President’s Column

Article by Meade Mitchell 2016 - 2017 CABA President

Posted November 2016

As I write this column, the United States Presidential election is days away. As you are reading this column, the results are known. Most do not remember a more fractious electoral process or greater divides between our two major political parties. These are indeed scary times, and, to paraphrase President Abraham Lincoln, these are “times that do indeed try men and women’s souls.”

So, with all the uncertainty nationally, here is my simple question, “How many of you think that joining a bar association is a positive thing to do in times like these?” For me, and I hope you, the answer is a resounding yes.

Indeed, throughout the last 80 years, years filled with a myriad of national trials and tribulations, lawyers of this area have answered yes to that question. This organization, formed during the Great Depression, has lived and navigated through four wars, a presidential assassination, 9/11, the Civil Rights Movement, a host of economic ups and downs, and landmark decisions of the Unites States Supreme Court. Through them all, lawyers were there to provide professional leadership and guidance, to hold a steady course, and to provide services to our community when it needed them.

Now, as then, we must continue as a bar association to band together and work as a team for our profession and for the public. We need each other. In our unity, there is strength — strength in the programs we have established and consistently maintained, strength in the public service commitment that we have made and lived up to, strength in the challenges we have met and overcome, and strength in the respect we have earned. It is again (and remains) the right time to stand together, to work together, and to not only help each other but all those who require our skills to protect them.

The bar associations of our country strive to showcase the noblest attributes of lawyers.  CABA has shined brighter when the times were tough. We are shining now, with a myriad of projects underway in areas ranging from pro bono efforts, community service, programs addressing diversity and women’s initiatives, collaboration with the bench, facilitating law-related education, solo and small firm outreach, to donating to the MVLP through major fundraisers like our golf tournament. With all of us working together and participating, we will continue to grow, improve and, yes, make a difference in this community.

So, it is important that each of you become involved in one of the many committees we have at the bar and that you participate in bar events. A voluntary organization is only as good as the commitment of its membership, and now more than ever, we need the commitment of our membership. We look forward to seeing you at the CABA membership meetings, socials, service projects, and CLEs — events which provide an opportunity to associate with like-minded people, afford chances to serve the community and learn, and allow development of friendships which will promote civility in the profession and the betterment of the bar.

Our next event is the Christmas Party on December 1 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Please come and enjoy, with a small gift for Toys for Tots in hand. Also, do not neglect to participate in our bar composite project, and be on the look-out for announcements regarding other CABA events throughout the year.

In conclusion, thanks for being a member of CABA. I appreciate you helping CABA make a difference in our community and in aiding its mission of bringing out the noblest attributes of lawyers!

Meade Mitchell

CABA President, Partner at Butler Snow