Since my last post, I have had the pleasure of becoming the 120th president of the North Carolina Bar Association. Shortly before that, I had another great pleasure: deciding whom to appoint to committees. At the 17K-member NC Bar Association, we have an amazing pool of talent to draw on. So choosing 1,400 of those volunteers to serve on some 41 committees was no easy task.
But calling these folks was. Out of the many calls I made, very few said no -- and even then, only because of major family or practice issues, like two very ill parents requiring a significant commitment of time. Very understandable.
We now have in place an outstanding team. I say “we” because this team is not a product of my work. It is a product of years of volunteering by our members and careful cultivation by our bar staff.
And if I had not developed full appreciation for both the staff and volunteers during the appointment process, I have that appreciation now. Starting in April, I had to shift gears and begin final preparations for a three-week trial in federal court. While we were in trial in May, we had a judicial primary election (the attack ads made national headlines), and our state Legislature came back into session with surprises for the judicial system nearly every day. During that time, our organization continued its work to inform and communicate on behalf of our courts and members.