The President's Message

• Publication year: 1998
• Pages: 5
• Citation: Vol. 11 No. 4 Pg. 5

The President's Message Vol. 11 No. 4 Pg. 5 Utah Bar Journal May, 1998

The Flesh and Blood Future of the Bar

Charlotte L. Miller, J.

JL here has been a great deal of discussion recently about the future of the Bar. At least the Bar Commission has been discussing the future, and hopefully some of you have been following (and participating in) that discussion. We have been looking at the future as a long range planning document, or ideas about how the practice of law will change. Within the last month I have had the opportunity to visit with those who see the real live future of the Bar on a daily basis: law students. 1 attended an ABA accreditation meeting at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law, and the Alumni lunch for the University of Utah College of Law.

The ABA accreditation team was interested in how the legal community perceives the J. Reuben Clark Law School and its graduates. In the accreditation meeting we discussed issues of civility, competence, internships, performance testing, access to justice, opportunities for practical experience, service to the Bar, employment opportunities and professionalism. Everyone in attendance praised the J. Reuben Clark Law School for its many achievements and the quality of its graduates.

Jerome Shestack, President of the ABA, spoke at the University of Utah Annual Alumni Event. While visiting privately with him during the day, he told me that he had spoken to some classes of students at the University of Utah College of Law and how impressed he was with the students. He had asked one class why they wanted to be lawyers. The answers that most impressed him were: "to help solve problems" and "to be at the heart of the passions of people and society." Those answers reflected a real understanding of lawyers' roles in society.

I encourage each of you to support...