A Birth of a New Section
As most of you know, the best laid plans often go sideways. In late 2018, after all of our careful succession planning, and after the Board’s strategic planning retreat lead by our President Elect, Governor Jerry Brown changed the course of 2019 for the CCCBA. Simply, Governor Brown appointed our President Elect, Hon. Wendy McGuire Coats, to a seat on the Superior Court here in Contra Costa County. So, we are lucky to have Judge Coats serving our community in a new role, but I also know she would have been a fantastic CCCBA president.
But, instead, I’m back!
One of the nice things about serving a second consecutive year is the ability to see some tasks and goals through to their intended conclusion. And, as I reported last year, approximately 34 percent of our members were over 60 years old – 34 percent! So, I wanted to be sure the CCCBA was meeting the needs of our aging membership. I put together a top-notch task force to explore how the CCCBA was serving our most experienced members – through MCLE topics of interest to them, to helping them build community, to providing them with opportunities to reconnect with the CCCBA and/or to provide ideas for new ways to volunteer both via the CCCBA and with other organizations including non-legal volunteering.
Past board member Renee Livingston lead this new task force, and I also thank Past Presidents Peter Mankin, Dick Frankel, and Mike Brown, and past board members Joscelyn Jones Torru and Richard Alexander for accepting my invitation to serve on the Task Force, and for all their work in 2018. Indeed, in 2018, the Task Force had several meetings, held several roundtables and discussions with potential section members, hosted a Happy Hour, and put on one of the most popular MCLE presentations at our annual MCLE Spectacular – a standing room only event.
Fast forward to today: We have a brand new Senior Section! The generous Lorraine Walsh has agreed to be the first section leader, and she was installed on January 25, 2019 at our annual Installation Lunch. Lorraine will be joined by Peter Mankin, David Ratner and Deborah Jo Sandler, who have agreed to take on leadership positions in the CCCBA’s newest section. I send a heartfelt thank you the task force and to Lorraine and all the others who have agreed to take on leadership roles in the Senior Section.
The Section is hard at work and planning a great 2019! It already held a Happy Hour in 2019 and has planned a fantastic Law Day program to be held at lunchtime on May 1, 2019 with our District Attorney Diana Becton as the keynote speaker on the topic of “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society”. Please put this on your calendar now, and watch for more details to follow!
Membership in the Senior Section will be automatic in 2019 for those who meet the following criteria:
- Member of the CCCBA, and
- An attorney who has practiced law for 30 or more years, or
- A member 60 years of age or older.
I look forward to seeing this new section bloom! If you have an idea for a section that does not yet exist in the CCCBA, please let any board member, and/or Theresa Hurley know.