Page 6 - Pierce County Lawyer - May June 2024

PRESIDENT'S PAGE
Overnight Success Takes a Long Time
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.
BLI Conference
Next February I hope to celebrate a significant increase in Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association’s membership. Coming into this Presidency I haven’t let a moment go by where I am not working on this main goal. I guess I should start with a recap of those efforts, to keep all members up to date showing that any future success will be the product of this year’s hard work.
In February I went to the University
of Washington with the New & Young Lawyer’s Section to speak to the law students about TPCBA. I explained that when I was at Seattle University I connected to TPCBA and the New & Young Lawyer’s section and made some very important connections, including lifelong mentors and friends. The group of students who attended our gathering enjoyed pizza (provided by the New
& Young Lawyers) and a variety of stories from TPCBA members on how beneficial our association is. All these students stated they had not even heard of TPCBA. This broke my heart. What stung even more, the students reported
they were all members of the King County Bar Association. KCBA holds events throughout the year where they pay for students to eat, drink, and sign up for free student memberships. I left UW fired up that TPCBA needs to have more of a presence at the law schools. As TPCBA President I never want to hear another law student say the’ve never heard of the TPCBA.
◀ In March I attended the Bar Leadership Institute Conference in Chicago with Liz Johnson and Patrick Brown. I cannot express how amazing this event was and all the things I learned to improve our association.
The top things I took away from this training: First, I learned how to write meaningful articles for our magazine and that it is very important for our members to use this platform to share with each other. I would like to encourage any member to write an article for our magazine. Is there an area of law that interests you or you’d like to explain or explore with the rest of our membership? Is there anything outside the area of law you would like to discuss? Did you take a fun trip or have a meaningful experience you’d like to share? Would you like to share how you overcame adversity or took an unconventional path? Please reach out to Kit Kasner to contribute. Your article may offer a deeper connection and help another member.
I will strive to make sure my articles are beneficial to our members and allow everyone to get to know me personally.
Secondly, I learned how powerful
my voice is now, while I am in this position, and even afterwards. I want to make sure that while I am in this role
I represent the best of TPCBA. To do this I want to hear from our members about anything that the TPCBA should be focusing on. Please reach out to me to have a discussion, or just to say hello. Anyone who knows me knows I am not shy and love to engage in meaningful conversations.
Lastly, I noted that membership is
the key to our association. TPCBA is nothing without its members. In my next article I will discuss all the amazing services TPCBA offers to our members. Of course I will outline badge access to the courthouse so members can walk right in and not stand in the security line (and rain), but I will also discuss other services that may not be so well-known, like our Lawyer Referral Service and
our wide list of free or low-cost CLEs
6 PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER | May/June 2024