Officially Speaking
Forward, Not Farewell

As I step down as Chair and begin to prepare for the bar, I want to thank each member of the Law Student Division for giving me the opportunity to serve you during the past year. Because it is my sincere hope that we will remain lifelong members of the American Bar Association, I will not say goodbye. I hope, instead, that we will meet again.

As law students, we often find ourselves at a crossroads in our personal and professional lives come spring. The pressures of finals, relocation and job searches can have us at wits' end by May. But spring is also a traditional time of housecleaning, a chance to take stock and assess the content of our everyday lives. I encourage each of us to take a hard look at our lives during this season of renewal, and find the strength to improve the law student experience for all concerned.

Many students refer to law school as drudgery, a painful necessity or even a waste of time. Competition and needless controversy infiltrate our interactions, often for no good reason. How refreshing it would be, instead, to stand on a common ground.

On a personal level, this process might include digging deep inside ourselves to change those traits that impede our development as lawyers. We will be practicing in the next few years; what skills will we need then that we don't have now? Those of us who have difficulty speaking in public could challenge ourselves to take a clinical course that puts us in a courtroom. If writing could improve, we could work as research assistants for a professor. Students who are shy might attend the ABA Annual Meeting in Atlanta this August, keeping in mind that thousands of lawyers are waiting to meet us, not to turn their backs. Career services and placement offices can help identify what we need to do to prepare ourselves at this stage of our careers. But vital training can also occur outside of the traditional law school curriculum.

As we move forward, so will the Law Student Division. During the past year, the LSD Board of Governors has been working tirelessly on a variety of issues to benefit all law students. With loan repayment a crushing reality for law students and new lawyers, the LSD is seeking authority from the ABA to lobby the U.S. Congress. By this summer, the LSD hopes to have encouraged Congress to revise the Internal Revenue Code, allowing a yearly tax deduction on up to $5,000 of post-graduation income that is diverted into an approved employer-loan repayment plan.

And while the LSD moves forward, I will move out of the position of Chair. Even though I refuse to say farewell, I cannot step down without conveying my gratitude to members of the 1998-99 LSD Board of Governors, and to three very special people whose counsel and assistance have been indispensable to us all: Staff Director Sherry Gouwens, Vice-Chair Christopher Stephen and Division Delegate Victoria Wu. Every member of the LSD is deeply indebted to them for their service.

The Chair of the LSD for 1999-2000 will be Kyle V. Mitchell, a student at The Florida State University College of Law. Kyle has dedicated himself to student leadership for more than a decade. I encourage you to contact him with feedback on whatever issue of law school experience sparks your passion. He needs your help if the Division is to have a lasting impact on the quality of legal education in this country. As I said at the beginning of my term, your guidance is greatly needed because the Chair works for you. Thank you for this term of my employment.

Bennett M. Miller
Chair, Law Student Division
The Florida State University College of Law