Page 7 - Pierce County Lawyer - January February 2024

PRESIDENT'S PAGE
Thank you to all who’ve been such great support to me during this year.
The Blink of an Eye
BY HEATHER SWANN
By the time this message goes
to print, 2023, as well as my presidency, will be at its end. Our
President-Elect will be announced as well as our new 2024 Board of Trustees at the Lincoln Day Banquet on February 9th. Catherine Case will be stepping into her role as President. And I will be shifting over to the Immediate Past-President position.
So as I sit here in December 2023, writing this last article for you all, I am reflecting on the year that now has seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye. And a number of questions come to mind: Did I do enough? What did I accomplish? What could I have done differently? Did I make a difference?
At the outset of my tenure as Bar leader,
I was afforded the opportunity to travel to the Chicago ABA Bar Leadership Conference. We met folks from all over the country and collected ideas from different states with different Bar cultures, to bring them back to our Bar, hoping to make changes and improvements.
We then had a Board retreat where we met the board members and shared plans for the coming year. Then the monthly board meetings start happening, where we hear news from the courts, learn from the section leaders and what the sections are up to, and get the monthly report from Professor Weaver about the law schools.
As President I had a front row seat to any and all events I wanted to attend. I
attended both swearing in ceremonies, hosted by the New and Young Lawyers. Those continue to stand out in the forefront of my mind. It was great to speak to the new attendees and welcome them to our Bar, share some wisdom on what to do and, just as importantly, what not to do.
This synthesis of cultures, ideas and experiences has allowed me to develop
a broader and deeper understanding of what law and the legal profession can offer the individuals we represent and
to society at large. In our day-to-day practices we can find ourselves losing sight of what real justice means as we get caught up in crafting motions, endless emails and client conferences. The "how" we do things rather than the "why" we do things. It was refreshing to be able to rise above the trees of the day-to-day and get a look at the forest for even this short year.
It is my hope that I will be able to share these insights with future leaders of the TPCBA and all of my colleagues in the Bar.
Finally, I want to send a huge thank you to all who’ve been such great support
to me during this year, including the Board of Trustees, the chairs, co-chairs and members of all our hard-working committees, and all of our TPCBA members. Your support was instrumental in making my year as your President the success I think it was.
I remain at your service.
January/February 2024 | PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 7