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July - August 2008
Volume 32 Number 6

March-April Highlights:

Time to go? Helping lawyers retire with dignity

What if a lawyer who has served the profession well begins to make serious mistakes as his or her faculties decline? It's a situation that's becoming more and more common as the lawyer population ages, experts say. What can be done, short of adding a disciplinary black mark to an otherwise exemplary career? Here are some alternatives--and some advice regarding what can be a very delicate situation.

Access to justice: Is civil Gideon a piece of the puzzle?

Civil legal aid is chronically underfunded, and the already high demand for assistance is only increasing. An ABA House of Delegates resolution in 2006 said the indigent should be provided with legal counsel in certain types of civil cases. How have other bars responded to this call for "civil Gideon?" And how might it fit with other measures to help solve the problem of unmet civil legal needs?

Clear expectations make committees more effective

What do you do about that underachieving committee? Or the one that is wildly ambitious and treads on other groups' turf? What about the committee member who signs up but doesn't show up? Or the chair who digs in and refuses to leave? Nonprofit expert Marc Smiley says establishing and communicating clear expectations is a big step in the right direction. Here's a recap of a session he presented at this year's ABA Bar Leadership Institute.

Today's networking: Bars explore Web 2.0

Facebook. YouTube. "Wiki" this and "wiki" that. Welcome to the brave, not-quite-new world of "social media." Online tools that facilitate networking and participation have been around long enough that some bars now have quite a bit of positive experience with them. Learn from what they've done, and read about some low-risk ways to get started--even if you're not a techie.

Leadership 101: You can learn a lot down on the farm

She's a lawyer and a bar leader, but perhaps Michelle A. Behnke is really a farmer at heart. Here, the chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services discusses a few types of "weeds" bars often contend with, and how to eliminate them to give the seeds of your leadership a good chance to grow.