Presidents Message
July 1st marks the start of a new fiscal year at your Broward County Bar Association. It also marks the start for a new Board and a new author for this President's message. Since this is my first President's message I would like to provide an overview of some of what's in store for this year. Before looking ahead, let's look back at one notable accomplishment of this past year. During President Barbara Sunshine's term (2007-2008) a goal was set to pay off the remaining mortgage on BCBA center. Although we came close during Barbara's term, it was Past President, Chris Neilson who officially lit the match that "burned the mortgage". A collective sigh of relief was breathed and to borrow a line from Forrest Gump, "…one less thing to worry about."
With one less thing to worry about, your Association will move forward with some major initiatives to improve the practice of law. We will continue to work toward achieving e-filing of all court documents for this Circuit. We will continue to oppose and hope to bring about the elimination of charges currently imposed to view court documents from the Clerk's web page. We will be working with and assisting our Judiciary as they move toward web-based motion calendar scheduling in all divisions were it is feasible. We will work with the Bench and Clerk to eliminate some expenses by advocating e-notices to attorneys wherever feasible.
It is no surprise that our central courthouse is in need of either demolition or major renovations depending on your point of view. Now more than ever, as recent proud owners of our own prime downtown real estate, we will endeavor to place our footprint on the changes being drawn up for the central courthouse. We should be proud of the fact that members of this Association have been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of bringing about the changes needed for the central courthouse. Your Association will continue to assist our members to bring about these much needed changes.
Having addressed the Clerk, Bench and courthouse initiatives let me now turn to initiatives designed especially to help meet the day to day practice needs of the Broward county lawyer wherever they may practice in the county. First, we are continuing to improve the BCBA website by adding features that highlight the achievements of our members and making it easier to find our members. We found that the BCBA receives an average of 500 hits per day and consistently appears in the top three spots when using a search engine to find a Broward lawyer. We decided to use this internet advantage to benefit our members.
Whether you are a new member or an existing member renewing your membership this year, you will notice a section in the Membership Application allowing members to enhance the member listing in the "Members Section" of the BCBA website. The enhancement will allow the website visitor to find members by practice area and further allow the internet user to link unto the member's website or office information. Along with this enhancement, we invite our members to submit notices of significant achievements that may be posted on the BCBA site or newsletter. We also invite submission of articles or lectures from members on general topics of law that may be considered for internet or newsletter publication.
As noted above, we own our office building and conference center centrally located in the county. We invite all members wherever they may practice throughout the county, to make good use of the facility by scheduling events, conferences or meetings at the Normal Howard Conference Center. The Center typically has ample parking in the morning and in that regard for those that don't mind a brisk walk we invite members who display their membership cards to park at the Association's parking lot as a respite from the difficult or expensive parking around the central courthouse. Membership cards will be issued this year so please check the BCBA website for the available benefits and possible discounts.
Finally this year your Association will be taking a more active and visible role in charities, public legal education and promoting pro bono. The Board will soon vote on whether to establish and fund small scholarships for students or classrooms that demonstrate proficiency and advancement in the understanding of our legal system for those students or classrooms participating in the Supreme Court's Justice Teaching Program. Mindful that over 30 years ago this Association's membership founded Legal Aid of Broward County, we will take a more active role in assuring that Legal Aid can effectively carry out its mission in these difficult times of funding cuts and dwindling contributions.
The start of a new BCBA year brings new challenges, fresh ideas and new goals. It also brings about a resolve to do more for our members, for our community and to bring about change where change is needed.