Jordan Furlong is a partner with Edge International, providing consulting services to law firms on strategic planning and practice management issues. He is also a Senior Consultant with Stem Legal and principal of its Media Strategy consulting service. In addition, he is an award-winning blogger who chronicles the extraordinary changes underway in the practice of law at Law21: Dispatches from a Legal Profession on the Brink.

He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Bar Association’s flagship magazine National for a full decade (1999-2009), during which time it earned nine awards for journalistic excellence. He also founded and served as Executive Editor of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s CCCA Magazine (2007-2009), and he held the position of Managing Editor with The Lawyers Weekly newspaper (1997-1998). He has spoken about the challenges facing the legal profession at numerous conferences, and his written work has been published in a variety of periodicals in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Need an informed, outside opinion on a challenge that faces your bar? Discuss it with an ABA staff expert with a national perspective. Since many of you will be arriving in Chicago on Wednesday, March 10th, our experts have set aside time to meet with you at the Marriott on Wednesday afternoon, between 4 and 6 pm. BLI Registration also will be open at that time.

Click here to make an appointment with an ABA staff expert

Large Bar Associations: Susan Meier
Susan Meier is vice president of consulting and training for BoardSource, and a BoardSource senior governance consultant. Susan is an experienced leader who has specialized in organizational capacity building, nonprofit governance, and nonprofit management throughout her 18 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. In her capacity as a senior governance consultant, Susan has worked with a wide variety of organizations including Council on Foundations, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits. In her role as the vice president of consulting and training, Susan is responsible for overseeing the provision of consulting services and training programs to BoardSource clients.

Mid-Sized Bar Associations: Anne Cohn Donnelley
Anne Cohn Donnelly is a Senior Lecturer in Social Enterprise at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She teaches nonprofit management with a focus on board governance in the graduate program and through the school’s Executive Education programs. She also serves as the Academic Director of the school’s Board Fellows Program.

Small Bar Associations: Nancy Sylvester
Nancy Sylvester has been a practicing professional parliamentarian since 1980. She is a Professional Registered Parliamentarian, a Certified Professional Parliamentarian and a Certified Teacher of Parliamentary Procedure, making her one of only approximately 30 people in the country with her level of designations. She has served as the National Parliamentarian for the National Association of Parliamentarians, thus serving as the parliamentarians' parliamentarian. She is also a Leadership/Team Specialist and trains on leadership, teams, strategic planning, facilitation, meetings, and communication. Nancy is the author of the books The Complete Idiot's Guide to Robert's Rules. and The Guerilla's Guide to Robert's Rules.

Steve Farber is a senior-level leadership coach and consultant who has worked with and spoken to a wide variety of public and private organizations. His latest book, Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson In Leadership, was a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller

In 1989, after having run his own financial services company, Farber devoted his professional life to the field of leadership development. He was director of service programs at TMI, an international training consultancy, and then worked for 6 years as Vice President of The Tom Peters Company where he met several of his mentors including author/gurus Tom Peters, Jim Kouzes, and Terry Pearce. In 2000, Farber established his own company, Extreme Leadership, Inc, where he is president and CEO. He is also the co-founding director of The Center for Social Profit Leadership, a non-profit organization formed to serve the leadership development needs of social entrepreneurs.

• Steve Farber's Blog
• Greater Than Yourself Project
• Follow Steve on Twitter

On behalf of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services and the ABA Division for Bar Services staff, I invite you to attend the Bar Leadership Institute (BLI), March 11-12, 2010, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown in Chicago, Illinois.

The BLI provides an excellent overview of bar association leadership, governance and communication and is intended to guide incoming bar presidents in their roles as stewards of their bar associations. The BLI is not just for bar association presidents. Foundation leaders, young lawyer organization chairs, prospective board members and section chairs also will find the programming valuable as they prepare for their respective leadership roles. Association chief staff executives and other senior staff who have leader liaison duties are highly encouraged to attend with their officers. It is a wonderful opportunity for the leadership team, elected leaders and executive staff to strengthen their working relationship, and to strategically think about and plan for the coming year.

When I attended the BLI as president-elect of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the program provided insights and guidance that I could not have gained elsewhere. Now, as chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services, I am proud to invite you to the ABA's premier activity conducted for the benefit of state, local and special focus bar associations. This conference is truly one of the best examples of how the ABA Division of Bar Services brings leaders and resources together.

The BLI has never been more important as we address leadership in a time of change. Its unique format provides practical help to prepare you for every challenge you will face. To read more about the program, register, or make hotel reservations, carefully read and follow the instructions provided. The early deadline for registration is January 22 (save up to $50 per registrant). The final registration deadline is February 19. If you have questions about the BLI, contact Karyn Linn at the ABA Division for Bar Services. I am also available to answer any questions you may have.

We look forward to seeing you on March 11 at the 2010 BLI.

Sincerely,
William R Bay
Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services

Register for the Bar Leadership Institute