Vol 30, No. 6, #5. Executive Director's Report.

• Author: Author: Sleeter C. Dover

Wyoming Bar Journal

2007.

Vol 30, No. 6, #5.

Executive Director's Report

Wyoming Bar Journal Vol 30, No. 6, #5 Issue: December, 2007

Author: Sleeter C. DoverExecutive Director's Report"First thing we do, is kill all the lawyers."

The jocularity of the famous Henry VI, part 2 quote "first thing we do, is kill all the lawyers" has lost most, if not all, of its humor of late. While William Shakespeare appears to have recognized ages ago that a good laugh can always be had at the expense of us legal professionals, General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan seems to have taken the bards pronouncement literally.

While Gen. Musharraf's shocking actions of suspending the Pakistani constitution, shutting down the Supreme Court, and jailing more than 3,000 lawyers still reverberates around the freedom loving world, one has to wonder if Shakespeare's protagonists "Dick the Butcher" and Jack Cade have finally found a kindred spirit that is more than willing to, as is popularly understood today as "taking it to the next level," and following through on the recommendation of Dick and Jack.

Of particular note to the Wyoming State Bar, the Musharraf edicts come on the heels of the recently adopted WSB Strategic Plan Goal Number One, "The Wyoming State Bar will actively promote the role of law in society and raise awareness about the merits of the legal system." To cynics and doubters, if there continue to be any, of the timeliness and necessity of advancing this goal, the events in Pakistan must surely have removed any and all such protestations. Admittedly, not even the Officers and Commissioners of the Wyoming State Bar envisioned that, in this day and age, such a direct and deadly threat to the rule of law would materialize on such a massive and brutal scale. But this event clearly reinforces our need and commitment to remain diligent and alert to the ever present threats to the rule of law.

As the season of "tidings of joy" approach, I would suggest to each and every one of you that this year there should be no doubt whatsoever surrounding what we have to be thankful for. And I do not refer to the "sugar plums dancing in our heads"...