Message from the Chair

• Publication year: 2017
• Author: By Betty J. Williams

Message from the Chair

By Betty J. Williams

If someone asked me a year ago what my theme would be for my term as the Taxation Section Chair, I would have likely said something about growth. As it turns out, the year has been more about change.

As 2018 quickly approaches, we prepare to be part of the new non-profit entity, unnamed as of this writing, as the Sections separate from the State Bar. In the third quarter of 2017, the State Bar interviewed and retained Pam Wilson & Associates, Inc. to assist the Sections with our separation and retained a law firm, Adler & Colvin, to assist in setting up the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(6) that will house the Sections.

The Council of State Bar Sections ("CSBS") and some of its working groups continue to hold a variety of meetings each week as we endeavor for a smooth transition away from the State Bar, away from the restrictions associated with Bagley-Keene compliance, and onward to less bureaucracy, more creativity, and a return to the bar, in the traditional sense—the year-long ban on alcohol at meetings will no longer apply.

The amount of hard work and dedication by my council mates planning for the transition has been impressive. I am pleased to continue to work with them and serve on the CSBS as the Taxation Section representative and voting member for the 2017-2018 year.

With the Annual State Bar Meeting ceasing to have an educational component this year, the State Bar staff, led by Tricia Horan, worked together with most of the State Bar Sections to hold the inaugural Sections Convention on August 18-19 in San Diego, California. The energy of the Sections anticipating our separation at the convention was palpable; I hope the Taxation Section will continue to have an active role in this annual meeting and I encourage you to attend in 2018.

This year, people came from as far away as Vietnam, enthusiastic for the opportunity to attend as representatives of the Vietnam Lawyers Association at the International Law Section's ("ILS") Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year Award Presentation and Reception. (I joined the celebration and am pictured here with some of the representatives visiting from Vietnam and the Immediate Past Chair of the International Law Section, Harumi Hata, second from left.)

Furthering our joint activities with the ILS, in November, the Taxation Section will co-sponsor the Hawaii Tax Institute's Japan/U.S. Alliance Program, held in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Another major change recently...