CHAIR’s Message

By Terrence S. Welch

Terrence S. Welch is Chair of the Section and practices law with the Richardson, Texas office of Brown & Hofmeister, LLP.

I am thrilled to be starting my term as Chair of the State and Local Government Law Section of the American Bar Association! I cannot think of a better group of lawyers to be associated with—and that includes an ABA staff that is second to none. I hope you will share my excitement about the Section and its mission as the expert source of information and perspective on this special area of the law.

As I look at the year facing us, I have several goals for the Section. First and foremost, I want to invite everyone, not only Section members but any lawyer or official who deals with local governments, to attend the Section’s Spring Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska from June 2–5, 2005. Plans are underway for the meeting that will make it an event to remember—excellent continuing legal education courses with top rate speakers, excellent fellowship, and a superb location. Many of you no doubt will thank me for not meeting on the plains of North Texas in early June (when the temperature is only in the low 90s at that time of year).

Second, it is my hope to serve the members of our Section who toil daily in public law offices around the nation. These folks are often underpaid, always overworked, and occasionally underappreciated. I hope to honor these true public servants and, therefore, one of my goals is to bring CLE to them free of charge. At the present time, the Section is planning a one-day seminar on current topics in local government law to be offered free of charge to the City Attorney’s Office of Detroit as well as to the City Attorney’s offices in Orlando, Florida, during the winter, and in Providence, Rhode Island, in the spring. In an era of tight budgets, I believe that this will be of service to those dedicated public lawyers.

Last, I hope to fully implement Goal 9 of the Section’s Mission Statement—To Have Fun!
I would be remiss not to thank Immediate Past Section Chair Patty Salkin for her hours of tireless effort on behalf of the Section over the last year. If I am half as successful as she, then this year will be a good year. I am fortunate to have learned from some of the best—Patty, Mary Massaron Ross, Jim Baird, Dan Curtin, Sholem Friedman, Carol Dinkins, and Larry Ethridge, just to name a few. So we begin anew!

And for you non-Texans, as my beloved Longhorns vie for another year at or near the top of the football polls, remember—the Eyes of Texas Are Upon You!