You were installed Jan. 17 as president of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association. What do you hope to accomplish during your term? The main theme of my term – something I decided on with Executive Director Crista Hogan – is sustainability. That has several different meanings. In terms of the bar association, the way I view it is, we are first looking at succession planning for the association and for its members. We have seen a need for that recently with lawyers who have either passed away or are no longer practicing. We think it’s important for them to have a plan and to have the public know their lawyers have a plan. If they don’t have a plan, there is a procedure in place for a circuit judge to appoint a trustee to take care of their practices and transition those clients to other people.
The second aspect of sustainability is financial. We currently have a legacy campaign going on for the bar association and Legal Services of Southern Missouri. It’s a joint campaign geared toward establishing an endowment fund for each organization.
We also are looking at mentoring as a sustainability issue. A lot of new lawyers these days are on their own. We are trying to establish formal and informal programs to have them learn from their peers and their elders. The elders can also learn from the new lawyers in terms of technology and some of the things they teach in law school.
Lastly, we also continue to follow legislative priorities geared toward judicial resources. We recently obtained approval for two new judges in Greene County, but the state only approved funding for one. We are still working toward funding for the additional associate circuit judge and also a new drug court commissioner. We have a need based on a study for three new drug court commissioners to fill if we can.
What is the SMBA known for? Our mission is social interaction, the promotion of justice and maintaining the honor and dignity of the profession.
Our bar association is a volunteer organization; you don’t have to be a member, but there are more than 900 lawyers in Springfield who are. Lawyers want to be part of an organization where they can get to know each other socially. In addition to the social interaction, the bar allows us to try and promote the profession’s honor and dignity. On an individual basis with our clients, we do that every day. But we also need to have an organization to provide a global perspective and outreach programs. Lastly, to the extent that we can, we try to increase justice by supporting the civil and criminal justice system.
What advice about bar involvement do you have for potential SMBA members? I would encourage them to get involved. The easiest way to do that is through our committee structure. In fact, we have a committee called the Four L committee. In law school, students are known as One L, Two L or Three L, depending on what year of school they are in. That committee meets and senior lawyers come and provide their advice. One of the goals of the committee is a mentoring process, but also to get to know the community. The senior lawyers take the new lawyers out on tours of the courthouse, the jail system and help them learn about Springfield. Teaching also is a good way of learning.
What common legal mistake have you seen among business owners? They fail to incorporate or form an LLC for their business. They operate as a sole proprietorship and that makes them personally liable for all the business liabilities they incur. It’s a quick and easy process; in fact, it’s available online now.
What effect did the Great Recession have on the law industry? It had a mixed effect on the profession in terms of the number of law students. I saw a headline that said we currently have the lowest number of law school applications since the 1970s. However, a few years before that, we had one of the highest numbers of law students ever. I think there has been a real adjustment to business demand that has come out of the recession. I know there have been firms that have closed because of a lack of demand. Practices related to the mortgage business have seen a huge reduction. Overall, there has been a change in the profession from a general practitioner type of environment to specialty shops. There are small firms and larger firms, and middle-sized firms are getting squeezed out. Small firms are more agile and larger firms can offer a variety of services.[[In-content Ad]]
