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October 3-7, 2007
TIPS Fall
Meeting
The Breakers
Palm Beach,
Florida

Welcome

 

Dear TIPS Leaders:

We are happy to report that our Fall Meeting will take place at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. We selected The Breakers for our first meeting because this world-class, five-star resort is one of our favorite places. From the moment you enter the incredible grounds, glimpse these breathtaking ocean views, tour the world-class facilities, and experience the five-star service, your expectations will be met and quite possibly exceeded. Originally built by Henry Flagler in 1896, the property has remained privately owned and managed ever since. Currently, it is managed by his grandson, who remains active in the operation of the resort complex and whose family resides on the premises (their home is on the south ocean end of the property). The family’s philosophy of constant reinvestment and upgrading of the property will be evident everywhere you look. Since 1990, the family has invested over $225 million dollars in the property to keep it "the best of the best". The resort is very family friendly and we encourage you to bring your spouses and children.

Please plan to arrive by mid afternoon on Thursday, October 4th. The resort is about a fifteen minute cab ride from the West Palm Beach Airport. At 3:45 p.m., we kick off the Fall Meeting with a mandatory plenary session entitled “Defending the Rule of Law in America: Countering Attacks on our Judicial Institutions” (the program is being co-sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Judicial Independence, which accepted our invitation to hold its Fall Meeting during our meeting). We have created this program as part of our Section’s commitment to support ABA Goal XI and it is being funded in part by a generous grant from the Robert B. Mc Kay Fund for Justice and Education. We ask your indulgence in supporting this program and being prompt. We promise that it will be worth your time. Each panelist is a nationally prominent attorney or judge, and in our continuing effort to engage in outreach to the state bars, we are fortunate to have Chief Justice Fred Lewis of the Florida Supreme Court and Jay White, the president-elect of the Florida Bar as panelists. Please show your support for this program and make our guests feel welcome.

Immediately after the program, we will hold a joint Pursuit of Justice and Diversity in the Profession Reception. After that reception, we will hold our traditional Welcome Reception. You will have to attend the plenary program, however, in order to get your tickets for the Welcome Reception. For those of you new to TIPS, this is not a recent requirement we made up, and it ensures that our guests have the audience that they and this important program deserve. It also ensures that we are doing our jobs as leaders of the bar.

Friday afternoon will be free. We will hold the TIPS golf outing at The Breakers Ocean Course. The course has recently undergone a major renovation. The Breakers also boasts a world-class tennis facility and court time will be available. Finally, we will arrange with The Breakers Spa to have a number of treatment sessions available. If you are interested in one of these appointments, then you should make your reservations now because they will likely sell out early. For those of you who prefer the pool or the ocean, they will be gloriously at your doorstep at the brand new Breakers Beach Club. Let’s not forget the shoppers! Worth Avenue, one of the most famous and upscale shopping destinations in the world, is a five minute ride from the hotel.

Our major social event will be on Saturday evening when we take over the Norton Museum of Art. You will have time to wander and see a spectacular collection of art housed in a wonderful facility. In addition to a great dinner, we will have some special entertainment to cap off the work that we will have accomplished.

Although the details are not yet finalized, we have also been working with the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties to design a public service project that will be meaningful to our members and useful to the community we are visiting. Although we are staying in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, within two miles of the resort are critically under served areas that can use our help. I would encourage you to check the schedule and sign up to participate. Our Law in Public Service Projects are for all TIPS Leaders and we are working on a program that will allow as many as possible to participate, have some fun, and make a real difference.

Dress for the meeting will be business/resort casual. Everyone is invited to Section Hospitality, which will be held every evening during the meeting. Again, while this is our Leadership Planning Meeting, we want to emphasize that this Meeting will be very family friendly -- spouses, children, friends, and parents are most welcome and encouraged to attend! Hard work deserves to be followed up by hard play, so let’s get lots accomplished and have fun!

Looking forward to seeing you all in sunny Palm Beach,

Peter & Sandy Bennett

 

A Note from Sandy Bennett

Dear TIPS Spouses, Families, and Guests,

Palm Beach , Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City… what a great lineup of incredible destinations for our 2007/2008 TIPS meetings! Are you are as excited as I am to explore each of these wonderful cities? I am so looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones as we embark on a new year of TIPS adventures together.

If you have visited The Breakers in Palm Beach before, you already know what a fabulously elegant yet fun resort it is; if this will be your first visit, then you are in for a real treat. The hotel itself offers a plethora of activities, tours and excursions, as well as one of the most beautiful beach & pool clubs you’ve ever seen … not to mention a truly decadent spa. You may be tempted to never leave the property!

However, for those of you who do wish to venture out – whether for shopping, a bike ride around the area, or even a boat ride up the Intra coastal, I would love to try to offer a couple of optional activities that we can do in small groups. Since I know firsthand that information does not always filter down from the member to the spouse/guest in a timely fashion (!), I am hoping to compile a spouse/family/guest email list, so that I can send you information directly and receive your thoughts, ideas, and comments as well.

Please take a few seconds to send your name, email address, and phone number to our amazing TIPS Meetings Manager, Denise St. Fort, at stfortd@staff.abanet.org, or leave the information on her voicemail at (312) 988-5498. If you’d prefer, you are more than welcome to send the information directly to me at sandyb@maine.rr.com.

I’ll be hosting a drop-in, very casual continental breakfast for spouses, families, and guests in our suite at The Breakers on Friday and Saturday morning, October 5th & 6th, from 8:00 – 9:30 am. Please plan to stop by – it’s a great chance to chat, meet new folks, and make plans for the day.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me anytime with your questions, comments, etc.

I’ll be in touch soon…

Best,

Sandy Bennett
sandyb@maine.rr.com
(207) 829-5629