Last month, following a terrific “TPC at TPC” CLE event, Jacksonville Bar Association board member Elizabeth Howard extolled the many benefits of JBA membership.
From networking events and CLE seminars to lunches and judicial forums, the JBA has something worthwhile for every Jacksonville lawyer across all practice areas, whether in-house, in government service or in private practice.
Assuming Elizabeth convinced all of you to join last month (if not, join), we now want to hear from you to make your Bar association the best it can be.
I was recently privileged to be re-elected to serve on your Board of Governors. I believe the best way to serve is first to listen. So we need to hear from you.
How can The Jacksonville Bar Association serve you better? How can we improve your practice and your professional life?
Do you need more online practice resources? More social and networking opportunities? Stronger practice area committees or sections? Do you wish your committee met more frequently?
Do you want to serve in a leadership role but don’t know how to get involved? Do you want a speaking or publishing opportunity? Do you want more offerings about social media marketing and practice development?
More (or different) CLE opportunities? Discounted rates for vendors? Can the Bar provide health and wellness tools to help you cope with this enjoyable, but often stressful, career?
Do you have ideas for improving the Bar Bulletin? Do you wish our law league sports offerings were different? (Can you tell I’m going for feedback on anything?)
As we know, the practice of law is changing rapidly.
Like each of our practices, the Bar association needs to continue to adapt and grow with those changes to provide services and benefits to members that are valuable in this new landscape.
One way to do this is by staying ahead of the game, both in terms of technology and legal trends. You can help us do that by engaging and telling us how to better serve your needs.
The JBA is here to help enrich your career through practice specialty groups; opportunities for leadership, authorship and speaking engagements; and involvement in diversity, advocacy and public service initiatives.
The more involved you get, the more feedback we get about your needs and how the JBA can help you, the better and more relevant your Bar association will be.
And so my fellow JBA members, ask not what your Bar association can do for you, ask what you can do for your Bar Association. (OK, so it doesn’t have quite the same effect as in 1961, but you get the idea.)
Please reach out to me or any other member of the Board of Governors to share ideas, complaints, praise, suggestions, or just your two cents on how we are doing or how we can improve. Thank you.