unsaved:///newpage3.htm

President's Report

...And the Dream Lives On

Ronald D. Harrison

"Talk about a dream, try to make it real."
Bruce Springsteen

     Where did it go? The time. The year. How is it possible that an entire year has passed? There remains much to be donethough you have accomplished so much. I will return to this thought, but first and foremost Rebecca and I thank you. Thank you for allowing me to serve, for permitting us to be the hosts on behalf of the Arkansas Bar Association this year. Thank you for the memories and the friendships made, for the challenges confronted, and for your gracious help and encouragement. I thank each of you who has tirelessly served our profession through your good works on behalf of the Association.
     I cannot record the names of each of you who could be included, but there are a few I simply must note: Fred Ursery, Chairman of the Board of Governors, President-Elect Sandra Cherry, Judge Henry Jones, Judge Andre Roaf, Judge John Stroud, Prof. John Watkins, Bill Bridgeforth, Brian Ratcliff, Prof. Cynthia Nance, Alice Holcomb, Jim Julian, Jim Simpson and Stark Ligon. These are but a few of the volunteers who have made a difference. You already know how I feel about the staff who provides dedicated service everyday: Don, Judith, Barb, Virginia, Joyce, Becky, Diane, Rando, Michelle, and now Pat and Vicki. Each represents our Association in exemplary fashion. Rebecca and I will always appreciate what you have done for us and your friendship.
     This year the Arkansas Bar Association through its volunteers and staff, and with the help of many others, has seen the restructure of the Judicial Article of the state constitution by the passage of Amendment 3 (now officially Amendment 80) which provides for non-partisan election of judges and for the merger of law and equity. A truly first class judges and lawyer assistance program has been approved and is now in place. Also on the Petition of the Association the Arkansas Supreme Court has modified our bar examination and provided for changes in our systems for admission and discipline of attorneys in the State. The changes approved for the reorganization of our governance structure have been implemented and another legislative year has been completed (the session has not concluded as this article is being written and I would not hazard a guess as to the outcome). We worked on a committee established by the Supreme Court to draft modifications to rules and new legislation for the implementation of Amendment 3. All of this and the work of the Association continues, including the day to day demands and a review of new and emerging issues such as the Ethics 2000 report of the American Bar Association, a new "professional" designation labeled the "cognitor" proposed by the AICPA and others and the continued presence of questions regarding Multi-disciplinary Practices (MDP), to list but a few. Finally, and to me the most important, we established the Arkansas Bar Commission on Diversity to encourage and advance diversity first within the Arkansas Bar and then within the profession in Arkansas, generally. Not a bad year. You can and should be quite proud of what you have accomplished this year.
     In my first President's Report, I spoke of our need to have the Arkansas Bar Association look more like America. Some modest progress has been made to that end. We are having a conversation about race in this state. We are also taking action to address racial issues within the state.Our Mid year Meeting program segment on civil rights, jointly sponsored with the W. Harold Flowers Law Society at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, witnessed an audience who packed the lecture hall. Much, much more will be done. I suggested in my second report that even in the face ofthe very difficult problems which surround issues of race in America, we are limited in what we can accomplish only by our reluctance at times to believe we can do great things. We are reminded in Hamlet that "(w)e know what we are, but know not what we can be." The challenge continues, and the dream lives on.
     We have formulated ideals, born of what we believe . . . of what we profess. Of such things President John F. Kennedy in a speech given in Germany in 1963 said,
     "(s)o we are all idealists. We are all visionaries. Let it not be said of the Atlantic generation
     that we left ideas and vistas to the past, nor purpose and determination to our adversaries.
     We have come too far, we have sacrificed too much to disdain the future now. And we shall
     ever remember what Goethe told usthat the 'highest wisdom, the best mankind ever knew'
      was the realization that 'he only earns his freedom and existence who daily conquers them anew."
The challenge persists, and the dream lives on.
     We are, for our Association, taking essentially unprecedented steps to look and be more like America. It is our renewed beginning and we must "daily conquer . . . anew" the challenges and the obstacles which would discourage uswhich would diminish our efforts. Your calls, comments, and notes supporting the work of the Association on diversity are appreciated, but more importantly they confirm the goodwill of members of the Arkansas Bar Association and their dedication to the dream. We can make a difference.
     Each of us can be an ambassador on behalf of the Association. As we suggested in the last issue of the Arkansas Lawyer, invite new and old acquaintances alike of every gender, race and ethnic background to join us - help them join us. Make every licensed lawyer feel welcome and wanted. The time is now, the effort continues, the challenges persist, and the dream lives on. In what ever way you can, "(t)alk about a dream, try to make it real."
     As my term began and as it ends, I still believe it's true. Right now . . .at this time and in this place . . . it is an honor to be a member of this noble profession.

return to previous page