Happy Holidays to You All! Please accept my most sincere wishes for a happy and joyful holiday season on behalf of the Executive Committee and Members of the Bar Association Staff. We are well into the holiday season, both personally, professionally and hopefully, socially. It is a great time of year to reflect back on the many good things we have shared as well as the not-so-good.

This past year has seen great efforts on behalf of the organized bar to address issues of civility and pro bono. During this holiday time of year and in the best traditions of giving, pro bono service is a particularly appropriate topic. We all have those forms to fill out early next year on our service. Even though it is not mandatory to do pro bono service, it does serve as sort of a personal wake up call for us to see how well we have served those less fortunate in the community. In this county our record has not been as sterling as we might have wished, despite our obvious positive economic status compared to other jurisdictions in this state. In all honesty, however, on a service as personal as rendering free aid, I am not sure that broad statistics are useful in stirring support or action.

Rendering service as much as charitable giving is a personal matter. We each recognize that there is a responsibility with belonging to this profession as much as a privilege. It was not too many years ago that membership in the bar mandated our participation in cases when called on by the courts. It did not do a lot for the rendering of competent legal service, particularly in areas where one did not practice. On the other hand it was a known commitment as part of the practice. Today, there are so many ways to render service and so many opportunities that we almost do not pay attention. At this time of year, however, it is more than appropriate that we do pay a bit of attention and ask whether we are doing our share.

Our Pro Bono Committee led by Jack Condliffe is taking a very positive approach in trying to spur additional service. We want to make the opportunities to render service readily available and accessible to all members and will be looking at links from our web site to such services. All it takes is a few minutes from you to make this work. So in the spirit of the holidays I would ask you to consider giving a little bit of yourself the next few months. Hopefully, it will be rewarding just to know you did it.

On another note we have had a flurry of social activities, which I hope that you have all enjoyed. Our staff works particularly hard this time of year, and with Carole’s leave of absence, Heather has been going full tilt. Please stop by the office and express your appreciation for all of the hard work that they do throughout the year. See you next year!