The state of the IADC: very alive, very well and continuing to move ahead.

• Author: Hodges, George S.
• Position: International Association of Defense Counsel - President's Page

WITH the close of the International Association of Defense Counsel fiscal year on October 31, 2004, this is a good time to discuss the current status of the IADC and where we are going in the immediate future.

IADC's core purpose

When the IADC Executive Committee adopted the IADC Strategic Plan in May 2003, the core purpose of the organization was defined:

The IADC dedicates itself to enhancing the development of skills, professionalism and camaraderie in the practice of law in order to serve and benefit the civil justice system, the legal profession, society and our members.

I am pleased to report that through the active participation of our members, the leadership provided by our Board of Directors (formerly the Executive Committee) and the chairs and vice chairs of the IADC substantive law committees, and the outstanding efforts of our Executive Director, Oliver Yandle, and his excellent staff, the IADC continues to surpass the goals of its core purpose and the guiding principles established through our strategic plan.

Membership

As of October 31, 2004, there were 2,410 IADC members, a number reflecting the success of our "by nomination only" membership selection process and our dedication to including the best and the brightest to our ranks. We added 208 new members last year, each nominated by fellow IADC members, studied and approved by our state membership committees and offered membership by the Board of Directors.

Our newer members, many of whom already are very active in the IADC, include almost 35 insurance executives and/or in-house corporate counsel; approximately 25 nominees from our Diversity Committee; and outside counsel from throughout the United States and the world. Our retention rate of membership remains quite outstanding, particularly for a professional organization in modern economic times.

In order to assure that IADC membership continues to reflect the entirety of the defense community, I have asked Joe O'Neil and Jay Harris to chair, respectively, Corporate Counsel and Insurance Executive Membership Task Forces with the stated purpose of adding to our impressive ranks even more leaders in each of those fields. The efforts of each of those task forces and the results of their contributions have exceeded even our wildest expectations.

Financial

As reported last year by Walt Sinclair, in the recent past our reserves were diminished significantly because of a variety of unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances. Thanks...