A key
component of service is effective communication. The
power of the Internet and Web sites has dramatically
increased the ability of the NCBP to communicate
quickly and frequently. It is my hope that
communication will flow freely among national,
state, local and specialty bar associations so that
their leaders can learn from one another.
A key component of effective communication is
listening--something I don't always do well. As a
lawyer I am a trained problem solver, but experience
has taught me that you can't solve any problem
unless you are listening long enough to hear what it
is. NCBP's commitment to listen and respond will
drive this year's activities. The leadership of NCBP
will listen to learn what the important topics of
the day are, which programs have worked and which
ones haven't. We will also listen in order to be
more relevant in providing the information and
insights that will help bar leaders move forward
successfully. This year, we will reach out to
specialty bar associations as well as the regional
organizations of state bar associations. Input and
participation from the leaders of these associations
will help us serve our members better.
As I scanned over the many
president’s pages written over the last year, I have
concluded that there is a uniform desire among bar
leaders: to learn as much as possible and then share
that knowledge with their members so that their
members can then effectively provide necessary
services to their clients and their communities. I
am reminded of past NCBP workshops in which it was
posited that law is a profession and not a business.
As bar leaders, we need to show lawyers how to be
professional and profitable by reaching out to every
aspect of the practice. By providing quality
educational programming and techniques that make it
easier to practice, by recognizing the frailties of
lawyers, and by presenting a unified front in the
midst of attacks from the government and the public,
we, as bar leaders can help to strengthen the rule
of law in this country. And NCBP provides bar
leaders with the tools to guide these efforts.
It is so important that today's bar leaders use
their platform to speak out and to assist in the
development of tomorrow's bar leaders. Why do bar
associations exist? What are they seeking to
accomplish? How can state, local and specialty bars
support one another? NCBP seeks answers to these
questions to preserve and enhance the quality of the
services that bar associations provide to our
nation, our state and our communities and to help
preserve the rule of law now and forever.
NCBP President Steven R. Sorenson is in
private practice in Ripon, Wisconsin with the
Sorenson Law Office. He is a past president of the
State Bar of Wisconsin. |
|
NATIONAL
CONFERENCE OF
BAR PRESIDENTS
2006-2007 Executive Council
Steven R. Sorenson, Ripon, WI
President
Kay H. Hodge, Boston, MA
President-elect
M. Joe Crosthwait Jr., Midwest City, OK
Treasurer
Mary T. Torres, Albuquerque, NM
Secretary
Lonnie J. Williams Jr., Phoenix, AZ
Immediate Past President
2007
Richard J. Badolato, Roseland, NJ
Tom Bolt, St. Thomas, VI
Guy N. Harrison, Longview, TX
A. Thomas Levin, Mineola, NY
Karol Corbin Walker, Newark, NJ
2008
Rhonda F. Hunter, Dallas, TX
Kelly Overstreet Johnson, Tallahassee, FL
Richard Turbin, Honolulu, HI
Fred S. Ury, Fairfield,CT
Charles J. Vigil, Albuquerque, NM
2009
William M. Corrigan Jr., St. Louis, MO
John C. Cruden, Washington, DC
Michael W. McKay, Baton Rouge, LA
Carl D. Smallwood, Columbus, OH
Amy Dunn Taylor, Houston, TX
Ex Officio
Karen J. Mathis, Denver, CO
President
American Bar Association
Timothy M. O’Mara, Williamsville, NY
President
Metropolitan Bar Caucus
ABA Division for Bar Services
Pamela E. Robinson
NCBP Liaison
Kimberly Vann
NCBP Communications Coordinator
Beverley M. Ware
NCBP Member Services Coordinator |
President’s
Message --