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           Letter from the President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association

May 2008

Dear Members and Friends:

I thank the members of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association for the opportunity to serve as President over the next year.

We justifiably take a great deal of pride in this Association. Our relationship with the circuit and district bench is unmatched anywhere else in the country. I will work to preserve, and strengthen, that relationship.

I cannot let Andy Langan’s presidency pass without expressing my gratitude for his exemplary service. The past year was a success by any measure. We presented a record number of CLE programs, covering topics from appellate practice to rules amendments to representation of indigents. The just-completed annual meeting and circuit conference featured not one but two Supreme Court justices—our Circuit Justice, John Paul Stevens, and Justice Antonin Scalia.  Thanks to Andy and his team, the meeting ran flawlessly. Under the leadership of Magistrate Judge Cole, our Association publication, The Circuit Rider, has grown from an occasional newsletter into a first-rate legal journal. We are strong in numbers and in finances.

Our goals for the next year include:

First, we will continue to pursue greater diversity in our leadership.

Second, we will commence a new relationship with the Chicago Bar Association, which will assist the Association with its “back office” functions such as dues collection and member services. We look to expand that relationship in the future.

Third, through the leadership of the Association’s Technology Committee, we will continue to improve the functionality and content of the Association’s website.

Fourth, we will sponsor an outstanding program in conjunction with next year’s Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial celebration, to be held February 6, 2009 at Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago. Tom Campbell’s committee has assembled a group of nationally-known Lincoln scholars. Topics will include Lincoln’s practice as a lawyer, his emergence as a national figure, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and Lincoln’s views on the Constitution. This will be a blockbuster event.

These are exciting times for the Association. You can help us to expand our services to our members and to the legal community by spreading the word to your colleagues who may not know about us. Our annual dues structure – $135 for senior members (more than five years in practice), and $75 for junior members – is modest compared to the value of membership.

Finally, it is not to early to mark your calendars for next year. The annual meeting and circuit conference will be held May 17 through 19, 2009, at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis.

Sincerely,

Bradley L. Williams