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Another
terrific Annual Meeting has concluded, with 1,045
attorneys registered along with hundreds of family
members. Thanks to the many Association members who
helped make the Annual Meeting so very successful,
especially Annual Meeting Chair Beth Deere and 2002-03
President Murray Claycomb.
For at least one member
this was his 49th consecutive Annual Meeting, and
I know of other members with consecutive streaks of
similar length. Another "senior" member
remarked how important the meeting is to the legal
profession in Arkansas and his regret that he did
not attend during the first two decades of his legal
career. Still another attorney told me the meeting
exceeded all of his expectations, this being the first
time he attended more than one day of the meeting.
And it was positive to see so many young attorneys
in attendance.
Over 1,000 members at
the Annual Meeting is a Big Deal. Between 20% and
25% of our membership attends each June. Most state
bar associations are pleased if their annual meeting
attendance garners 3% or 4%, and some associations
have discontinued such meetings. [At 4,710 members
we are a small, voluntary state bar association as
state associations go.]
When lawyers are together
for education, fun and networking, qualities such
as civility, mutual respect and substantive competence
are increased within our profession. The beneficiaries
are us and our clients.
June 2004 is scheduled
to be a joint meeting with the Arkansas Judicial Council
(the joint meeting occurs in even numbered years).
We are grateful that the state court judges will be
joining us in 2004, especially since a joint meeting
promotes good bench/bar relations and enables more
attorneys to attend the Annual Meeting. I visited
with three attorneys at this year's meeting who had
to leave Hot Springs for court hearings, and there
were many attorneys who could not attend at all due
to trials.
We appreciate the support
by the many sponsors of the Annual Meeting. Without
their support, the registration fee would have to
be increased significantly to maintain the quality
and variety of CLE programs and other events. By the
way, over 50 hours of CLE were offered, with two or
three tracks throughout the first three days.
Law firms are some of
our primary sponsors. If your firm wishes to be a
sponsor at the Annual Meeting, please contact us.
Also, members may be an individual sponsor by becoming
a Sustaining Member of the Association since part
of the $100 annual contribution supports different
segments of the meeting.
Work on the 2004 Annual
Meeting is already underway. Member suggestions are
always welcome. President Tom Daily recruited Brian
Ratcliff to be the Annual Meeting Chair, and they
work closely with Judith Gray, our Associate Executive
Director.
In closing, I cannot
resist mentioning that for the first time in memory,
there were no complaints about the elevators.
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