President’s Message
Stay well and
OPTIMISTIC Michelle Bernardo-Rudy, Esquire President Chester County Bar Association
I
t is hard to believe that I am wrapping up the first six months of my tenure as CCBA President. It is unbelievable how fast the time is going. Looking back on the activities of the bar association, it has been a very busy three months. The Bar Foundation had a very successful Key Gala, raising a record $87,000+ for the Foundation. We kicked off the Diversity Intern Program in the beginning of June. The Board also held a strategic planning retreat. We met over an afternoon and shared ideas of where we would like to see the bar association in the next few years. I want to thank the board for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend and brainstorm with everyone. We sailed away to Baltimore for our annual bar sail. It was a great time and I, for one, enjoyed seeing everyone happy and relaxed on the dock and out at dinner. We held another Women in the Law CLE and decided that we will hold two more Women’s forums before the end of the year. I will admit that I am pushing up against a deadline with this article, but I have to say, I am glad I procrastinated on this one. Over the Fourth of July weekend, I visited Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a place we visit often as 4 | New Matter
my husband has family there. It is a beautiful city, rich in history, and has an amazing food scene. On the morning of the Fourth of July, we walked down to witness the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the Old Exchange Building. It was an experience I will not soon forget. Listening to the words written 246 years ago, you realize what the signers of the Declaration of Independence were putting on the line. Had they lost, they surely would have been tried for treason. Listening to the words of the document, it is a true indictment against the crown and against tyranny. It was also a good reminder about how many parts of the Declaration of Independence laid the foundation for the Constitution. The founders of this country had incredible foresight. Or, maybe things were not so different then as they are now. They were divided then, maybe just as much as we are today. There were many loyalists who had much to lose by breaking ties with England. But the colonists were undeterred. I am grateful to those brave men and women who, so long ago, fought for the freedom of this land. Along those lines, when the Constitution was drafted and the framework for our government was created, the separation of powers was paramount to that vision. This is just as important today as it was then. As we have seen in the last couple of weeks, the Supreme Court has released some controversial opinions. The opinion overturning Roe v. Wade and the leak of the draft has brought to my mind the Constitution and the separation
