Volume 2, Issue 1

Table of Contents

CAL Leadership

Past Issues

I would like to use the Chair's Message to report on the work of CAL's Long-Range Planning Committee. Because CAL is now two years old, I formed a long-range planning committee to brainstorm and formulate goals, objectives, and aspirations for the next 2 - 5 years.

The Committee met at the Blue Moon Hotel in Miami Beach on Saturday, December 7, 2002 and then reconvened for cocktails and dinner that evening. The members of the Committee in attendance included George Patton, Mary Vasaly, Chuck Cole, Mary Massaron Ross, Jim Layton, and Sheila Huddleston. We were greatly assisted and supported by ABA staff members, Marcia Kladder and Melissa Sehstedt. And we were thrilled that Justice Craig Enoch, Chair of the Appellate Judges Conference (AJC), our parent organization, could join us for the meeting and dinner.

To begin the meeting, Mary Vasaly suggested that we brainstorm ways that CAL could better serve its membership. She recommended that we address the areas of:

• Training & Publications
• Marketing & Networking
• Serving the Good of the Profession
• Empowering Individual Members

The meeting was very productive and generated many good ideas to consider pursuing over the coming years. Among the ideas related to training were: regional seminars and video-conference seminars. As for publications, we thought of publishing an appellate manual, revamping and updating CAL's website, and promoting an electronic dialogue on appellate rules. To expand CAL membership nationwide, we considered developing a membership brochure, specifically targeting states with low membership, using discounts, soliciting lists of appellate lawyers from other sources, and developing a minority outreach program.

The Committee meeting ended on a very positive note, with a great summary by Justice Enoch of the directions our ideas could take us - and that was to the eventual creation of an Appellate Section within the ABA.

I hope this report has given you lots of food for thought. I also hope that it will inspire you to think of many more ways that CAL could serve its membership. And last, I hope that, if you identify any idea as something you would like to champion or get involved with, you will let me or any of the Committee members know because, first and foremost, we are looking for ways to keep our members interested and active.

The Long-Range Planning Committee will meet again in the Spring, so if you have any ideas that you would like us to consider or if you have any other feedback, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you!