From the Chair
As each Chair of the Board of Regents has included in remarks at pretty much every induction ceremony for the last 25 years, being a first rate bankruptcy lawyer, judge, financial advisor, etc. isn’t enough for admission to the College. Candidates must do more – they must fulfill the Part B requirement, which means giving speeches, writing about both basic and cutting edge topics and providing service to the community. That gets me back to Pat, who encouraged those who worked with him to give back. And he and the others didn’t do so in order to help build resumes for the College. Rather, they did so because to them, practicing law was more than winning cases or billing and collecting. I encourage you to think about Pat when one of your associates or trainees asks if he or she can accept an offer to speak on a panel, to write a law review article or a chapter of a book or to serve on the board of a legal services office or the local museum. And I ask that for the good of our profession, the good of our communities and the good of the College, you offer encouragement and even consider crediting that work toward the metrics that so drive us these days. In other words, be more like Pat.
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Turning to perhaps a more upbeat topic, on behalf of the directors and officers of the College and the Foundation, I ask that if you aren’t a member of a committee, you consider joining one, and if you are a committee member but not an active one, you increase the time and effort you devote to that committee. Each of the Fellows of the College was chosen because, among other things, he or she was a leader. Thus, you didn’t just join a committee or a board, you ultimately because an officer if not the chair, president or the like. The College’s and the Foundation’s various committees – and I count over 15 of them on the website – need you and you need them. Trust me that your experience in the College will be far more rewarding if you serve on a committee (or one of the Circuit Admissions Councils) than if you merely pay your dues every year and perhaps attend the annual meeting every so often. I love the College for many reasons, but by far the most overarching is because of the friendships I have made and professional relationships I have established through my service on various College committees.
The Circuit Admissions Councils and the two nominating committees are by invitation only, but while some committees are full, others are in need of members. If you are interested in joining a committee, please email Deborah Williamson, Chair of the Membership Participation Committee, President Mark Bloom and/or me.
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