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Since I became president
of the Association in June, the two questions that
members ask me most frequently about the job are how
much traveling have I done and what percentage of
my time is taken up by Association activities. I will
try not to bore you with a travelogue but will attempt
a brief summary. I have attended the Mississippi Bar
Association meeting (held in Sandestin, Florida),
the American Bar meeting (Atlanta) and the Missouri
Bar meeting (St. Louis). I am scheduled to attend
the Oklahoma Bar meeting (Oklahoma City) and the Southern
Conference of Bar Presidents (Biloxi, MS) later this
year. In the state, I recently traveled to Fayetteville
to welcome the freshman law students on behalf of
the Bar. I estimate that my Association activities
have taken up about one-third of my time thus far.
The major project that
I have been working on is the relocation of the Association
headquarters. As previously noted, the old Bar Center,
which was owned by the Bar Foundation, was sold in
April of this year. The Foundation's thirty-year lease
with UALR expired last Fall, and after much study
it was determined that it would be too costly to remodel
the building, which was too large for the needs of
both the Foundation and the Association. A joint committee
of the Association and Foundation (appointed by me
and Foundation President Sherry Bartley) is currently
studying whether to lease office space, remodel an
existing structure or build a new building. We need
about 10,000 square feet. In the meantime, we have
a lease with the new owner to remain in the old Bar
Center for several more years while our relocation
plans are worked out. The committee has met numerous
times and is working hard. I hope to be able to report
a proposed plan of action within the foreseeable future.
My travel to the other
State Association meetings has been interesting in
several respects. I have learned that our profession
has great people all over the country and that many
of the problems we encounter in our profession here
are similar to those in other states. It has been
beneficial to exchange ideas and possible solutions.
Although we are a small
state and have a voluntary Bar Association, I am proud
of the fact that our Association compares favorably
to Associations in larger states. For example, I was
extremely proud of the fact that at the recent annual
meeting of the American Bar Association our Young
Lawyers Section, chaired this year by Mark Hodge,
was the winner of a major award. It won the 2004 American
Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Outstanding
Public Service Project Award for its Parent Wars Project.
The project resulted in the production of a video
and handbook which advises divorcing parents of the
harmful effects their adversarial behavior can have
on their children. Marcia Barnes wrote and produced
the video, and Michelle Cauley prepared the handbook.
These items are available for attorneys and judges
to show parents involved in domestic litigation. The
video was recently shown on AETN. It is excellent
and should be seen by every attorney. This is a project
which demonstrates that our lawyers are concerned
about the needs of our children and have taken action
to promote the public good.
The future looks bright
for our profession if we are to judge by the quality
of the students currently in law school. The freshman
classes at the Fayetteville and Little Rock law schools
were chosen from large applicant pools. There were
approximately seven applicants for each available
position. The LSAT scores and undergraduate grades
are at an all-time high. It is the good fortune of
our Association to have a great working relationship
with Dean Richard Atkinson at the Fayetteville law
school and Dean Chuck Goldner at the Little Rock school.
Both of these gentlemen have gone out of their way
to cooperate with each other and to work for the benefit
of our profession and the Arkansas Bar Association.
I am glad to report
that our membership numbers have remained steady this
year even though we had to raise our dues in order
to keep up with expenses, which have risen steadily
over the years. The financial health of our Association
is good.
At the request of some
of our members, the Association's Group Insurance
Committee, chaired by Larry Burks, recently met with
our insurance advisers at Rebsamen Insurance and explored
whether it is possible for the Association to make
group hospitalization coverage available to our members.
The conclusion was that there was no viable plan on
the market at this time. However, we will continue
to observe the scene to see if an appropriate product
becomes available.
Charles Schlumberger
and his Legislation Committee are preparing for the
upcoming session of the Legislature. This is an extremely
hardworking group. This committee works closely with
our Association's lobbyist, Jack McNulty, to monitor
bills which might impact our profession and our system
of justice and to take action if necessary on our
behalf.
Our Association staff
continues to do a good job in serving the needs of
our members, and I want to thank them for their efforts
on our behalf.•
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