A Productive Start

MCBA continuing to make progress in 2022

By President Richard Rice

Greetings!

The Magic City Bar Association is off to a fast and productive start in the 2022 calendar year. As President of the Executive Committee, I am thankful for the opportunity to lead our organization under the steadfast leadership of our newly installed Board President Justice Ralph Cook.

Justice Cook was duly elected as the Board Chairman during the MCBA annual board meeting held on April 14, replacing Past-Board Chairman Judge Eugene Verin.

Our organization has a rich history, rooted in service to our community, engagement with our membership and cultivating the future generation of lawyers. I am excited about the opportunities this year will bring, and I am committed to expounding upon the legacy of the Magic City Bar.

To that end, we are continuing to implement our theme for 2022: Purpose. Vision. Community. Our purpose, as members of the MCBA and as members of the Executive Committee, is firm on the historical foundation that necessitated the formation of our organization. Our vision is focused on purposeful progress, and we will reconnect and expand our ties to the community in innovative ways.

To date, we have made progress in many of our programs, events, and objectives. One of which is the implementation of the Scholarship Endowment Fund. The Scholarship Endowment Fund represents an historic opportunity to create a program in perpetuity that will offer scholarships to encourage the continued increase in the number of African-American lawyers.

Additionally, on March 25 the MCBA co-sponsored an Estate Planning Law Clinic with Legal Services of Alabama, Inc., and it was hosted at the Zion Star Missionary Baptist Church. During the one-day clinic, we assisted over 50 attendees with Wills, Deeds, Power of Attorneys, and other related matters. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the MCBA partnered with Step 1-2-3 Mentoring in an MLK Day Project to feed the homeless in which we provided over 200 sack lunches and care packages to our neighbors.

We are excited about our events and activities for the 2022 year. We have several upcoming CLEs and additional law clinics planned over the course of the summer. We also have a law clerk reception, which is a long-standing tradition started by Past President Robert A. Jones Jr.

Additionally, we have begun the planning phases for our annual Scholarship Banquet which will occur in October. Lastly, we are continuing our efforts to increase membership. If you are interested in joining the MCBA please visit magiccitybarassociation.org.

In closing, we are excited about the numerous partnerships that have been forged to continue the work of increasing diverse representation in our field, but we are actively seeking to form additional partnerships that will facilitate our mission.

If you are interested in learning more about the MCBA Partnership Program, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

President Richard Rice

Executive Committee Magic City Bar Association

Richard Rice is the 2022 President of the Magic City Bar Association

Congratulations Birmingham School of Law February 2022 Bar Passers!

JUSTIN BEARDEN* KAWANES BELLAMY TAYLOR BENSON* CHRISTINE BUSSEY MATTHEW BUTTS SHAUN CAPPS ERIC FANCHER* CAROL ANN JOHNSON DORA LAJOSBANYAI MATTHEW LINVILLE* GLEN MCCORD BRITTANY MICHAEL* BRITTANY MILLER* VICTORIA MYERS* COURTNEY NEWTON BRETT OSTRONIC* LAUREN OVERSTREET DEANDRA RAGLAND* REAGAN REEVES* THOMAS RUSSELL EMILY SCHAEFER* JOHN SEGAL* MARTINA SLAUGHTER JENA STEWART VICTORIA STIGILE* KRISTIN TURNER* MICHAEL WILKINS EMILY YEAGER*

*Denotes first time passers