Entries filed under 'Bar Association Executive'

Rocking to Change

April 24, 2013 1:56 PM by Michael Ward

Posted 4/24/2013 by Maggie Bieniek

Last Thursday, I woke up with a river in front of my house. It was almost seventy degrees outside and my neighbor was barefoot and knee-deep in rain water trying to rescue his drowning car. It was just a matter of time before the weather changed to sunny with a massive temperature drop. What we can learn from Mother Nature is that change is constant and inevitable. We have to learn to roll with the punches.

 

In my case, the flooding forced me to stay home where I tackled my reading list. I started with Peter Bregman’s book, 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, which was provided to BLI attendees and staff over a month ago. After scanning some of the chapters, it is evident that the professional world is also very much like the weather. Every day, we deal with changes, uncertainties, and concerns about time. One minute everything is dry and sunny and the next there is a massive flood because of forgotten deadlines, a crashed network, or a dip in non-dues revenue. All of these more minor interruptions come amidst a crisis in the legal profession and constantly advancing technology. To combat the onslaught, we need to take action. In Bregman’s words, instead of not rocking the boat, we need to “Rock on”. What is your association doing to rock the change? Updating your membership model? Starting a new program? Investing in social media? We’d love to know. Email barservices@americanbar.org. 

 

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Questions to Make Meaning

January 24, 2013 10:06 AM by Michael Ward

Posted 1/24/2013 by Elizabeth Derrico

 

I looked up and it was the third week in January. How did it happen that we are careening headlong into the NABE-NCBP-NCBF Midyear Meetings with the Bar Leadership Institute following very soon after? No doubt about it, time got away from me as we kicked off 2013. You can see it in the paucity of blog posts and in the receipts to be filed. Time is our one non-renewable resource. Once we’ve spent it idly flipping through the latest celebrity gossip sheet or sitting in a meeting that goes nowhere, we can never get it back. It is true for our organizations as well.

 

Questions of strategy revolve around how we are spending our time. As many of our associations head into budget season, it is a good time to reflect on how we are aligning our mission, vision and values to serve our members and the profession. My colleague Julie Deacon, executive director of the Maine State Bar Association posted a link on her Facebook  page to these questions. They will help shape the next 49 weeks both for ourselves and for our organizations. How will you have a year that matters?

 

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In Defense of the Defenders

January 14, 2013 10:07 AM by Michael Ward

Posted 1/14/2013 by Tori Jo Wible (Guest Blogger)




All lawyer jokes aside, and I’ve heard them all, one of the things that makes me the proudest of our profession is lawyers protecting the rights of the most hated clients.  One of my heroes is John Adams, not just because of his position as a founding father, or because he looks a lot like Paul Giamatti, but because he defended the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre; a truly difficult position, even without a 24 hour a day news cycle.

 

In our society, pro bono counsel frequently take on unpopular clients, such as the lawyers representing detainees held in Guantanamo Bay.  However, the modern-day John Adamses are the public defenders.  The indigent criminal defendant is often an unlovable client.  The fundamental role of the defender is to ensure that the client’s rights are protected.  The three parts of the criminal justice system – the judiciary, the prosecution and the defense – must all do their jobs effectively for the system to work.  All too often, public defenders are overwhelmed with impossible caseloads, unmanageable timelines and dwindling budgets. 

 

What does any of this have to do with bar leaders?  Plenty. Bar associations can help courts avoid the breaking point. Find out how at the Indigent Defense Summit at the ABA Midyear in February. Buck Files, President of the State Bar of Texas and a criminal defense attorney, will be one of several high profile speakers discussing what bars can do to solve the crisis.

 

This year is the 50^th Anniversary of the landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. The promise of Gideon remains unfulfilled; come learn what you can do to help. The Summit runs all day Saturday, February 9, but the sessions most relevant to bar leaders are in the afternoon.  ABA President, Laurel Bellows has been invited to discuss how the private bar can help public defenders meet the promise of Gideon.

 

Tori Jo Wible is assistant staff counsel for the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants. Reach her at tori.wible@americanbar.org.

 

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