NCBP/NABE working together
The success of any bar association can often be measured by the effective
working relationship between the volunteer policy making board and the executive
staff members. The same is true with the interrelationship between the national
organizations for bar officers(National Conference of Bar Presidents) and for
bar executives(National Association of Bar Executives).
In the past few years, several impressive actions have been undertaken to
enhance the cooperative efforts of these two groups, including joint programming
efforts at the annual and mid-year meetings, coordinated actions in acquiring
financial support, and better utilization of staff expertise from the ABA's
Division of Bar Services.
Of particular note is the decision by the Division in 2000 to set up a work
session of the Presidents of the two groups, and also the President of the National
Conference of Bar Foundations, to do the necessary planning and coordination
of the programs of the three entities. Last year, that session was expanded
to include the three Presidents-elect which made for an even better experience.
Furthermore, the governing boards of NCBP and NABE were scheduled to have
a combined meeting last fall, but the terrorist attacks forced its postponement.
Nevertheless, the groups are moving forward to have this joint event during
September,2002.
It is clear that there are several areas of interest that can be considered
and pursued to provide more efficient programs and services for Bar Presidents
and Bar Executives. Some of these relate to membership dues structures, publications,
operations, and programming. Making NCBP and NABE better service oriented organizations
for their members is the overriding objective for the groups' leaders. Watch
what happens!