From the President

I returned to the U.S. with a profound appreciation of history and its impact on today’s society. That experience made me even more committed to finding pathways to create change — not just for my children but for all children now and for generations to come.

Our country is the land of opportunity, but not everyone has the same access to those opportunities. That reality is one of the foundational elements of the Students Today | Lawyers Tomorrow initiative. There are so many talented students in our community who would make great lawyers, but who have no idea what steps are necessary to start down that path. Students Today | Lawyers Tomorrow is designed to eliminate the barriers to becoming a lawyer by introducing students to the legal system through a mock trial program.

In short, we are establishing a lawyer-led mock trial program in every Birmingham City High School. To accomplish this goal, we are pairing one Birmingham law firm with each of the seven city schools to form a mock trial team and prepare that team to compete in the city-wide mock trial competition. The seven law firms that are leading teams are:

► Bradley

► Baker Donelson

► Barze Taylor Noles Lowther

► Christian Small

► Cory Watson

► Heninger Garrison Davis

► Lightfoot Franklin & White

Thank you to these firms for their leadership and great work. All of them have met with their teams and begun the work of teaching trial skills. Over the summer, they will continue to provide instruction and oversight to their teams to motivate them and keep them engaged.

This fall, law firms will visit the schools on a weekly basis to provide instruction on the elements of an effective trial presentation. After seven weeks of instruction, the students will begin to prepare for the city-wide trial competition that will be held on Oct. 19 at the Jefferson County Courthouse. During the competition, students will participate in two rounds of competition followed by a final round to select the first-place team. This event will be a great opportunity for students to showcase their talents to the community.

The long-term goal of Students Today |

Lawyers Tomorrow is to enable these students to envision themselves as attorneys and understand the path to achieve that vision. Soon, there will be a mechanism for funding scholarships to the schools in Alabama that offer mock trial programs as a way to keep these students interested in and on the path to becoming lawyers.

I am excited that our Bar is creating pathways for Birmingham City School students to gain access to law degrees. Thank you for joining me in this very important program.

Implementing Students Today | Lawyers

Tomorrow is my top priority, but I am continually mindful of the mission of the Birmingham Bar Association and ensuring that my Presidency furthers our mission:

The Birmingham Bar Association supports our members in their practices, promotes justice, and encourages public service. We do so by furthering the legal education of our members and the public, facilitating access to justice, providing opportunities for public service, and encouraging camaraderie, integrity and a spirit of respect and goodwill among members.

I want to be sure that all BBA members feel they are a part of that mission and have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of events and programs. As I hope you have seen by now, we will continue to do all of the well-loved programs and events that we have always done. But I also want to be sure that our Bar reaches those members who have not always been the focus.

This year, the Birmingham Bar is bringing you the following opportunities to be sure we offer programs and events that are valuable for each of our members:

► Annual Picnic: Thank you to the Entertainment Committee, led by Nick Callahan, for handling all of the details of this blow-out beginning of summer party. I hope to see all of our members at this event!

► Law Day: We celebrated this year’s Law Day theme, “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility and Collaboration” with a lunch CLE presented by The Morgan Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching civics and social justice through the Civil Rights history of our city. We enjoyed lunch at the beautiful Florentine and an evening social at Continental Drift. Thank you to Judge Chuck Price and Price Evans for serving as our Law Day Chairs.

► Get to Know Birmingham Series: Throughout the year, we are coordinating events that allow our members to get to know more about the great organizations in Birmingham, including Innovation Depot, The Switch, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Art at UAB, The Women’s Foundation of Alabama, The Morgan Project, Birmingham Aids Outreach, and many others. Please be sure to attend these events and get to know about all that our city has to offer.

► Coffee with the Judges: This tradition continues to grow in popularity, and we appreciate the attendees, sponsors and Judges that have been involved in these high-energy events so far this year:

● January: the Young Lawyers Section of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association and the BBA Workers’ Compensation Section sponsored Coffee with the Judges in Presiding Judge Elisabeth

French’s courtroom

● February: hosted by the Domestic Relations Court, this event was sponsored by Veritext and America’s First Credit Union

● April: the Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District hosted us for Coffee with the Judges in the Vance Federal Building

● May: Baker Donelson, Phelps Dunbar, and Schreiber Dispute Resolution provided sponsorships for this event as we returned to Judge French’s courtroom.

► 50-year Member Luncheon: Celebrating the lawyers who have been members of the Birmingham Bar Association for 50 years or more was a very special privilege for me. I am grateful for the path they have created for attorneys in Birmingham and for the high standards of professionalism they have established for our legal community.

► Veteran and Active Duty Members event: Every year for the past five years, we have honored and recognized these members, and the event is always well attended. We look forward to celebrating our many military members again this Fall.

► In-House/Corporate Member Program: I am pleased that our Bar always features special programming and networking opportunities for our members who work in a corporate setting. One of our events for the year is coming up soon and I am looking forward to getting together with these members over breakfast and a CLE program.

► CLes: We offer so many online and live CLE programs each year that you have the opportunity to earn more than 12 credits each year, and most of them are free.

► Sections: Our Sections are the heart of the Birmingham Bar Association and they are so diverse that every member can find an interest in one or more of the Sections. Pages 16-17 of this issue highlight the work of our Sections.

► Wellness Programs: This year, we have a heightened focus on Wellness and have offered CLE programs focused on this topic and have plans for more such programs. Also, I hope you have seen our monthly wellness messages from committee chair, Lynn Hogewood.

► Committees: If you are not already signed up for a committee, it is not too late to join one. Our many committees do great work for our members, planning educational programs and networking events that appeal to a wide range of interests. Our many committees offer countless opportunities for leadership positions as well as opportunities to make a significant contribution to our legal community.

With summer upon us, I want to encourage you to take time for yourself, time to recharge and renew. As the BBA’s Health & Wellness Committee recommends in its monthly messages to the Bar, you have to take good care of yourself (mentally and physically) in order to do a good job of taking care of others, including your clients.

Thank you being a member of the Birmingham Bar Association. I look forward to seeing you often this year.