Report 6:

I promised a report following the mid-year meeting and here it is.

The Executive Committee met in conjunction with the North Atlantic
Regional annual meeting in Boston. By way of comment – the NARALSB
meeting was excellent. Jeffrey Beatty did a fine job of organizing the
meeting in BU's elegant new business school. The papers were strong and
interesting. At lunch the Hon. James H. Wexler of the Massachusetts
Trial Court presented a most entertaining assessment of "what it is like
to be on the other side of the bench". I doubt any of us will forget the
nerve of the attorney he described who recently complained that the
other counsel was "full of ...".in full court. No doubt a sentiment we
have all felt from time to time, but certainly gutsy beyond our wildest
fantasies.

About two-thirds of the Executive Committee's mid-year meeting was spent
on strategic planning and a lot of progress was made. I thank Jim
Highsmith and Ginny Maurer for their leadership in this regard. I am now
confident that a sound plan will be in place for the mid-year meeting.
The first parts of that plan will be presented in the Spring Newsletter.
The Committee was also able to see the preliminary results of Pat
Pattison's membership survey and already a number of matters coming out
even of these early results have been included in the strategic plan as
items for action. Pat will be presenting the results in much more detail
at the Baltimore meeting and I would like to thank Pat once more for all
her work. I realise that planning issues are seldom of as much interest
to the members of an organization as they are to its small group of
worriers on the executive committee. However, the message that came out
loud and clear from the survey was one that we, on the committee, have
all felt for some time. We are at a time when it is very necessary to
have clear and decisive plans for the future. The good news is that
virtually all items from the earlier plan were completed. This is no
time, though to rest on our laurels.

There were a number of housekeeping matters that we needed to attend to
during the meeting. Most important were issues relating to the Baltimore
meeting. Art Marinelli has an excellent program in place and there are
some very exciting plans for a number of technology and e-commerce
matters. I would urge you all to go to the web page to get the latest
program details.

I thank all my colleagues on the Executive Committee for hanging in for
the full duration of a rather gruelling weekend. I am constantly amazed
by the class and talent of this group. To Dan Herron – good luck with
the Mock Trial ordeals you face in the next week and no doubt some day
you will catch up with your sleep. To all of the rest of you who are
likewise engaged in Mock Trials – good luck as well (don't let the
steamroller of Miami U get run you down!).

Finally, the Regional season is drawing to a close with the Pacific
NorthWest, Western and NorthEastern meetings. Pacific NorthWest leads
off with its meeting on April 21-22. For information please contact Jim
Jurinski at (503) 943 7426 or at http://www.wsu.edu.8080/-legal/pnalsb/.
The Western and NorthEastern meetings are both on April 28-30. Ida Jones
is the contact for the Western meeting (559) 278 2151 or
[log in to unmask] and Victor Lopez for NorthEastern (607) 746 4123
[log in to unmask]  Good luck to all three program chairs – may
your meetings be as excellent as I have no doubt they will be. To anyone
considering attendance: I would urge you to go to one of these meetings.
The Regionals are an easy way of connecting with colleagues in your
community.

Sally Gunz