As you probably know, the ABA Bar Leadership Institute, which this year will be held (virtually) March 17-19, is the signature event for the ABA Division for Bar Services and ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services. The BLI convenes incoming bar leaders, chief staff executives, and other stakeholders to learn about all aspects of how to be good stewards of the organizations and entities they lead.
Most years, within the division, we informally consider the March-April issue of Bar Leader to be “the BLI issue,” making sure to include articles that complement the BLI curriculum. This year, we decided to be even more intentional about this, and to think of BLI as the central theme for this issue. These articles will enhance your learning and add an extra dimension to the programming:
- an in-depth view of a major governance restructuring at the Arkansas Bar Association;
- a look at some of the statements bars made about the Jan. 6 Capitol uprising, and how leaders decided what to say;
- a conversation with nonprofit evaluation and measurement expert Kim Silver, about decision-making during the pandemic;
- insights from BLI faculty member Jeffrey Cufaude on how to be an effective facilitator when you are not neutral on the subject at hand; and
- a Q&A with leaders from Fastcase regarding the recent merger of Fastcase and Casemaker, and what it could mean for your bar and your members.
Of course, the articles in this issue will be helpful to any bar leader, whether attending the BLI or not. But we hope to see you (onscreen) at this year’s BLI and in person next year in Chicago—and that this “BLI issue” gives you food for thought, wherever you are on your leadership journey.