Bar Foundation

Help us Foster a Safe, Fair and Just Society

As I sit down to write this month’s column, it is clear that change is in the air (or perhaps it is just the permeating smell of artificial pumpkin spice flavorings…): autumn has arrived. The leaves are changing colors, the breeze brings a deeper chill, and the days are getting shorter. As we leave the summer behind and embrace the fall, the holiday season has also arrived. A season characterized by the spreading of gratefulness, good will and good cheer, and also of charitable giving.

Law is a service business, no doubt. Our professional responsibilities center on our ethical obligations related to the services we provide to our clients, to the profession, and to the rule of law. As the authors expressed in an essay titled “Lawyers as Professionals and Citizens,” there is a fourth ethical responsibility or dimension for lawyers that requires us to generally provide services “in the public interest” and in furtherance of a “safe, fair and just society.”1

In a nutshell, that is a critical mission of the Lake County Bar Foundation. We are the philanthropic arm of the Bar Association. Through the Foundation, the Lake County Bar is working to fulfill that public service obligation, to enhance justice, to promote fairness, to support the disadvantaged, and much more. And, toward that end—and as has been chronicled in this column many times—the Foundation provides support to a variety of programs and organizations that advance those vital interests.

As we move inexorably into the autumn, and ultimately the holiday season, I would like to take a moment to encourage everyone to consider getting more involved in the Foundation’s efforts to spread good cheer and to be a part of our charitable giving. How can you help? Here are just a few examples of means to those ends:

Contribute some of your time to support the Foundation. Please consider volunteering to serve on the Board or a Committee, or just participate in the Foundation’s philanthropic efforts. And, of course, please attend and support the Foundation’s events.

Contribute financially to the Foundation. It’s simple. Just write a check. You can support the Foundation, directly, or through

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Douglas Dorando President Kristie Fingerhut Vice President Perry Smith, Jr. Treasurer Joan Fratianni Secretary Nicholas Riewer Past President Jennifer L. Ashley Nandia Black Scott Gibson David Gordon Keith Grant Louise Hayes Fredric Lesser Steven McCollum Hon. Michael Nerheim Michael Ori Shyama Parikh John Quinn, Sr. Eric Rinehart Melanie Rummel David Stepanich Carey Schiever

BY DOUGLAS DORANDO PRESIDENT

1 Ben Heineman, William

Lee and David Wilkins,

“Lawyers as Professionals and Citizens,” available at: https://clp. law.harvard.edu/assets/

Professionalism-Project-Essay_11.20.14.pdf.