October 2000, pg. 225. PRESIDENT'S PAGE.

Maine Bar Journal

2000.

October 2000, pg. 225.

PRESIDENT'S PAGE

Maine Bar Journal October 2000 PRESIDENT'S PAGE The Maine Bar is Special

As the year 2000 draws to a close, so too does my term as President of the MSBA. The year has raced by for me, as I have attempted (not always successfully) to juggle the competing demands of my family, bar and practice responsibilities. Although I am not prepared to claim total victory in any of those endeavors, I feel that I have muddled through the year without falling flat on my face-thanks to the help of the many people who have guided and supported me. I could use this column, my final President's Page, to report that the Association is in sound financial condition after running a small surplus in the last fiscal year, or I could make some other mundane report just to fill the space. Instead, I want to offer some observations about my year as President and to thank some people who made the year a success.

All of us who assume the Presidency of the MSBA are encouraged to adopt a "theme" for their year in office. There have been some worthy ones over the years, including "advancement of the interests of children," "tolerance of diversity" and "professionalism." I chose to make my year one of celebration of the legal profession. We have focused on the good that Maine lawyers accomplish for their clients and communities, often for little or no compensation. We can be proud of our record of serving the poor and underprivileged populations of Maine, as we strive to find new, innovative ways of reaching even more people with projects like the "unbundling of legal services," led by President-Elect Scheffee. As part of our celebration, we have shined the spotlight on some of our well-known and not so well-known heroes and role models within the profession. Two more lawyers who have inspired many of us will be honored as co-recipients of the John Ballou Award at next year's annual meeting, Dean Colleen Khoury of the University of Maine School of Law and Lewis Vafiades of Bangor. People like Colleen and Lew remind us how lawyers can be a powerful force for justice, rather than the caricatures of greed some of the pundits have sketched.

The Maine Bar is special. The level of talent, professionalism and commitment to justice exhibited by Maine lawyers is unsurpassed anywhere. Following a...

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