President’s Message

It is trite to say that the Bar Association is more than the sum of its parts -- but it is true.  The parts, of course, consist of the Executive Committee, the various sections, committees, task forces, affiliated organizations such as the Birmingham Bar Foundation, Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, Magic City Bar Association and, of course, the glue that holds it together, Beth Carmichael and her staff.  It is interesting to focus on "the parts" because they reflect the countless hours spent by lawyers, as well as the significant accomplishments of our Bar Association.  There is a lot happening this year.  There are new programs, events, activities and hard work undertaken by the "parts", and I hope that this Bulletin will reflect those efforts.

• Bar Bulletin

We have made a few changes in this issue of the Bar Bulletin, with more changes in store.  The chair of the Bulletin Committee, Bob Kracke, and I have asked Barry Ragsdale to write a humor column in each Bar Bulletin, starting with this one.  Barry is always witty, sometimes ruthless -- usually hilarious -- and everyone is a potential target.  There are no sacred cows in "Barry’s World."  I have not yet seen his column.  He has shared drafts with others but not with me, so I am a little worried.  Nevertheless, I commend it to you.

Another new wrinkle in this Bar Bulletin is that it also contains messages from the chairs of various sections of the Bar Association.  The Bulletin should be a reflection of the entire Bar Association.  Thus, we have asked all Section chairs to submit a message about the activities of their sections.  We have also invited the Chair of the Volunteer Lawyers Program, the Chair of the Birmingham Bar Foundation and President of the Magic City Bar Association to submit updates on the activities of these organizations.  We hope that this information will cause the Bulletin to be interesting and more useful to you.

In future issues of the Bulletin, we also hope to have more photographs of Bar events and festivities.  Section chairs and others take note: Please take digital photos of your events (those that would interest the entire Bar Association) and send them to Beth.  We will take photos of future Coffee with the Judges, Sunset Socials, the Bar Picnic and other Bar-wide events.

• Growth in Sections

You have probably heard that the Birmingham Bar Association now has more than 4,000 members.  The size, breadth and diversity of our Association are also reflected in the Executive Committee.  You may not have realized it, but the Executive Committee now has 25 members.  The newest section is the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section which was established last year, and is currently chaired by Allison Skinner.  We believe that the growth in the number of sections allows the Bar to serve its members in new ways.

• New Sections Coming?

Because sections can serve the particular needs of different areas of law practice, two task forces are examining the possibility of forming two new sections of the Bar Association.

Judge U. W. Clemon, John Saxon and Carol Sue Nelson have agreed to co-chair a task force to explore the possibility of forming a federal practice section of the Birmingham Bar Association.  They feel that a new federal practice section might be a great opportunity for networking, brainstorming, and conducting CLEs with particular focus on the Federal Rules, Local Rules of the Northern District, and other topics related to the federal courthouse.  If you are interested in this development, please contact Judge Clemon, Carol Sue or John.

While Jack Neal was Bar President, there were preliminary discussions about the wisdom and viability of establishing a corporate law/transactional section of the Bar Association.  With Jack’s encouragement, we have established such a task force this year, chaired by Lee Thuston.  As a former Bar President, Lee understands the fun, camaraderie and benefits of being active in the Bar Association, and we look forward to the discussions and decisions of this task force and whether such a section of the Bar is worth pursuing.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the formation of such a section, please contact Lee Thuston.

• New Conference Table

Many of you already know this, but I want to share it with everyone: The Bar Association is very fortunate that Jerry Powell, former General Counsel of Compass Bank, was instrumental in giving the Bar Association a huge conference table for the main conference room in the Bar Building.  Thanks to Jerry’s generosity, we now have a conference table that can seat 25 people.  This generous gift now allows the entire 25 member Executive Committee to sit around one table at our monthly meetings.  A secondary benefit is that the old conference table has been moved to the conference room on the mezzanine level of the Bar Building, allowing us to have two large meetings to take place at the same time.  The original table, given in honor of Bryant Whitmire and Paul Parsons, is still a cherished part of the Bar Building (Ask Beth about the logistics of lifting the old table from the lobby to the mezzanine level of the Bar building).

• 2011 Retreat Planning

Over 170 members of the Bar and 55 Judges attended the Bench/Bar Retreat in February.  Immediately thereafter, the wheels started turning to plan the Bench/Bar Retreat for 2011.  President-Elect Jim Lloyd is chairing the Bench/Bar Retreat Evaluation Committee along with Paul DeMarco, Robert Baugh, Judge Vowell, Judge Ott and others.  They have met twice, and are discussing various ways to maintain the normal enthusiastic attendance and also make a few new changes sufficient to keep things "fresh."  There is a fine line between simply repeating last year’s success and bringing in new ideas to spark additional interest.  I know that this group would welcome your ideas about next year’s Retreat -- please contact any one of them.

• Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee

For the past several election years, the Birmingham Bar Association has appointed a committee to encourage Jefferson County judicial candidates to conduct campaigns consistent with the dignity and integrity of the judicial office.  John Carroll, Dean of the Cumberland School of Law, has agreed to chair the 2010 Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee, as he did in 2008.  The 2010 Committee has asked candidates to sign a campaign agreement, agreeing to maintain the highest personal and professional ethical standards, in accordance with the minimum requirements of Canon 7 of the Canons of Judicial Ethics.  The Committee can also serve as an information resource and a confidential forum for timely resolution of judicial campaign related disputes.  The 2010 Committee consists of the following retired judges, lawyers, and non-lawyers.  Dean John L. Carroll, Cathy S. Wright, Myla Calhoun Choy, Carol E. Clarke, Hon. Mike McCormick, Hon. Kenneth O. Simon, Jack W. Selden, R. Marcus Givhan, Bruce F. Rogers, Marda W. Sydnor, Anthony A. Joseph, Gail Andrews, and Katherine Leigh Taylor.

• Bar Staff Changes

To help support the growing number of sections, Beth Carmichael has asked her assistant, Nelta Miller (the BBA’s Placement Director), to become the BBA staff member who will act as a liaison to the sections, making sure that sections’ activities appear on the Bar’s master calendar, the web site, and the Bulletin.  Also, if you have not called the Bar Association recently or visited the building, you may not know Julie Hayes, the new receptionist and office assistant.  Please welcome Julie!

• Mentoring Task Force

Judge Eugene Verin has overseen the development of a mentoring program in the past two years.  At his suggestion, I appointed him to chair a task force, along with about 20 BBA members, to explore the future of this pilot program.  If you have any thoughts or ideas about institutionalizing such a program, I invite you to share them with Judge Verin.

• Bar Picnic

Every year, on the second Friday of June, the best food in Birmingham can be found at the Birmingham Bar picnic.  I look forward to seeing you at the Bar Picnic on June 11th.  As always, the Entertainment Committee will work for several days on our behalf in planning and cooking.  It is a great occasion to renew acquaintances, meet and greet other members of the Bench and Bar, and enjoy the things that we have in common as lawyers.  The picnic started many years ago to celebrate the end of the term of court -- as there were formerly no jury trials during the summer.  Please join the tradition.

Please also join a new tradition -- that of volunteering your services for Service Juris Day -- which always occurs the day after the picnic, Saturday, June 12.  This is sponsored every year by the Public Service Committee, and I invite you to join in the fun.  If you have questions about it, please contact Committee Chair, Michelle Crunk.

• Future Leaders

Two years ago, BBA President Lee Benton, initiated a Future Leaders Program for the Bar Association.  This program was successful for two years, but the current Future Leaders Task Force is taking this program to a new level.  Task Force Chair Tripp Haston and Co-Chair Martha Jane Patton are developing programs that will begin in August and end in September.  One of the driving forces behind their efforts is to ensure that this program develops future Bar leaders -- lawyer leaders -- not just community leaders.  We hope that you will encourage young lawyers to consider this program if they are interested in learning more about the Bar Association, lawyer leadership, and the future of our profession.

• 125th Anniversary

I hope that you received our e-mail on April 15th, observing the 125th Anniversary of the establishment of the Birmingham Bar Association.  In 1885, there were 19 members of the Bar Association.  We hope to observe this milestone several times this year, both embracing our past and celebrating how far this Bar Association has come.

As you can see, there are many creative forces working actively to make your Bar Association more fun, more informative, more interesting and, we hope, more beneficial to your law practice.

Gregory H. Hawley
President
Birmingham Bar Association