The Birmingham Bar Auxiliary has set as their big goal for the year to increase the number of law-related programs and activities they are involved in. Volunteer activities have included serving refreshments after the Naturalization Ceremony to the new citizens and their families each year. The Auxiliary has worked for several years with the Alabama Center for Law and Civic Education to provide lunch for the middle school counselors and principals, attorney volunteers, and law-related education teachers attending all day educational and training seminars.

Contra Costa Law League had another great year conducting courthouse tours for more than 2,600 fifth, sixth, and eighth grade students. They continue to distribute the “When You Become 18” booklets. Their fundraiser, “Roses for Secretaries Day” yielded over $1,000.

Through the year, seventeen volunteers from the Law Guild of Beverly Hills spent 20,000 hours conducting tours for students. Fundraisers, which included two luncheons, a raffle, and two field trips, earned $7,500. National recognition was given to the Law Guild through the ALA’s Advocacy for People with Disabilities award.

Activities of the Orange County Law Auxiliary attracted ninety-six members to volunteer more than 3,100 service hours. Among these were twenty-five trained docents who gave nearly 1,700 hours to courthouse tours for students. Fundraising projects produced $10,000, with $2,700 given for student scholarships. For more information on the Orange County Law Advocates, check out their web site at http://www.oclawadvocates.org.

The Pasadena Law Auxiliary’s premier project, one of which they are justly proud, is the Courthouse Tours for students in both public and private schools. Last year, they toured more than 1,500 school children through the courts, all via their volunteer members. They believe this project helps promote understanding and respect for our Judicial System. At a recent luncheon, the Pasadena Law Auxiliary presented a $2,000 check to the Pasadena Police Department for their Police Activities League and D.A.Y. (Diversion Alternatives for Youth). Both groups benefit the after-school needs of local students.

The Santa Clara County Law Advocates is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to support the legal community and to promote law related education in Santa Clara County. The members are dedicated to improving awareness of our rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States. The Advocates provide the "When You Become 18" booklet to local high school students and community organizations that deal with at-risk youth in the county. Visits to see the Santa Clara County Superior Court in action are arranged for school classes with the cooperation of the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Members also support mock trial competitions and Law Day events. During the program year, October through June, educatonal luncheons are held with speakers from the justice system. The Santa Clara County Law Advocates are making a positive impact in our county and new members and guests are always welcome at our activities.

Each spring, the National Capital Lawyers Auxiliary invites the ALA President to be one of its honored guests at its Law Day celebration, which is held at the US Supreme Court. Originally hosted by Justice Thurgood Marshall, this event has been in recent years hosted by Justice David Souter. This celebration caps a season of competition among students in the Washington DC area for the best essay, poster, or law related activity. The Auxiliary proudly honors the winners, their families and their teachers at the nation’s seat of justice, the US Supreme Court. Justice Souter addresses the gathering and meets the award recipients at the luncheon. To top off the celebration, students receive a piece of cake personalized with his or her name to show off to their proud family.

The Indian River County Lawyers Auxiliary is planning a social evening with lawyers and spouses on October 22, 2005, to raise funds to support our Law Day activities and to fund our membership drive. Our membership drive has begun under the direction of Membership Chair Rosemary Sanford and will include a Fall Luncheon in November at the home of auxiliary president Ann Catchick. We are planning to sponsor the Coloring Contest again for Law Day and will add an Essay Contest. Our Law Day Chair, Jackie McKinnon, did a wonderful job for Law Day 2005 and we look forward to an even better program in 2006. As our membership grows we have many exciting ideas for bringing "law and justice" into our community. We are small, but mighty, and are pleased with the support of the Indian River County Bar Association. Ann Catchick also notes, "I have worked with two Bar Presidents since we formed in December 2004 and both have been great." We meet at noon on the second Wednesday of every month. Prospective members are always welcome. For more information, call Ann Catchick at 772-234-7367 (catchickp@aol.com) or Rosemary Sanford at 772-492-1695.

Hawaii
Hawaii Legal Auxiliary has just sworn in Uson Ewart, the first male president of the auxiliary. HLA's work with the University of Hawaii Law School resulted in a successful breakfast for incoming first-year law students and a successful 30th anniversary dinner for the law school. This year, Jennifer Carpenter is the recipient of HLA's $2,000 law school student scholarship award. In Spring 2003, HLA launched the HLA tour and lunch program with "Man and Woman in Western Art" and "Highlights of Western Art." In early December, HLA led friends through the fabulous Doris Duke jewelry collection. This spring, HLA will explore the China Galleries where members and friends will see ancient bronzes, jades and pottery, elegant Sung celadon and Ming blue and white porcelains, etc.

Updated Feb. 2006
The Indiana Lawyers Alliance is disbanded, but very much alive.

One year ago the Indiana Lawyers Alliance, ILA, after 45 years made the difficult decision. We were healthy, we had a good membership, but it was increasingly difficult to recruit leadership volunteers. We had a long history of supporting the Indiana State Bar Association. We needed to find a way to continue what our membership valued and to make it work for years to come. Our most valued programs were "WE THE PEOPLE" and SCHOLARSHIP.

Our membership, with the help of the ISBA, found a way to do both. The Indiana State Bar Association agreed to help us financially until we could help ourselves in an estimated five years.

We invested our accumulated funds with the Indiana Bar Foundation, in the Cornerstone Society. In time, our investment will help us support our programs from its interest. And the ILA will live on for many more years.

Our membership has supported the WE THE PEOPLE program by volunteering to be Timers and Facilitators during the State finals. We continue to do that each year. The program has grown since its inception in 1987. This year we recruited 72 volunteers and we have one of the most outstanding program models.

Our ILA membership is represented on the Citizenship Advisory Education Committee of the ISBA. We have appointed an ILA spokesperson to oversee these activities of Scholarship, We the People Program, the Citizenship Education Advisory Committee and the Bar Foundation investment.

Our membership has become very bonded over the years and we continue to make the effort to get together, most often at the We the People State Finals.

Indiana Lawyers Alliance takes great pride in supporting the ALA. We did this best by the leadership of Cathy Bomberger, Rose McNeeley, Joan McNagny and Marion Tinkham, all past presidents of ALA.

We are alive but we took a different form. If there is a will there is a way. We hope we found it.

For more information, contact Sandi Lyle at 317-848-1476 or e-mail Cathy Bomberger at Cathybomb@aol.com.

The LAW of Polk County, Inc., meets in the evenings during the school year on the first Thursday of each month. They do a holiday bazaar once a year to raise monies for different community charities. They also raise monies for scholarships for women law students attending either Drake or the University of Iowa (alternating which school has a recipient selected each year). Their bazaar recipient this year was The Young Women's Resource Center, which was given a $7,600 check. LAW of Polk is also doing two Easter egg hunts for the Women's Resource Center this spring and collecting items at the monthly meetings for the Resource Center to give to their clientele. Next year, the bazaar recipient will be the Evelyn Davis Early Learning Academy and the Christine Swanson Wilson Scholarship fund. The Evelyn Davis Early Learning Academy will also be the monthly Targeted Needs recipient.

Kudos to the Greater Kansas City Chapter of ALA. Some three hundred were present to acknowledge the installation ceremony for the Honorable Thomas H. Newton, the first African-American to sit on the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City. The chapter has also ventured into a new mission of Law-Related Educational programs in their schools.

Wichita Bar Association Auxiliary has 123 members. They are trying to maintain a balance between social and philanthropic activities. Some of our philanthropic activites have included decorating cookies with the children at the Wichita Children's Home and making a cash donation to the facility, donating two play station IIs and games to the juvenile dentention center. Also, several members of the WBA Auxiliary recently served dinner to 50 youth who were attending a group session provided by the Wichita Children's Home Street Outreach Program. This is a program that, on a weekly basis, provides food and group sessions for youth in the city who might be runaways, homeless, living on the streets, experiencing difficulties at home, etc. The Auxiliary Board, at the March meeting, agreed to assist this program by providing the meal once per month through August and to evaluate it again at that time. The Auxiliary is also providing lunch for the Sedgwick County District Court judges and assisting with law day activites.

Updated 2005
The Law League of Louisiana has been busy supporting several local charities. In September they participated as a sponsor at the Justice for All ball which benefits pro bono projects. In October they sponsored the Louisiana Center for Law and Civic Education's first fund raiser the "Red, White and Blue and You" benefit. Funds raised from the benefit support the various law related education projects. In December, members donated clothes and accessories which were delivered to Myriam's House, a rehabilitation facility helping women to return to the work force and to manage their lives independently. The Law League also participated in receiving, organizing and delivering packages to needy children.

Law Day: On May 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, The Law League of Louisiana will be serving lunch at Ozanam Inn in New Orleans. We do this each year. It's a half-way house/charitable institution. People can stay there until they get on their feet, or they can just come in to eat. The staff helps them to find jobs, save their money toward getting a place to live, etc. The Louisiana Bar sponsors at least one week each year and we assist.

 

The Grand Rapids Lawyers Auxiliary is an informal "lunch bunch" and meets the third Thursday of each month at the Women's City Club. There is a program with each lunch. Our funds will go to the Citizens Advisory Council to the 17th District Family Court.

The Saginaw County Lawyers Auxiliary performed 13 Court House tours over this past year allowing over 350 students to gain new insight into our legal system. In the fall (2004) they had their fall luncheon hosted by Joan Martin and Jessalyn Sturtz. They are planning another fabulous Spa Night at Blushe Day Spa, as well as Dinner with Shari at the home of Sue Dalek. Plans are currently being formulated for a couple's event, as well as, a joint event with the Bar Association. This year the SCLA law related scholarship was awarded to a very deserving young lady, Ms. Bethany McDonald. Bethany graduated from Birch Run High School and is planning on attending SVSU in the fall, majoring in Criminal Justice. This is the tenth year SCLA has awarded a $500.00 law related scholarship to a deserving young man or woman. SCLA has received an award for being one of the top four auxiliaries in the United States. Mary Ann Farris has been awarded the American Lawyers Auxiliary Volunteer of the Year award for all her hard work and dedication. Board members: President—Carrie Burns, President-elect—Elissa Basil, Corresponding Secretary—Bertie Gilbert, Recording Secretary—Ann Hoffman and Treasurer—Tracy Concannon. Total Members: 123. More information, links to the contests and an application for the Golden Apple award are all available through the SCLA website. Also see the Michigan Bar Law Day site.

The Oklahoma County Bar Auxiliary has had a most impressive year in its endeavor to help their community. Their second annual “Kids First!” golf tournament reportedly made $12,000 this year ($5,000 over their most impressive last year’s earnings). And that’s not all. When the organization held its Annual Christmas Reception, a benefit for the Oklahoma Lawyers for Children project, it was so well supported that a tent had to be erected to take care of the overflow crowd. The evening made a $30,000 profit to help the children.

This past year the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary's goal was to aggressively grow the membership to record levels. Recognizing that “Size Matters,” in most things, and the auxiliary can, and should be, bigger and more representative of Tulsa’s lawyers and law firms, I’m proud to report we grew by approximately 20%. A larger membership can only enhance our ability to fulfill our objectives and commitment to the community. Our theme was “It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon,” realizing that there were no quick fixes and that we were in for the marathoner’s consistent pace to achieve our goal.

We questioned our relevancy, continued to dispel the notion we were a “Stepford Spouse” organization, worked at breaking “old” comfortable patterns and strived to create a new image in the legal community.

We had two fundraisers, one was a new idea conceived the previous year that we were able to perpetuate into an important ‘annual’ event not only for the auxiliary but the Tulsa County Bar Association as well—The Administrative Professionals’ Day Luncheon. The other, the “Plea Bargain,” based on the stay-at-home-ball concept, surpassed our whole year’s fundraising projection in and of itself.

We continued to support Wright Elementary, our Partners In Education (Christmas gifts, items throughout the year, mentoring program & monetary donation,) Lakeside Home, a court appointed residential treatment facility the auxiliary has contributed to for over 30 years, and our Memorial Scholarship Fund. Since 1967 we have given over $130,000 to approximately 70 students for books/tuition to attend traditional colleges, trade or business schools. We’re committed to keeping the “Big Mo” (momentum) rolling as we keep our own “Mojo” working!

The Dallas Lawyers Auxiliary will celebrate its 80th birthday in January 2006! We are very excited and have a great year planned. We've just launched our first website, which is full of information about our programs, awards, celebrations, fundraiser, etc. Check it out at www.dallaslawyersauxiliary.org.

We are now working on a history video to document the rich heritage we have. The downtown infrastructure of Dallas was founded by many of our early members and their spouses. We have found some treasures in our old, crumbling yearbooks and albums and have started the preservation of them. The Dallas Bar is being supportive of our efforts.

The Houston Bar Association Auxiliary worked in collaboration with the Houston Bar Association on a project entitled, "Dial 911." The HBAA collected 50 used cellular phones and battery charges and distributed them to the Houston Area Women's Center and the Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse Center. They also participated in "Do the Write Thing," an essay contest in which students explain how violence, gang activities and/or drugs affect their lives. Two winners were given a trip to Washington, DC where they deposited a bound collection of winning essays in the Library of Congress. HBAA members graded over 2,000 essays. They organized social projects such as cooking classes, and a fall membership coffee, as well as fundraisers such as a Spring Market and Luncheon and Annual Dinner Meeting with the Houston Bar Association.

The San Antonio Bar Auxiliary—in addition to doing their Courthouse Tours, Courthouse Appreciation Project, and various other community projects—joined forces with The Texas Lawyers Auxiliary to distribute the publication, Lone Star Waves Proudly, a booklet that explains in English and Spanish the history of the state of Texas. The brainchild of Law-Related Education director Jan Miller, written in collaboration with Abilene Independent School District teacher Jeanne Wray, the booklet is being used to educate third and fourth grade students about flags and their meanings. The first phase of the project, to put a booklet in every public school in San Antonio, is completed, and the second segment is adding a second book—The Lone Star Celebrates Freedom, to 63 libraries of private schools in San Antonio. The SABA has also partnered with the San Antonio Bar Association's Pro Bono Project to provide refreshments for lawyers who sign up to provide pro-bono legal help to those in need. Services are provided in the newly built David Robinson Center.

The Texas Lawyers Auxiliary under the leadership of President Carol Niemann, Austin, has taken on two large projects this year. One is the distribution of the booklet, Lone Star Waves Proudly, and the second is the re-introduction of the booklet, Your Legal Rights, an informative booklet written by Liberty Bell Award-winner Ann Smith. The booklet is done in easy-to-read print that is geared toward GED programs.