Professionalism Page

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Citation: Vol. 27 No. 4 Pg. 0056
• Pages: 0056
• Publication year: 2022

Professionalism Page No. Vol. 27, No. 4, Pg. 56 Georgia Bar Journal February, 2022

Designated Attorney Fellowship and CLE

The Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism hosted a Designated

Attorney Fellowship and CLE on Dec. 17, 2021.

BY KARLISE Y. GRIER

Chief Justice David E. Nahmias shared that he hoped planning for a volunteer designated attorney becomes a normal routine of law practice management.

"The Lawyer's Creed^[1] encourages us to prioritize fidelity to our clients and to preserve the dignity and integrity of our profession. An important way to adhere to these ideals is to engage in succession planning for your practice," said State Bar of Georgia Committee on Professionalism Vice Chair and CLE program Co-Chair Terrica Ganzy, who opened the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism's Designated Attorney Fellowship and CLE on Dec. 17, 2021. The Commission hosted the Designated Attorney Fellowship and CLE, in part, to assist the State Bar of Georgia in educating attorneys about the voluntary Designated Attorney Program and to alert attorneys, regardless of their age or practice setting, that selecting or becoming a volunteer designated attorney is an affirmative way to enhance professionalism and a sense of community among lawyers.^[2] Ganzy, who serves as the executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, also told the CLE audience she looked at the topic of designated attorneys and succession planning in a whole new light because in May 2021, the Southern Center lost a dear friend and colleague, Marissa McCall Dodson, who died unexpectedly at the age of 37. Ganzy continued, "We often live each day like we'll

have many more tomorrows, like sudden illness couldn't strike us or people in our care, like natural disasters happen to other people, as if each day is going to be sunshine and blue skies. But failing to think about and prepare for rainy days does not prevent them from occurring. And rainy days happen to organizations, too."

Jim Hogan, another presenter at the CLE, spoke about his experiences after years of volunteering with the Cobb County Bar Association to assist the staff and families of deceased attorneys in winding up their practices. One thing Hogan noted about solo practitioners in particular was that through the years of helping in this process, he learned that most of the spouses of a deceased lawyer had little or no knowledge of the inner workings of the law practice...