THE ANNUAL MEETING of the New Hampshire Bar Association provides a unique opportunity for "connecting" with other members of the bench and Bar, as well as with their families. This year was no exception, particularly given the great setting, great weather and great Saturday night dance band.

The meeting provides the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the many volunteer, public-service minded members of the bench and Bar, who donate their time, talent and energy to the betterment of the profession and the public, through service on committees, in sections, on CLE panels, and in countless other ways in the community. Without them, the good work of the Bar would grind to a halt.

At the end of the Bar year, it is appropriate to take a look at where we have been, where we are and where we are going. So, here goes – the good, the bad and an "ugly opportunity."

Where have we been?

The last year was a great success under the leadership of Marty Van Oot; we launched Casemaker, the online legal research tool for members; the fledgling NHBA Insurance Agency, Inc. grew and provided key help to many members of our Association; and the stellar public service of this Association continued in the form of Pro Bono work, the Lawyer Referral Service, Law-Related Education and many other activities.

We also dealt with a challenging legislative session, which brings me to the next topic.

Where are we?

The most significant challenge facing the Bar is the passage of HB 175, which had two major components:

1. It compels the Bar to conduct a referendum next year (and every five years thereafter) as to whether the Bar should remain unified;
2. It severely restricts the lobbying activity of the Bar.

I would make an educated guess that more than 90 percent of the members of the New Hampshire Bar have known nothing other than a unified Bar, that is, one in which membership is mandatory for lawyers practicing in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Bar was unified by order of the New Hampshire Supreme Court more than 30 years ago, and today it is one of more than 30 unified bars in the United States. There is no dispute that unification has facilitated the great things that the Bar has accomplished, for both its members and the public.

The Board of Governors will consider an appropriate response to HB 175 in the near future, and I fully expect it will determine to challenge its constitutionality. The Bar had offered to voluntarily conduct such a referendum, and to certify the results to the Supreme Court, as a compromise to avoid the confrontation that passage of this bill will create. The legislation is unwise and unnecessary.

Where are we going?

Notwithstanding these challenging times, I have no doubt that the Bar will continue to do the good work it has done in the past, and continue to improve service to its members. The New Hampshire Bar is recognized nationally on a regular basis for the quality of its programming.

I have a friend in Rotary who would look at the deunification bill and say that it is "an opportunity brilliantly disguised as an insoluble problem." I am trying to look at it the same way, and hope to be able to report progress on the issue in these pages in the near future.

Finally, the awards presented at the Friday night banquet of the Annual Meeting for extraordinary professionalism and service (see list below and articles in the previous issues of Bar News) were inspiring to me, and should be inspiring to all members of the Bar. Nobody does it better than New Hampshire lawyers, and no bar association does it better than yours, "in supporting members of the legal profession and their service to the public and justice system."

I look forward to the coming year and am confident it will be a rewarding one. Let me know how you can help.

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