We received a letter from the New Orleans Public Library Foundation earlier this month, thanking the Section for our members' success in reaching the contribution goal of $100,000 set by the Section Council some two years ago. Yes, it's true – our Section contributed that amount of money to the effort to rebuild the New Orleans public library effort. The money has been and will be used for books and facilities, much of it focused on the needs of the young people of that decimated but resilient city.

This effort by our Section is certainly one that we can take pride in. It was a chance for all of us – bound together professionally by the law we practice – to come together on a different level to accomplish a very meaningful end. Our fundraising efforts for the library project have not concluded, but this is a good time to acknowledge that we have done a good thing with this project. I want to recognize the Section members who have lead this project – former C hair Charles Werner, who provided the guiding leadership in originating the project, and Chris Hexter, Harold Koretzky, Bill Lurye, Mark Mallery and Howard Shapiro. Without their efforts, we would not I don't think this would have have been as successful. Our larger Katrina/Rita Task Force was important to conceiving this project and achieving these result s too , and I thank them for their efforts.

It won't be long before we're into the Section standing committees' mid-winter meeting s season, which runs January through April. If you're not active in a committee, maybe this could be is the year to take a look at the excellent mid-winter meeting programming. Committee meetings just happen to give you a warm weather break from winter, too. Complete information about each of our eighteen standing committees and their mid-winter meeting plans can be found on the Section web-site. If you are going to the CLE Conference in Philadelphia, all of the standing committees will have business meetings and “get acquainted” tables to welcome new and newly active members. I look forward to seeing many of you there and at a midwinter meeting.