President’s Message

from Birmingham Bar Association Bulletin Winter 2022

Attorneys in the News

From the President

What an eventful, busy, and exciting year for the Birmingham Bar Association! I have been honored to lead this distinguished organization through these rapidly changing times.

As I outlined in my Spring Bulletin message, my theme for the year has been The Next Chapter, and I have sought to ensure that our 137-year-old association remains a relevant and important part of your life and the Birmingham community.

Although we started the year with the continuation of the pandemic, I was proud that our association remained flexible and adaptable throughout the uncertain environment and, as a result of our resiliency, emerged even stronger from those extraordinarily difficult times. The world is now experiencing inflationary financial pressures that are again requiring us to adjust and be open to change.

As we announced at the end of October, the BBA will be moving to a new home along with our sister organizations, the Birmingham Bar Foundation, the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham, and Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham. The Bar Center has served us well for over 25 years, but as stewards of our members’ dues and as servant leaders for our members, the BBA leadership determined that moving to a more cost-effective location was necessary to ensure the sustainability of our association. This was a big decision to make, and I want to thank the members of the BBA’s Building Task Force for studying the issues and making a recommendation to the Executive Committee. The members of the BBA Building Task Force are Lanier Brown, Bing Edwards, Jesse Evans, Price Evans, Chris Hamer, Jack Kubiszyn, Marcus Maples, Andrew Nix, Lee Thuston, Tripp Watson, and myself.

I also want to thank this year’s all-star Executive Committee for going the extra mile and being terrific stewards of the BBA. This decision will free up funds and resources that have been traditionally used to maintain a building and allow us

Allison Skinner with Justice Greg Cook.

to have an even greater focus on providing value for our members in the decades to come. A special thank you to mediator extraordinaire, Al Vance, for facilitating the discussions between the BBA and the Birmingham Bar Foundation during this process. Our association’s future is bright!

With this in mind, I encourage you to continue to stay involved with the BBA and help us recruit new members. Keeping your local bar association strong and thriving enhances the legal profession and fosters camaraderie and respect among lawyers and Judges. We are so much better when we are working together as colleagues and friends. You, our members, are at the center of everything we do, and it is with you in mind that I have led this organization over the past year in ways that I hope you are proud of.

I also sincerely hope you have enjoyed the many events and programs we have brought you and found that your membership has been valuable. A few of our many 2022 accomplishments are highlighted here.

ENGAGED IN THE BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY

This year, the BBA has emphasized the importance of being involved in the Birmingham community to demonstrate our relevance and the prominence of our members. For example, we were able to host events such as an outdoor Day of Service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and several Happy Hour Socials at hot

spots around town.

Our members also enjoyed a new series that I am so proud we started this year: our Get to Know Birmingham series invited members out into the community to learn about non-profit organizations and citywide initiatives. Tremendous thanks go to the BBA leaders who planned, coordinated, and encouraged attendance at all of these events — Ruby Jackson, Breauna Peterson Johnson and Emily McClendon. We feature this series on page 16 of this issue of the Bulletin. I understand that 2023 president, Marcus Maples, intends to continue this series, so I encourage you to visit the great locations planned next year.

It was also a privilege to host a School Supplies Drive again this year. This is becoming a tradition that our members love. This year’s drive was successful thanks to Margaret Loveman and Abby van Alstyne who helped coordinate the effort and to all of the many BBA members who donated supplies or money for us to purchase supplies. We greatly appreciate the partnership with D.A. Danny Carr, whose Helping Families Initiative coordinated with the schools to donate the much-appreciated supplies. Please flip to page 17 to see photos from that project.

Above: Judge Herman Johnson and Allison. Left: Allison and Tom Heflin. Far left: Allison was the 2021 recipient of the Women Lawyers Section Nina Miglionico Paving the Way Award.

ENRICHING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Over the past year, we have hosted so many events aimed at elevating your professional life. For example, we were able to resume in-person Coffees with the Judges, with two Coffees in State Court and one in Federal Court. All were very well attended and a great opportunity for our members to build relationships. Pages 20-21 of this issue highlight those events.

Through the efforts of Rebecca Beers and David Fawal, we hosted a 4-part, skills-based CLE series designed to help you hone your evidence skills. Each session of the Evidence Essentials series was led by experts in the field, both practicing attorneys and many Judges. If you attended each of these free programs, you would have 8 hours of CLE credits and be highly proficient in evidentiary matters — it was an excellent opportunity. On page 18, you can see the details of these programs.

Throughout the year, we offered over 70 CLEs, most of them at no cost. I hope you were able to learn about some new areas of law and brush up on your skills. Some of the topics we covered included ethics updates; family law; serving as a GAL; mediation and other alternative dispute resolution vehicles; estate planning; women and minority representation in the courtroom; legal marketing; probate matters; appellate law; workers’ compensation law; representing defendants in criminal cases; the foster care system; the Alabama Lawyer Assistance Program; bankruptcy updates; and diversity, equity and inclusion for law firms — that’s just to name a few. I applaud the chairs of the Sections and Committees as well as the chairs of the CLE Committee, Amy Osborne and Chris Burrell, for their work in putting on outstanding programs. For the first time we partnered with 9 local bar associations around the state to hold “Metro Bar” CLE programs. This collaboration allows us to leverage legal expertise on common issues facing practitioners throughout the state. A big shout out to each executive director of each local bar association for coordinating this effort. I hope to see more sharing of ideas and programs in the years to come.

We are proud of the many high-quality programs we are able to bring you that enhance your law practices. This year’s Law Day event with chair Beth McElroy was another such exceptional experience where members were able to network and build relationships, learn about the state of the economy, enjoy a special luncheon, and then dance the night away at our signature

band party. I’m certain that next year’s Law Day celebration will be equally enjoyable and I hope to see you there.

And who could forget about the return of our Annual Picnic after a 2-year break imposed by the pandemic? What a wonderful tradition hosted by the Entertainment Committee led by Nick Callahan! We are looking forward to the festivities Nick and his committee are planning for the Holiday Party on Dec. 9.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The BBA also offers our members so many meaningful and fulfilling opportunities to develop and hone your leadership skills. For example, each of our 10 Sections has multiple officer and chair positions, and our numerous Committees also have chairs and active participants.

In addition, we host a tremendously popular Future Leaders Forum each year that trains early-career attorneys to become leaders in the profession and the community. This year’s class was featured in our Fall Bulletin on page 25. After graduating from the Future Leaders Forum, many participants join the dynamic committee that plans and executes the program, which offers even more leadership experience. This year, the committee was led by Meredith Maitrejean, with several committee members coordinating each session: Lisa Bailey, D.G. Pantazis, Josh Thompson; Priscilla Williams and Jansen Voss.

I am also grateful for the success of the long-standing Mentoring Program that the BBA hosts. Members who are just starting out in their careers can take advantage of this benefit to be paired with an experienced attorney who will not only help them gain skills in their area of practice but will also introduce them to other members of the profession and attend BBA events with them. Pooja Chawla, Tom Walker and Richard Whitaker are the leaders of this great program and do an excellent job of helping early-career attorneys start their careers on a successful path.

I also want to thank the Grievance Committee, chaired by Fred Erben. This committee works tirelessly and quietly throughout the entire year to promote professionalism. The Grievance Committee is charged to investigate local bar complaints. This is not an easy task and is time-consuming, but each year, members of this committee diligently investigate complaints and make recommendations. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated group helping to ensure we meet the high standards of our legal ethics and professionalism.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your 2022 BBA President. I particularly want to thank my husband, David, for his unwavering support and encouragement this year. I also want to thank our amazing Executive Director, Jennifer Buettner Bates, for her constant hard work and dedication to the association. This has been a year of incredible memories for me, and I hope we have improved your life in tangible and intangible ways.

I cherish all of the friendships that I have cultivated over the years through the BBA, and I look forward to deepening those friendships as I continue to stay involved and support the future leaders of the BBA.

Best wishes to Incoming President