JUNE 17 STATED MEETING By Ari Kodeck
The excitement was palpable among the crowd of attendees at the June State of the Bar. After 15 months with COVID in-person restrictions and countless virtual meetings, our meeting was held both virtually and in person in the ceremonial Courtroom 5. President Jay Miller called the meeting to order and commended the committees for their hard work during the pandemic. Committees stepped up and organized a slate of amazing programs, all virtual and extremely well attended! Other notable accomplishments this bar year included the addition of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as one of the regular standing committees; the raising of $25,266 for CASA of Baltimore County, which is the second highest amount raised for a president’s chosen charity, again no small feat considering the pandemic; and the collaboration between Diversity and Inclusion and Professionalism Committees and the Maryland State Bar Association to present a twopart series, Courageous Conversations, that addressed implicit bias and led the way for the 21Week Challenge to address and educate ourselves about implicit bias. President Miller received the committee reports and provided the check to CASA. The President invited this author, as the outgoing chair of the Professionalism Committee, to present this year’s J. Earl Plumhoff Award to recipient, Michael Barranco. Attendees were treated to a life-size picture of Mr. Barranco as they entered the courtroom.
THE ADVOCATE
Page 12
May 2021
