By Tad Delegal
JBA President
Last week was tough. The U.S. Senate debated whether it should do something horrible, or something truly awful, or just continue with the deficient.
And the Twelve-Year-Old-in-Chief showed that he cannot match the intellectual or emotional maturity of a bunch of 12-year-olds at a Boy Scout Jamboree. Then the new White House communications director signaled that the new standard for communications would fall just below Andrew Dice Clay’s.
On top of it all, I learned that Cindy Laquidara kicked my behind in a big hearing.
It was therefore a much-needed relief to spend Thursday evening with great JBA members at our inaugural Open Bar event.
We hosted the gathering to start off the new Bar year in style. Hundreds of attorneys attended and drank and ate and socialized, while seeing how they can involve themselves in the local Bar community in the upcoming year.
The JBA co-hosted the event with the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Jacksonville Justice Association, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association, Jacksonville Beaches Bar Association, Jacksonville Asian American Bar Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild and Three Rivers Legal Services.
The Young Lawyers Section offered a concoction far stronger than what older folks like me could handle, and our sections and committees staffed tables to explain what they do and how attorneys can participate.
So why involve so many other organizations in a JBA-sponsored event? It wasn’t just so we could blame someone else if it flopped (of course, because it succeeded, nobody will ever know for sure, will they?). We included the voluntary organizations because The JBA board and staff believe the association should encourage and facilitate local Bar activity.
The groups provide the opportunity for specialized involvement, but only if The JBA provides the ability to connect with the entire local legal community.
We have 38 committees that can help you focus on your practice area and be involved with community, pro bono and public interest efforts. We provide the opportunity to interact with lawyers outside your practice area or demographic group at social functions and to hear important speakers at our luncheons.
The major reason that we held this event is that we don’t feel that The JBA has done enough in the past to provide opportunities for involvement. I was a member for many years but wasn’t very involved until I worked on the Special Needs of Children Committee, and then was elected to the board.
Some attorneys are in firms that encourage Bar involvement, or are involved socially with other lawyers who encourage involvement. For others, though, I think the Open Bar event was a good way to learn how to get involved.
If you didn’t attend, go to jaxbar.org to see what The JBA can do for you, or talk with me or another member of the board or a section or committee chair.
Open Bar was successful because it funneled the energies of a lot of concerned and talented folks to encourage others to participate in some pretty exciting programming. In leading this organization, I am constantly reminded of how much positive work our profession does for our community, and how lawyers are some of the most caring and concerned people in our society.
Our staff, especially Carla Ortiz, did a great job, and our Membership Section Chair, Megan Moon, along with board members Christian George, Blane McCarthy and Brian Coughlin, stepped up to make it a success.