PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
A Full and Fulfilling
Year
Nicole G. Iannarone
Georgia State University School of Law
[email protected]
It is hard to believe that the Atlanta Bar 2018-2019
year is nearly over. It really seems like yesterday
that I shared thoughts for the year ahead at our
May 2018 Annual Meeting. My hope was that we
would focus on what we do well – supporting our
clients, our profession and each other. Our hard
working and dedicated Board, Sections and Com-
mittee members have redefined what it means to
do something well over the course of this year.
This year, we have accomplished more than we
ever dreamed possible.
Starting with a retreat in June, our board and ex-
ecutive officers met to brainstorm, thinking through
why we joined the Atlanta Bar and what member-
ship has meant to each of us. Through the course
of the day, we focused on several core ideas for
potential new programs – supporting lawyer well-
ness and increasing engagement within the bar.
From our retreat came a plan for the year, and
we have been diligently working to put that plan
into place.
Atlanta Bar Foundation President Betsy Griswold,
ACYL President Nora Robb and board member
Chris Lightner worked together to implement a new
program we designed during our retreat: SideBar.
SideBar was created to bring together lawyers in
different levels of practice to participate in informal
and fun small groups to get to know each other
4
April/May 2019
and the Atlanta Bar. We view SideBar as a group
mentoring program that helps acquaint lawyers to
the opportunities within our association. After the
kickoff event in January, our five small groups have
frequently gathered for coffee, meals, or during
Atlanta Bar events.
With the new year also came the introduction of
a new committee – the Wellness Committee –
designed to support lawyers and their practices
by focusing on the whole person. From wellness
tips to education through health focused events,
this committee is just getting started. Be sure to
look for much more to come throughout 2019 to
help make each of us the best person we can be.
In early May, we introduced a final new program:
Bond with the Bar. Bond with the Bar is an ini-
tiative to invite our members to get to know our
bar leadership in smaller social settings with no
agenda other than getting to know one another.
Our inaugural event, deftly planned by 2018-2019
Treasurer Christina Baugh, was a day trip for about
a dozen lawyers and their family and friends, to
Tiger Mountain Vineyards for lunch, wine tasting
and a vineyard tour.
While we implemented new programs this year,
the Atlanta Bar continued to do what it has done
so well in the past. From the Summer Law Intern-