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Bar News - August 12, 2005 New President’s Goal: Make Bar More Valuable By: Attorney Richard Y. Uchida
What does that mean? Who benefits from a more valuable Association, and what does that Association look like? I believe it means creating an Association that will be of great worth not only to our members but also to the public—and it will be recognized as deserving esteem. For Our Members A valuable Association for our members means an Association that helps you be the best lawyer you can be, that provides timely, high quality resources to you in your substantive law practices and in ethics, professionalism, law practice management, insurance, technology and all other areas. You must have ready access to the tools you need to excel. It also means understanding the present and future needs of 21st century lawyers and ensuring that when they arise, the Association responds. To that end, the Association will hold a conference this fall to examine the needs of New Hampshire lawyers and how the Association can best address those needs. We will draw from a cross-section of our bar—judges, newer and older lawyers, lawyers from small and large firms, from government and the public sector, in-house counsel and private firms, lawyers from the southern tier to the North Country, section and committee chairs, members of the Board of Governors and any others who might help to create a diverse forum to look at our future. I am also pleased that members of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on the Status of the Legal Profession will join us. The results and action plans from that conference – the Bar’s roadmap into the needs, today and tomorrow, of our members and profession – will be featured as one of the CLE programs at our Midyear Meeting (February 16-17, 2006 at the Center of New Hampshire in Manchester). The Midyear Meeting will also be devoted to best practices CLE’s and feature, for the first time, a new concept – the Hall of Sections and Committees (an event you cannot afford to miss) that you will read about in a future column.
For the Public Our Supreme Court has it right when it recognizes that the justice system and the needs of those who use and work in the system are changing. All of us have applauded the efforts of Chief Justice John Broderick to spearhead work to understand those changes. Already armed with reports on pro se representation, an analysis of the family court system and a report on the justice system, the Court is now proceeding with a citizen’s commission to make global recommendations about the justice system. In a separate undertaking, the Court is also examining the status of our profession. A valuable Association for the public means our working hand in hand with both the citizen’s commission and the group studying the status of the profession. Their observations and recommendations could profoundly affect the justice system, as well as our profession. However, we cannot sit idly by and wait for the results of these reports. We must be ready to respond with ideas and solutions that will address the concerns we expect will be raised. Our Association has as much at stake as the public in ensuring that our justice system works well and that our profession remains valuable and meaningful. Being a valuable Association also means joining Chief Justice Broderick and the Supreme Court in their efforts to create a responsive court system. I know that Chief Justice Broderick’s observations to the Legislature about the justice system raised eyebrows among some in the bar. Some interpreted his remarks about the economic, social and cultural costs of litigation as devaluing the role of lawyers. In fact, the contrary is true. His vision consists of a judicial system in which lawyers play critical and important roles, both procedurally and substantively, to help people solve the problems that have brought them into the court system in the first place. His message is the same as ours – that in this changing world, we, as lawyers, can bring value to everything we do – for ourselves, our clients, our fellow attorneys, the justice system and society as a whole. So I welcome his observations, and hope that our Association will play a major role in improvements to the system and to the profession. I hope you will join me in creating a more valuable Association. Join committees and sections. Attend meetings. Let your voice be heard about the future of the profession and the Association. We need your help and your input, and with that help and input, we can become more valuable to you. Richard Uchida will be at the Bar Center most Mondays (excluding holidays) from 9 a.m. until noon to meet with members or take their phone calls. If you wish to make an appointment, please call Lynette Gorman at 603/224-5004 or contact Uchida directly at the Bar Center. Otherwise, please feel free to contact him by phone at (603/224-5004) or by e-mail at richarduchida@hebertanduchida.com. |
The one question every bar president must answer is: “What is your cause—what are the initiatives you want to put into place during your year as president?”|
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