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Evolution Leslie O’Toole, Immediate Past President
Greetings on behalf of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys. I
am delighted and honored to serve as your President this year. I would like to
share with you some of the accomplishments, goals, and challenges of the NCADA,
and to close with some personal observations.
The NCADA has shown strong growth over the past few years, and membership is
at an all-time high. We continue to recruit new members, and to do a good job
retaining them. We would like to focus on increasing and maintaining the
diversity of our membership. By diversity, I mean to include all senses of the
word; that is, we strive for racial, gender, and geographic diversity, as well
as diversity in the settings in which our members practice. One measure we are
planning is a large law firm membership initiative in conjunction with DRI to
increase our membership from this segment of the legal community.
Our challenge as we grow is to keep the Association relevant to all members.
The legal environment is constantly evolving, and the NCADA must adapt. As many
practitioners attempt to diversify their traditional insurance defense
practices, the NCADA has diversified as well. We are committed to offering
excellent CLE and other services to the traditional insurance defense
practitioner, as our “core” membership is comprised of such practitioners. We
also want to attract and retain other lawyers who typically represent business
clients in other ways – those who focus on commercial litigation, products,
liability, employment law, and so forth. We need to offer meaningful services
and programs to these lawyers, as well. We have addressed this need primarily by
building the roles of our practice groups. These groups are more active than
ever in offering CLE, writing articles, and sharing information. Getting
involved in a practice group is an excellent way to enhance your practice, as
well as a good way to get more involved with the NCADA. More volunteers to help
with the work of these practice groups are always welcome.
Our attempts to expand our offerings are not always met with unanimous
praise. We receive comments from members and CLE survey responses suggesting
widely disparate views from the membership. Some want more straight insurance
defense CLE – others want more programs on new developments, such as the
expansion of the Business Court. As the NCADA leadership tries to strike the
right balance, your feedback is crucial. Please continue to give us your
comments, criticisms, and suggestions.
In addition to CLE offerings, the NCADA provides valuable services to its
members in other ways. For example, Board member Steve Coles has been working
with the House Select Committee to Study the Recovery of Civil Costs, as NCADA’s
representative. (You can see his report elsewhere in this issue.) The North
Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Superior Court Judges were
represented, as well. This Committee is working to update and clarify the rules
relating to the recovery of civil costs. Clarity in this area will be beneficial
to all lawyers – not just defense lawyers – as well as clients and judges.
The NCADA has been hard at work to update and improve its website. By the
time this newsletter is published, the new website should be operational. If you
have not already, please take a few minutes to explore the features of the new
website. It is a vast improvement over the old website, and should assist
members greatly in networking and sharing information. This improved website
represents a significant financial investment for the NCADA (relative to our
modest budget), as well as an enormous investment of time – primarily by
President-Elect Ken Kyre and Executive Director Lynette Pitt. The NCADA is
indebted to Ken and Lynette for their careful attention and dedication to
developing this important tool.
One of the proudest accomplishments of the NCADA each election year is the
Judicial Candidates Forum we sponsor at our Fall Meeting. The Forum provides
appellate judges an opportunity to speak to our members and clients, and our
attendees a chance to learn about the candidates. Significantly, The Forum also
keeps the profile of the NCADA high in the minds of the judiciary and the
public. In 2006, we were pleased that all candidates for the appellate seats
available participated, and that the event received significant media coverage.
Not only did the NCADA host the forum, but it also signed on as a sponsor to a
UNC public television program on which the judicial candidates appeared. This
type of strong participation by the NCADA helps ensure a more balanced message,
and to remind and educate the judiciary and the public that NCATLA does not
speak for all lawyers in the State.
As we move forward and think of ways to enhance the relevance and vibrancy of
the NCADA to its members, we have a couple of initiatives underway. We are
examining the possibility of an educational program aimed at the interests of
in-house and corporate clients. Our hope is that such a program would help
attract potential members who practice as in-house or corporate counsel. In
addition, we are planning a program to address the changing roles of women
attorneys, focusing on women in the courtroom, women in the law firm, and women
in the legal marketplace. The intent is to make the program relevant not only to
women practitioners, but to all those in the profession who encounter these
issues; for example, the law firm managing partner who must determine how best
to attract and retain women associates, meet client demands for diversity, and
how best to train and utilize women in the firm’s marketing efforts. Both of
these programs are in the planning stages, so stay tuned for further details.
Finally, I ask your indulgence as I share a personal observation or two.
Recently, a young high school student asked me to complete a survey as part of a
project she was doing, which involved investigating various professions. The
survey included many predictable questions, such as “Why did you choose this
profession?” “What do you like and dislike about your career?” “Would you choose
this professional again?” Although fairly routine questions, they are not
usually ones to which I devote a lot of thought. As I composed my responses, I
was compelled to reflect, and was struck that I truly do like my profession and
would choose this career again. Yes, it is demanding, and I have done my share
of whining about billing guidelines, long hours, the stresses of trial, and so
forth. These demands are greatly outweighed by the benefits, however, and chief
among these benefits is the friendship, camaraderie and bonhomie I have enjoyed
through the NCADA. From my early days as a lawyer, my mentors encouraged me to
attend the meetings and to get involved. The NCADA leaders and seasoned members
were welcoming and encouraging then, and I hope we remain so today (now that I
am one of the “old dogs.”).
We have such funny, witty, interesting, considerate members – it is a joy to
spend time with each other socializing, or at a CLE, or working on committees
together. It is also so rewarding to call another member with a request – to
speak; for advice on a tricky legal question; for an expert recommendation – and
invariably be met with a helpful response. I doubt this spirit of cooperation
exists among theoretical competitors in any other field. I don’t know if it is
some particular personality trait that leads one to become a defense attorney,
but those I have encountered through the NCADA are exceptional people, and I am
lucky to know and work with you. So, if NCADA is part of the deal, yes, I would
choose this profession again. I hope the answer is the same for you. This
President's Message appeared in the Winter 2007 issue of The Defender. |
