President's Page, 1121 ALBJ, Vol. 82 No. 6 Pg. 404 (November, 2021)
| Position | Vol. 82 6 Pg. 404 |
Tazewell T. Shepard, III
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We are a little more than a third of the way through this bar year, if you measure it from the 2021 annual meeting to the 2022 annual meeting. This seems like an appropriate time to review what we have accomplished so far. Keep in mind our motto for this bar year: Responsive, Transparent, Accountable
Your State Bar Works for You
I began writing this column soon after the first meeting of the Board of Bar Commissioners during my presidency. At this September meeting, we initiated or revived several important features that will continue throughout this bar year.
1. The meeting was broadcast live on the internet so anyone could watch it on their computer or mobile device. The internet link for the meeting was provided in The Scoop newsletter on the Monday before the Friday meeting. Visitors could watch and listen, and bar commissioners who could not attend in person were able to participate in the meeting, including voting on motions.
2. Our special guest for this meeting was Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who led the commissioners in the Pledge of Allegiance and then addressed the meeting with her comments.
3. Dean Campbell and several students from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law were invited to attend the meeting. They were recognized during the meeting, and afterwards several commissioners talked with them.
4. Meetings of the board have often taken over two hours and sometimes three hours in the past, but our September meeting concluded in 1 1/2 hours. Efficiency is a good thing.
There were two significant measures approved by the board. The first was making the position of parliamentarian for the board and for the Executive Council permanent, including a description of the position that will be added to the bar records. You may recall that I had appointed Mark Board-man as a temporary parliamentarian until the board could make it official, and Mark will continue to serve as parliamentarian for the rest of this bar year. The second measure was elevating two task forces to standing committee status (Bench & Bar Relations and Quality of Life, Health & Wellness).
By the time that you read this column, the second meeting of the Board of Bar Commissioners will have occurred in October, and we continued the special features as described above. I hope that you see these as...
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