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Welcome to Dodge City. |
Our Primary Purpose is to Protect and Defend the Legal Profession On June 10, 2006 I received the high honor of becoming President of the Kansas Bar Association. My first job was to thank our outgoing President, Richard Hayse. It is difficult to imagine a more energetic, hard working and diplomatic President than Rich has been. He has certainly been a great ambassador for the bar during his term as President. His Presidency, however, was merely the latest in a long line of service. All of us owe a great debt of thanks to Rich Hayse. If you see him, let him know how much you appreciate all the work he has done. I wish more of you were acquainted with the great staff we have at the Kansas Bar Association. Our Executive Director, Jeff Alderman, has assembled a first rate team to care for the bar associations’ work. Every member of the bar association staff is able and willing to help you with any questions or concerns you may have about bar association business. This is your association and you should not hesitate to call or to drop by the offices. My year as President will be greatly enhanced by the Kansas Bar Association Officers serving with me. Linda Parks fills the position of President-Elect. This follows her tremendous fundraising effort of the last several years in the “Raising the Bar Campaign”. Ernie Ballweg of Overland Park is our new Vice-President. Ernie has been involved with the bar association for many years and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this position. Rejoining the board as Secretary/Treasurer is Tom Wright of Topeka. Tom is a great lawyer and has good sense of the political goings on in Topeka. We are fortunate to have his leadership. In short, your President has a great team with which to work. I think you will be well served by your new group of officers. This year I would like the Kansas Bar Association to focus on three areas: 1. How can we help the Kansas lawyer make a living? How can we help our fellow lawyers to be profitable? In this regard, the Kansas Bar Association is undertaking two ambitious initiatives. First, the internet research program Case Maker will be introduced in the fall. This will be a member benefit that will allow the typical practitioner to do about 90% of his or her internet research for free. In other words, this is a benefit that will be offered to KBA members as a part of their basic membership. In addition, the Kansas Bar Association has decided to hire a person to assist its members with law office management issues. If that sounds a bit vague, it is, because we haven’t gotten it off the ground yet. The idea is that the Kansas Bar Association will have an in-house person to help you make decisions about staff salaries, equipment, management techniques, software marketing and like issues. Our vision is for the Kansas Bar Association to proactively reach out to you as members and to try to help you do a better job of managing your practices. 2. This year the Kansas Bar Association will continue to work to improve CLE opportunities and to update the various handbooks available to you through your Kansas Bar Association. In other words, we want to provide good CLE at a reasonable price tailored to help you in your practice. Our CLE Director, Deana Mead is doing a great job. 3. Finally, the Kansas Bar Association will work to make being a member an enjoyable experience. In short, we want to help members have fun. There is nothing wrong with fun; in fact, many of us have fond memories of our association based on the good times we have had with other members. We will be working this year to make sure that the annual meeting, and the various seminars and social events sponsored by the KBA throughout the year are worthwhile and enjoyable. II see the purpose of the KBA as simply to protect and defend the legal profession. The law is a noble profession and should be defended. As members of this noble profession it is our job to set the example and keep the faith. It is a fact that no community in Kansas or in the United States would be as strong or as free if not for the lawyers that served in the Legislature, served on school boards, chaired fundraising drives, defended popular causes and so freely given of themselves. Part of our job will be to get the word out about the pro bono work you are doing and about the good lawyers that are working hard in their communities. I am proud to be a lawyer and I apologize to no one for my profession. I am proud to be a member of this great organization and I am proud to stand with you. As lawyers, we are members of the Judicial Branch, an equal branch of our government and worthy of our loyalty and deserving of our defense. An impartial independent judiciary is essential to our form of government. This is a fact that bears repeating. We should always keep in mind that while the Judicial Branch is equal, it is also the weakest branch. The judiciary by definition gets cross-wise with the other branches of government. It happened in the civil rights movement. The legislatures of the states and the United States Congress passed laws that legitimized segregation which we forget were very popular. The legislature was wrong and the Court struck down these laws, but not without protest and threats of impeachment of the justices. It happened again during Watergate. The executive branch claimed a very broad executive privilege and when ordered to turn over papers toyed with refusal. The executive branch was wrong. These are just two recent examples. In short, the Courts must be defended, but it is our special charge to demand confidence, integrity and impartiality from the Courts. When there are breaches, and there are and will be in any human institution, we must be quick to investigate and punish the offenders so that our justice system remains fair and impartial. Being an attorney is a privilege. Being a Judge is a high privilege and honor. Finally, we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. We are here because good lawyers took an interest in us. They encouraged and impressed us. I am here because of my mentors, Jim Mangan, Jack Dalton and Bill Trenkle. In later years I was mentored by Mike Stout and Dick Hite. Now it is my turn to mentor and bring lawyers into the field. Whether you are at that place in your career that you can be a mentor or that place where you seek a mentor, don’t overlook the value of that relationship. That is professionalism. Again, you have done me a great honor and I pledge to you my best effort and ask for your support in the coming year.
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