President’s Column

The Austin Bar’s Mission

BY D. TODD SMITH, SMITH LAW GROUP

If you’ve worked in or managed an organization, you know about mission statements. They express an organization’s reason for being and are intended to help focus attention and resources on that purpose. A mission statement provides a handy reference point when evaluating new ideas or programs. Well-led organizations use them to guide most everything they do. If a proposal or activity doesn’t comport with the mission statement, it risks lessening the organization’s overall effectiveness.

The Austin Bar Association’s mission statement is: “Enhancing the legal profession, administration of justice, and our community through education, networking, and public service.” There’s a lot to unpack in those 16 words. Breaking the statement down into two basic components is helpful.

Enhancing the legal profession, administration of justice, and our community…

We are a voluntary local bar association. No one is required to join as a condition of practicing law. Our members want to better themselves, and thus the profession. Participating in the local legal community helps achieve these goals.

By bettering ourselves in ways we’re self-motivated to pursue and accomplish, we equip ourselves to influence the administration of justice for our clients and to impact our broader community. Our better selves have lives outside the legal profession and show the world that real lawyers aren’t like those they read about in the news or see portrayed onscreen.

The local aspect also helps foster community within the profession. Technology purports to keep us connected, but in truth, we live in an increasingly isolating and disconnected world. By helping us relate to each other on a local level and in real life, the Austin Bar creates a sense of unity among us.

. . . through education, networking, and public service.

When you think of the Austin Bar, these three things likely come to mind.

Week after week, we put on excellent live CLE programs to educate our members. Thus far in 2020, we’ve sponsored 57 live CLE sessions, providing a total of 73.5 accredited hours, plus offering more than 60 hours of FREE online CLE at austinbar. org for our members only. This programming is so important that we’ve changed the way we communicate about it and have made it the subject of a weekly Upcoming CLE email, sent each Thursday (separate from the Bar Code e-newsletter, sent on Tuesdays).

Our CLE programs bring people together and thus create opportunities to network and connect on a personal level. And we offer abundant non-CLE networking opportunities too. Organized social events and committee work allow us to meet and mix and get to know each other better.

Finally, our public service programs are among our best features. Members seeking pro bono opportunities need look no further than our award-winning CANLAW clinic or the Veterans Legal Assistance Program coordinated with the Austin Bar Foundation. These are just two examples of how our members are serving the public and making a difference for those in need.

Is the Austin Bar fulfilling its mission? I sure think so. How about you? AL