The BCBA is a year round Bar Association. One thing that I’ve noticed as President is that there is little downtime. Other than perhaps August, there is not time of the year, which is particularly slow. Spring is no exception. Upcoming BCBA events include our Spring Golf Outing, which is always a sellout, a Young Lawyer’s Luncheon featuring County Executive Dutch Ruppersberger as its speaker, and a retirement reception for Judge Foos. Committees continue to meet both to wrap up their current work and to start planning for next year, which starts July 1. In fact, to ensure such continuity, incoming President Nip Jenkins and President-elect Steve Nolan have met to appoint committee chairs and vice-chairs, as well as to assign committee members for Nip’s upcoming term. The new committee list for 2001-2002 will be published in the July/August issue of The Advocate. For questions concerning the committee appointment process, I refer you to my President’s Message in the November 2000 issue of The Advocate.

Last December, I first commented about my desire to create a dialogue among the Bench, the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Bar with respect to technological advancements. I’m pleased to report that a new subcommittee of the Bench/Bar Committee has been formed for this very purpose. The Subcommittee on Court Technology will initially include Chief Judge Edward A. DeWaters, Courts Administrator Pete Lally, and the chairs of their designees of both the Bench/Bar and Technology committees and myself. The Subcommittee will meet on a regular basis to share information and explore ways to technologically improve trial practice in the courts. It will report directly to the Bench/Bar Committee, which, in turn, will report to the general Association membership. I anticipate this Subcommittee becoming very important given the continuing development of technology in our courts. For example, in the next month, both the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and the Superior Court for Washington, D.C. will be implementing electronic filing (“efiling”), initially in the asbestos cases pending in those courts. When the efiling projects go online, firms that practice in asbestos personal injury litigation will both file and receive all pleadings and papers electronically without the need to file or store them in the conventional paper form. We anticipate and expect that all of our firms will see a significant reduction in the resources needed to practice in this mass tort setting. Eventually, electronic filing will also be available in lead paint and medical malpractice cases.

Although electronic filing may not be on the radar yet in Baltimore County, it is a significant development that merits our local attention. I believe that one day, all courts will require some level of electronic filing, if for no other reason than to deal with the increasing difficulty in physically maintaining and storing conventional paper files. If the efiling projects in Baltimore City and Washington, D.C. prove successful, more courts will look to this technological advance as a potential solution to resolving the limitations of brick and mortar. Virtual courthouses via the Internet will allow unlimited growth, flexibility, and convenience to the Bar once it becomes more known and accepted. The Subcommittee on Court Technology will hopefully track such initiatives and discuss ways in which our own courts may benefit. The Subcommittee will also explore the purchase of advanced electronic presentation equipment so that lawyers who try cases, at least in the Circuit Court, will have access to it. More on this will follow in the next couple of months.

I was very pleased at the turnout for Judge Howe’s Celebration Dinner in March. More than 400 Association members and well-wishers honored Judge Howe. Judge Howe was in her element surrounded by family, colleagues and friends who helped her celebrate a great career as a jurist. I thank my committee for the many hours of hard work that went into the planning of this celebration dinner.

Speaking of dinners, as I mentioned earlier, our Association will shortly be celebrating another judicial career, that of the Honorable Charles E. Foos III of our District Court. Judge Foos is also a past president of this Association, having served in 1994-1995. He has requested a different type of retirement event than Judge Howe. He will have a reception on Thursday, May 17, 2001 at the Sparrows Point Country Club. We expect a large turnout for Judge Foos’ reception; I urge everyone to contact Heather Martin at your earliest convenience to secure a ticket. Let’s show Judge Foos that we appreciate and celebrate his career of public service and for all that he has done for our Association.

That’s it for now. As with the other seasons, I hope that everyone has a wonderful healthy spring. I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.