis University School of Law graduates at this year’s precommencement ceremony.
“We are honored to welcome Bill Bay to speak at our precommencement ceremony,” said Twinette Johnson, dean of SLU School of Law. “He has been at the forefront of leadership in the legal profession for most of his career, shaping the future for our new attorneys.”
Bay is a partner with Thompson Coburn. In 2024-2025, he served as president of the ABA, the world’s largest voluntary association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals. He was the first ABA president from St. Louis in over 40 years.
In addition to his term as president, he served as the 2018-2020 chair of the ABA House of Delegates, the policy-making body of the association. He is also the past chair of the ABA Section of Litigation, the largest section in the ABA.
Beyond the ABA, Bay is active in local and state bar associations. He is a past president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and is a past member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors, where he chaired several committees.
Bay is a highly experienced litigator who has represented major corporations in high-stakes litigation for more than 30 years. His clients vary from major financial institutions to manufacturers to postsecondary institutions, and he regularly helps organizations manage and respond to large portfolios of litigation in multiple jurisdictions.
Bay has been honored with the Spurgeon Smithson Award, a top honor given by the Missouri Bar; the Distinguished Lawyer Award, the highest honor awarded by the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, among other recognitions. He received his B.A. from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Bay will speak during the School of Law’s precommencement ceremony on Thursday, May 14, 2025, at the Chaifetz Arena.