Read the press release announcing the second addition of the American Bar Associations new legal resources publication, The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds. This new publication has a specific chapter on commercial bail bonds written by AIA’s Chief Legal Officer, Jerry Watson, and long time attorney, Jay Labe.  Both bail bond inudstry experts were asked by the ABA to author the new chapter.  Below is a press release that was issued on the subject.

The American Bar Association’s Updated Resource Publication Describes the Effectiveness of Commercial Bail
According to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Second Edition of The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds, Commercial Surety is an Effective Way to Ensure Appearance of Defendants in Court

(Calabasas, California) November 29, 2012 – In its Second Edition of its legal resource, The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds, the ABA turned to two of the commercial bail industry’s leading bail bond industry attorneys, Jay Labe and Jerry Watson, to better explain the commercial bail process and its effectiveness in ensuring justice.  “When we were approached by the ABA Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds Editorial Committee to write this important chapter in their resource guide, we were truly honored,” states Watson.

Watson is the Chief Legal Officer of the AIA Family of Companies, which is the nation’s oldest and largest underwriter of commercial bail bonds in the country.  With over 43 years of practicing law in the bail industry, Watson is considered by many to be the world’s foremost expert on the subject.  Jay Labe is also no stranger to the bail industry.  With over 40 years’ experience as an attorney, Jay is also considered to be one of the best in the business.  “Working together with Jerry on this project was extremely fulfilling both personally and professionally,” says Labe.  “To get an opportunity to educate and inform the legal community on such an important topic as commercial bail was an important task we both undertook with the highest levels of professionalism and integrity.”

For decades, the commercial bail industry and the legal profession have been valuable partners in the criminal justice system. Why? Because when defendants show up for court, the legal system gets a chance to work. Defense attorneys get a chance to defend their clients, prosecutors get a chance to hold defendants accountable and victims get a chance at justice.  According to Labe and Watson, the value of the role that commercial bail plays in ensuring those outcomes is immeasurable. But the challenge for commercial bail has always been educating people of that value and disseminating the message to those stakeholders in the system.  As the “Conclusion” Section of Chapter 8 – Commercial Bail Bonds states, “Bail is the least understood and most underappreciated form of suretyship….A more comprehensive understanding of commercial bail [by those in the legal community and broader criminal justice system] will facilitate the enactment of reasonable and more uniform laws that will enhance the efficiency of the industry and augment its long record of accomplishment.”  According to Watson, “This new chapter on commercial bail bonds is not only a valuable vote of recognition from the American Bar Association, but even more importantly, has the potential to hopefully become the quintessential informational resource for the legal community to better understand the bail industry and its essential role in the criminal justice system.”

If you would like to learn more about the commercial bail industry, visit www.aiasurety.com or www.expertbail.com.   Additionally, if you would like to receive a copy of the new ABA Chapter on Commercial Bail Bonds, email our team at [email protected].

Read the original press release here: The ABA’s Updated Resource Publication Describes the Effectiveness of Commercial Bail