s we move into the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, I hope your summer will be more lazy than
crazy. For some of those moments with time to read, here’s the next issue of NABE News.
Honoring One of NABE’s Finest
Each year NABE honors one of its members with the Bolton Award for Outstanding Bar Leadership. This award "recognizes the exceptional professionalism and achievement of a bar executive."
The recipient of the Bolton Award in 2009 is Robert S. “Bob” Wells, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Bar. Congratulations, Bob.
The prestigious award will be presented to Bob at the Joint Luncheon of NABE, NCBP
and NCBF on Friday, July 31, 2009 at the Annual Meeting.
For more on why Bob is the worthy recipient of this award, here is the press release.
From the latest NABE Board of Directors meeting
Typically I wouldn’t put board news on the front page, but the May 1-2 meeting had an ambitious and topic-rich agenda. Here are just some of the key highlights of the meeting.
- The board agenda included a printed copy of the report of the ABA Executive Director on the programs and activities at the ABA. See later in these headlines for a link to the report.
- The next Chief Staff Executives’ Retreat will be February 2, 2010 in Orlando immediately preceding the mid-year meeting. Attendees will be polled if they prefer meeting then, or just before BLI in March, as has been the case for many years.
- The executive report of the membership survey will be distributed to those with leadership positions in NABE.
- The future of NABE’s website was discussed at length. Prior to the meeting, some board members participated in a demonstration by Affiniscape showing other possibilities for the website.
- The cost and venue for the Wednesday night social event at the mid-year and annual meeting also received a lot of discussion. The Wednesday night event at the February MYM in Boston was considerably toned down. DBS staff negotiated a great event for the upcoming Annual Meeting in Chicago. The event will be a three-hour cruise on Lake Michigan and will include dinner, a live dj, and a fireworks display. Space is limited and tickets are purchased in advance for $55.000 as part of the registration process. If tickets are still available when the on-site meeting registration opens on Tuesday, July 28, the cost will be $75.00. Note that this increase in cost is a change from past practices due to the number of attendees included in the contract.
- The planning committee of the Small Bar Conference will become a standing committee of NABE.
- The New Bar Institute, which has been offered sporadically in recent years, is terminated. Other options for integrating new bar executives with their roles at bar associations will be explored, including producing a live training event and making it available on the web or I-pod.
- The board will distribute a RFP to several financial organizations to solicit assistance in the preparation of the monthly financial statements of NABE. The board has engaged Desmond & Ahern, a Chicago CPA firm, since March through June 2009 to perform these services, and will select a provider at its next meeting.
- On Friday afternoon of the two-day meeting, the board spent 2-1/2 hours in a brainstorming session facilitated by Pat Nester of the State Bar of Texas. This was a lively and productive exercise and allowed the board to brainstorm about the future of NABE. Some topics brainstormed were the educational events (annual and mid-year meeting primarily); governance; leadership; administration and relationship with the DBS; and the roles of committees, sections, and forums. The session didn’t surface any resolutions (it was not intended to), but did lay the ground work for more deliberation which will lead to actions and recommendations. The board will resume the discussion at its meeting prior to the annual meeting, and the next NABE president, Jack Lockridge, will advance the topics into his term.
Bill Weisenberg’s ABA Report
Bill’s report is a personal look how the economic downturn is affecting the judicial system around the country – and his own state. Click on the tab at the top of this page to read his report.
Compensation & Benefits Survey
The 2009 Compensation and Benefits survey will be in the email box of all NABE executive directors soon. This is an invaluable resource made available to NABE members every two years. Kudos to the survey committee:
Maribeth Leininger, chair, Allen County (Indiana) Bar Duane Stanley, Hennepin County (MN) Bar Colleen McManus, State Bar of Arizona Karen Gould, Virginia State Bar Doug Barringer, Illinois State Bar
Special thanks also to Mike Garcia of the Florida Bar for his service in preparing the email questionnaire and creating the report.
Membership Dues
So far, almost 500 members have renewed their dues for the 2009-2010 membership year, which began June 1. If you aren’t on the list of renewed members, and need a new statement, contact Membership Coordinator Tonadanisha Nevels at (312) 988-5350 or email at nevelst@staff.abanet.org.
ABA Executive Director’s Report
Here’s the link to Hank White’s report “REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, Monthly Program and Project Highlights, April 2009.” It’s a lengthy report of 27 pages, but full of information about activities at the ABA.
