PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By Barrett H. Reasoner Gibbs & Bruns, L.L.P.

The More Things Change...

This is the last column I have the honor to write in The Houston Lawyer and by the time you read this, I will have handed the reins over to my successor, Mark Kelly. As a result, this is obviously a time of great change in my life. My partners understandably expect a renewed focus on my law practice. My family quite rightly expects fewer absences from their activities. My partners and family have been extremely supportive of my efforts this year, and for that I will forever be grateful. I understand and welcome the changes they expect after a wonderful, but exhausting, year.

As I look at the changes going on in the profession more generally, however, the feeling is more one of uncertainty and trepidation. Jobs for new lawyers are harder to come by than they have ever been. Moreover, the nature of the practice is changing dramatically, and one can only speculate about how things will look twenty years from now. Beyond the practice of law, at the national and global levels, we are undoubtedly living in what the old Chinese curse would refer to as "interesting times." Disasters (both natural and man made), financial crises, and increasingly uncivil political dialogue from both ends of the spectrum leave you wondering where the world is headed.

One thing I can say with certainty amid all of this is that the Houston Bar Association (HBA) will continue to be there to help with many of the problems and challenges facing our profession and our society. I am not naïve enough to believe that our bar is the cure all for any of these issues; no single organization can be. What I do know is that, for 140 years, this bar has been there, helping those less fortunate and upholding the standards of our profession. Great institutions have two critical things: a structure and culture that sustains them as different officers come and go and a strong volunteer base. We obviously have Kay Sim as our cornerstone, but through the work of Kay and others, we also have that critical structure and culture. More importantly, we have you. I have been amazed this year to see the many areas in which Houston lawyers give their time and money to help those less fortunate, often with little or no fanfare. I have also been delighted to see how many lawyers and judges make efforts large and small to make our profession better.

This year, I am proud to say that the bar achieved a great deal. Thanks to the efforts of many, our partnership with Communities in Schools has achieved extraordinary momentum. We are on pace to place in the range of sixty students from at risk schools in Houston in legal internship positions this summer. Similarly, our Consumer Task Force added a needed dimension in these times to our existing legal advice clinics. The group added specialists in bankruptcy, consumer law, real estate, and tax to our base of volunteers and partnered with non-profit credit counseling organizations. The result was that approximately 120 people received advice and counsel on consumer-related issues at our clinics, and the plan going forward is to incorporate these services at some of our clinics on a regular basis. My hope is that both programs will continue to enrich the bar's already extraordinary array of services in the future.

I look back with great appreciation for the opportunity to have served as President of the HBA. That service only increased my respect for the institution and its dedicated volunteers. We have an organization to be very proud of, and one that is more needed than ever. Mark Kelly will be an outstanding leader as we move forward in these challenging times. The HBA's good works have been going on for 140 years and, with your help, the organization is well positioned to continue them many years into the future.

< BACK TO TOP >