After 40 years of practicing law, I still believe that the law is the “world’s greatest profession.” I am excited about it, and it is an honor and a privilege to be a member of the bar. Along with the great responsibilities and stresses that come with the territory, there is an opportunity through service to the profession to make the world a better place and really help people with their life problems. The icing on the cake is the friendships with other lawyers. In a post-pandemic world where we hear the news of depression, anxiety, and loneliness causing so many to leave the law, the need for in-person connection in our careers is even that much greater.
Service to the legal profession is an important part of every lawyer’s life. While I know I have served the profession extensively over the years, I also know that I have gotten way more in return than I have given. The life experiences I have had and the lifelong friendships I have made with some of the most amazing people in the world have surpassed every dream I could think of on my own. Yet, I see some lawyers today who are so busy doing their “job” that they never make time to do any of the many service-to-the-profession activities that would enrich their lives and add value to their ability to help their clients. I do my best to invite them to join me and to show them that it is worthwhile to get involved. No matter how busy our world has gotten, we can still make time to serve the profession.
I cannot remember how I got the idea to apply to be a member of the State Bar of Texas Law Student Division, but I must have seen a notice. I was elected and began to serve. I decided to put on a law student job placement program at the annual State Bar of Texas Convention, and the folks who worked at the bar were a little taken aback when I said I was going to ask State Bar President Terry Scarborough to speak at our event. I was unfazed by their response, and guess what? He said yes! That summer program continued every year thereafter for 30 years and became what is known as the Texas Job Fair.
Because of that position in the Law Student Division, I was asked in my last year of law school to be the Law Student Division Representative on the Texas Young Lawyers Association Board of Directors. It was a life-changing experience for me, and I learned so much during that year and got really involved in the Houston Young Lawyers Association; by 1990 I became the first woman president of that group. I also got elected to the Texas Young Lawyers Association Board of Directors. I went to my first American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD) meeting in 1986, and I became a director of ABA YLD in 1990. We were doing diversity events before we called it diversity. We held the first-ever Minority Pre-Law Conference back in the 1980s in Houston.
Being active on the local, state, and national levels was fun for me. The work I started in my young lawyer years has continued, and I still work on the local, state, and national levels. I currently represent the Houston Bar Association on the ABA House of Delegates, I serve on the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program Committee of the State Bar of Texas (TLAP), and I am a past Chair of the ABA GPSolo Division (2018–2019) and am on the GPSolo Council now after serving as the GPSolo representative to the ABA House of Delegates for three years.
Although I have caught some criticism about doing too much bar work, I could not have done it any other way. The joy I have gotten being able to work side-by-side with other lawyers at food banks in different cities, or painting a children’s center, or planning women’s events and diversity events cannot be calculated in dollars and cents. It has enriched my legal experience beyond just being a job that I do nine to five. It balances out those stressful times when it seems too hard. I highly recommend that every lawyer participate in some form of bar association work. There is something out there for everyone. If you are into sports, volunteer to help with the bar’s fun run. If you love animals, get on the animal law committee. Start something new that has never been done before.
The best part of the service work you do with the bar, besides the public service, is the friendships you form. It can help you in your career in so many ways. It gives you credibility among your peers and gives others a sense of trust in you as a professional. I interviewed some of my lifelong friends and one new friend who I know share the same thoughts and ideas about the value of service to the profession, and I want to share some of their thoughts about service to the profession that echo mine.
Carrie F. Ricci, general counsel, U.S. Army, hit the nail on the head about how service to the profession really helped her career when she spoke at the GPSolo Keithe E. Nelson Memorial Military Law Luncheon at the 2023 ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans. I knew she would be a great person to interview for this article because, without even realizing it, at our luncheon she made the case for lawyers doing bar work. Following the luncheon, I interviewed her and asked her to share her experiences with bar association work, and here is what she told me:
I was a midcareer Army JAG officer serving in the Washington, D.C., area when I took a call from the JAG recruiting office asking if I would be willing to attend the Hispanic National Bar Association [HNBA] Annual Convention to recruit for the JAG Corps. Up until that point, I had not joined any bar association because I frankly didn’t think I needed it. I was convinced the Army already provided me with everything I needed for a successful career, including professional development and networking opportunities. I was happy to attend the HNBA conference as it was fully funded by the JAG Corps and included a gala event. (This girl loves dinner and dancing!) I still get chills when I think about the first time I walked into a ballroom filled with other Hispanic attorneys. I was immediately hooked! I became a member of the HNBA and immediately gravitated toward initiatives that were important to me. I was appointed to the Latina committee and served for ten years working to advance opportunities for Latinas in the legal profession, including pipeline activities for school-aged students. While I thought I didn’t need it for my career, I found it fed my soul. I participated in activities that aligned with my values and that simply felt good and brought me personal satisfaction. When you volunteer for something you believe in, it’s amazing how much you get out of it that you did not anticipate.
I asked her what is the biggest benefit of bar work to her, and she said:
Meeting wonderful people from across the legal spectrum has been the linchpin to my career success. I thought I didn’t “need” to be a member of a bar association to advance my career. Yet, participating in meaningful events and putting some sweat equity into causes that matter to me put me in close contact with lawyers from across the country working in many different legal disciplines. Through these associations, I developed a solid reputation as a hardworking and dedicated professional. What I didn’t realize when I dove headfirst into bar work is that I was “networking” without having to set it as an intention. The networking came naturally.
Looking back over the last 18 years of my association with the HNBA (and along the way, I joined other bar associations, including the ABA), I can affirmatively state that it has been the common factor in advancing my career at every stage. For each position and appointment, I can attest that I learned about the opportunity from an HNBA colleague, including my appointment as Army general counsel. It’s important to state that my service of 21-plus years as an Army judge advocate gave me the leadership and management skills that form the foundation of my success. But I must also say, from the senior executive service to appointment as Army general counsel, the people I met and relationships I established along the way through bar work have made all the difference!
Stephen J. Curley, 2021–2022 GPSolo Division Chair, told me, “Local bar work was expected of young associates in my first firm, Cummings & Lockwood, in Stamford, Connecticut. My work in the local affiliate led to a chance trip to the state-level young lawyers section, which in turn opened the door to leadership opportunities in the ABA Young Lawyers Division.” When I asked him what made him continue to do bar work, he answered, “The people. While in the end those people turned out to be terrific educational, inspirational, and referral sources, seeing my bar association colleagues was the biggest payoff to involvement. Even if it is a case or topic where I have little or no expertise, I still am called to help lawyers from around the country based on my bar work exposure.”
Alan O. Olson, GPSolo budget officer, Iowa representative to the ABA House of Delegates, and chair of the ABA House Select Committee, told me he got involved in bar association work “through a veteran member of the Iowa YLD and ABA YLD, Martha Flagg, who introduced me to both entities.” He continued to do bar work “in order to spend more time around so many of the amazing people I met from around the country and the world. Working with—and learning from—them, in furtherance of public service and member service, quickly became a passion. Meeting extraordinary people, experiencing enjoyable locations and experiences—all while making a meaningful, lasting, and positive difference in the lives of real people—it makes you a better person and keeps you grounded in what matters: using your gifts to help other people.”
Melvin O. Shaw, GPSolo Secretary and Division representative to the ABA House of Delegates, shared with me that he is a member of the voluntary Iowa State Bar Association (ISBA), where he serves as vice president and is on the leadership track to serve as ISBA president in 2024–2025. He told me:
By being active in the state bar, I have formed meaningful connections and relationships, and I have expanded my practice library and source materials through CLEs and other program attendance. In some instances, those state bar connections have led to informal mentor/mentee relationships with local attorneys and those across the state. My participation in the state bar has led to increased occasions for me to become familiar with judges in other state judicial districts. In other instances, those connections have resulted in client referrals, increased my small firm’s name recognition, and provided additional opportunities for me to serve the state bar and my local community. Of course, access to practice management and technology tools and access to CLE content are additional key benefits of state bar membership. My decision to join the ISBA with its 7,000-plus members is one of the best investments that I have made as a solo practicing attorney.