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Bar News - January 6, 2006 Association News NHBA Makes Donation for Katrina Recovery At its Dec. 15, 2005 meeting, the New Hampshire Board of Governors authorized the donation of $5,000, to be split between the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Mississippi State Bar, for funds established by those bars to assist attorneys whose law firms were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. The NHBA action follows the lead of a number of other bar associations, state and local, that have provided relief to law firms and legal services agencies whose infrastructure was destroyed by the hurricane and the ensuing flooding. The Board also resolved to request that the NH Bar Foundation make a similar donation. Also, the Granite State Legal Administrators, the NH affiliate of the Association of Legal Administrators, recently donated $2,000 to the New Orleans Bar Foundation for its legal community recovery efforts. The GSALA previously had made a $1,000 donation to the American Red Cross. (The NHBA Web site has a link to a number of resources, including a dedicated ABA Web page, that provide information on opportunities to volunteer or donate money or services to victims of Katrina, or to the legal systems in the affected states.) The Board also reviewed or acted upon the following: • Reviewed a draft statement emphasizing the value of lawyers in our justice system. • Reviewed a report by the Supreme Court Task Force on Court Security. No action was required. • Received an update on the discussion with the Supreme Court on Pro Bono, other legal services. Virginia Martin, Associate Executive Director for Legal Services, informed the Board of a recent presentation and ensuing discussion at a meeting with the justices of the NH Supreme Court. The justices asked Martin and other legal services leaders to provide suggestions on how the court system can help strengthen the delivery of legal services through the Pro Bono program as well as by the legal services agencies. (More will be reported on this in future issues of Bar News.) • Discussed NHBA’s potential support for HB 515, a bill that would allow associations, such as the NH Bar Association, to be defined as large employers for purposes of obtaining group discounts for health insurance that could be offered to members through their law firms. The Board voted to support the bill, pending review of an amendment that was not available for review. • NHBA President Richard Uchida discussed a recent meeting with Gov. Lynch offering the Bar’s assistance in areas pertaining to legal services for flood victims in southwest NH and in spreading the word if the executive branch is seeking particular expertise from lawyers for various appointed boards and commissions. • President Uchida and Executive Director Jeannine McCoy also hosted a recent gathering of past presidents of the Bar where a number of issues and priorities were discussed. • Work/Life Balance Web site resource. The Board authorized the Bar to offer access to a comprehensive Web-based information resource to members on a trial basis for a year. The Web site offering is a recommendation of the Board of Governors Survey Work Group, which has been reviewing the results of several recent member surveys. Identified as a concern of many respondents is the challenge of managing competing demands for time in members’ professional and personal lives. • Member Programs Update. Rose Anocibar, member services coordinator, presented two short PowerPoint programs on Association member service programs. The first discussed the value of the Mentor program, offered through the New Lawyers Committee. The program has been simplified and is being more effectively marketed to new members and to potential mentors. Also presented was a PowerPoint program on the volunteer opportunities offered through the Law-Related Education program. |
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