Charting New Horizons for GPSolo: Our Mission, Our Members, Our Moment

It is an honor to serve as Chair of the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division for the upcoming 2025–2026 bar year. As we begin this journey together, I want to share with you the vision, priorities, and opportunities that will shape our Division in the year ahead.

The 2025–2026 bar year’s theme—Charting New Horizons—is not just aspirational but also operational. It speaks to the core of what GPSolo represents: forward-looking service, innovation grounded in experience, and an unwavering commitment to solo and small firm lawyers. Our members make up the lifeblood of the legal profession. From capital cities to midsized towns such as mine in Iowa City, Iowa, solo and small firm lawyers are advocates, counselors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Our mission is to ensure that each of you has the tools, connections, and resources to thrive—in your practice and in your pursuit of well-being.

Our Foundation: Your Success, Our Mission®

The GPSolo Division is the national voice for practitioners across disciplines—those who blend legal acumen with hands-on client service every day. Our tagline, Your Success, Our Mission^®, is not a slogan; it’s a standard we live by.

The work of GPSolo reflects this promise. Whether you’re a seasoned lawyer expanding your practice or a new solo opening your doors, GPSolo offers value through CLEs, publications, networking events, public service projects, and access to a community of legal professionals who understand your challenges and celebrate your successes.

Strategic Direction for 2025–2026

At our Chair-Elect Planning Meeting in Kauai this past October, GPSolo leaders gathered to outline a road map for this year and beyond. That meeting, informed by environmental scanning, listening sessions, and strategic planning, produced a clear vision: focus on leadership, lawyer well-being, and meaningful member engagement.

Below are a few of our strategic goals for 2025–2026:

1. Advance the Long-Range Plan

A top priority for this bar year is the continued implementation of GPSolo’s FY2024–2026 Long-Range Plan. More than a planning document, this plan reflects our values and offers a member-centered road map for growth, innovation, and sustainability.

The Long-Range Plan identifies four core goals: (1) engaging and retaining members with a focus on developing future leaders; (2) cultivating new sources of non-dues revenue through CLE, publications, and partnerships; (3) prioritizing lawyer well-being across all events, messaging, and programs; and (4) strengthening GPSolo’s collaborative relationships with other ABA entities and with state and local bar associations.

This year, we will track our progress through Council updates, feedback from committees, and performance benchmarks. We are working to integrate wellness into our in-person events, improve communication with new members, evaluate the financial and membership impact of our CLE and publications, and create more meaningful leadership opportunities. We’re not planning just to plan—we’re planning to act, to adapt, and to deliver value. We will also monitor and respond to any changes in federal policies that may affect current or future programming on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Throughout, we will remain steadfast in supporting the rule of law, democracy, and the independence of our courts.

We will focus on integrating wellness into our in-person events, improving communication with new members, evaluating the financial and member impact of our CLE and publications, and ensuring that our members have meaningful opportunities to lead. Our efforts are guided by the principle that Your Success, Our Mission^® isn’t just a tagline—it’s a call to action.

2. Elevate Member Leadership and Engagement

We will launch and expand initiatives that help identify and develop future Division leaders. This includes joint service projects with the ABA Young Lawyers Division, collaborative publications, and the establishment of a new House of Delegates Resolutions Committee focused on developing advocacy, policy literacy, and leadership experience.

Leadership is not a title; it’s a practice. Whether you’re chairing a committee or contributing an article to the GPSolo eReport, your voice matters. This year, we will work hard to ensure those voices reflect the diversity, values, and experience of our membership.

3. Promote Lawyer Well-Being

We cannot serve others without first caring for ourselves. The stressors faced by solo and small firm lawyers—especially those practicing in rural, underserved, or high-volume settings—require us to be proactive about wellness. This year, the GPSolo Lawyer Well-Being Committee will continue to offer resources, programming, and a platform for honest conversation. We will integrate wellness into our meetings and communications—not as an afterthought but as a core offering.

Look for sessions and content on mindfulness, mental health, and building sustainable practices at each of our major gatherings. We want to equip our members with strategies that improve both quality of life and quality of practice.

4. Maximize the Value of Division Meetings

We understand that time and travel are significant commitments. That’s why each GPSolo meeting will be designed to offer more: more practical CLE, more networking opportunities, more professional development, and more value. Whether it’s our kickoff Fall Meeting in Hollywood, Florida, October 16 to 18, 2025; our events at the 2026 ABA Midyear Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, February 6 to 7; the Joint Spring Meeting with the ABA Civil Rights and Social Justice Section, Law Practice Division, and Young Lawyers Division, April 21 to 25, 2026, in San Diego, California; or our events at the 2026 ABA Annual Meeting in August in Chicago, every gathering will feature leadership development, wellness programming, and a space for new voices to shine.

To that end, we will host a “First-Time Attendee Welcome” and “GPSolo Leadership 101” session at each meeting, designed to help new members feel at home and empowered from day one.

Innovation in Practice: AI and Technology

We are also keenly focused on the evolving needs of our members, especially around technology. In the 2024–2025 bar year, we began laying the groundwork to provide practical, ethics-focused content on artificial intelligence (AI) and legal technology. In the 2025–2026 bar year, we will expand on that work.

AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a tool kit that solo and small firm lawyers can harness to streamline tasks, reduce overhead, and enhance client service. Our Technology and Resource Committee will continue to collaborate with other ABA entities, including the Science and Technology Law Section, to offer guidance, CLEs, and resources that help our members leverage these tools responsibly.

Sustaining Growth: Membership and Inclusion

We know that growth without purpose is not sustainable. Thanks to the ABA’s auto-enroll pilot program, GPSolo has seen increased visibility among new solo and small firm attorneys. This year, we will advocate to expand and sustain that momentum, especially by ensuring that new members feel welcomed and engaged.

At the same time, we will continue implementing our Diversity Plan—approved by the Council in 2021—which guides us in celebrating inclusive excellence. Our goal is not simply to recruit diverse members but also to support, elevate, and include them at every level of GPSolo leadership and programming.

A Call to Connect

Whether you’ve been part of GPSolo for a number of years or just joined last week, I invite you to take part in the work ahead. We are not a passive organization—we are a participatory community. If you’re interested in speaking, writing, mentoring, or serving, reach out. If you’re feeling stuck in your practice or career, we are here to support you. If you have ideas—big or small—we want to hear them.

An Exciting Year Ahead

I look forward to accomplishing the important work that makes GPSolo the national voice for the more than 30,000 members of our Division. I’m excited about what lies ahead and about charting the next year together. I’m grateful to the dedicated member-volunteers and GPSolo staff who’ve already put so much work into shaping this year’s vision. And I’m proud to walk alongside each of you in service to a legal community that reflects the best of our profession at one of the most critical times in its history.