It was over as quickly as it started … an overdose of food, fun, friends and education. For me, as IndyBar president this year, Bench Bar 2015 will long be etched in my memory. It was all I had hoped it might be and more.
Every professional meeting I attend these days seems to have a segment on the subject of “branding.” We are either being encouraged to develop a law firm brand or a personal brand, or both (At first I thought that a personal “brand” was just a euphemism for a tattoo, and the thought of a branding iron on my backside did not interest me.).
I will never forget the first mentoring moment that I received from my legal mentor, Robert Wagner.
To all of you … my friends in the IndyBar, I am here today to break the rule: Bench Bar 2015 is going to be off the charts GOOD, and while it may sound too good to be true, take my word for it. It’s true.
I was motivated to write this column when I overheard a lawyer say to another lawyer: “If I hear the word ‘networking’ again I am going to puke!
Your Indianapolis Bar Association continues to advocate for local government leaders to face the justice system facilities crisis head on, urging prompt action on whatever financing model can be agreed upon to move a project forward toward construction.
In my spare time, I have the pleasure of chairing the Law Practice Management committee of a national bar association. My duties have taken me all over the place to attend seminars, symposia and managing partner forums to learn about the challenges facing our profession. One theme has been constant at every meeting, namely, that rank and file lawyers are not paying attention.
In 1979, when I joined the Indianapolis Bar Association as a law student, my mentor, Robert F. Wagner, told me that it was my duty as a lawyer to join the bar.
As I have worked my way through the chairs of the IndyBar to become the 2015 president, I have had the good fortune to meet other bar leaders at American Bar Association meetings. I have learned time and again that bar leaders around the country view the IndyBar as the “Gold Standard” of metropolitan bar associations.