Sections Meeting Membership Goals
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Article Date: Monday, May 21, 2012
(Editor's note: e-bar denotes 12 sections having achieved goal but actually the news is better than that: it's 13).
Approximately half of the North Carolina Bar Association’s 28 sections have answered President Mike Colombo’s challenge of increasing their membership at least 3 percent during the 2005-06 bar year.
And a few more are “knocking at the door.”
Sections achieving goal, as of June 1, are:
- Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law, chaired by Mark Merritt;
- Criminal Justice, chaired by Chris Clifton;
- Education Law, chaired by Christopher Campbell;
- Elder Law, chaired by Walt Sheffield;
- Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law, chaired by Debra Foster;
- Government & Public Sector, chaired by Jeff Gray;
- Intellectual Property Law, chaired by Steve Gardner;
- International Law and Practice, chaired by Michael Hawley;
- Juvenile Justice & Children’s Rights, chaired by Lewis Pitts;
- Labor and Employment Law, chaired by Julian Wright;
- Real Property, chaired by Chris Vaughn;
- Workers’ Compensation, chaired by Tony Lathrop; and
- Zoning, Planning & Land Use, chaired by Lacy Reaves.
Sections that are just a few members shy of achieving goal and leading the charge to make goal this month are:
- Family Law, chaired by Rich Stephens;
- Health Law, chaired by Dean McCord;
- Litigation, chaired by Bonnie Weyher; and
- Sports & Entertainment, chaired by Thad Adams.
As is the case with lawyers who join the association this month, members who join sections in the final three months of the fiscal year are paid in full for the coming year as well, thereby adding incentive for anyone who is considering new or renewed membership in a section or sections for 2006-07.
“Things that get measured get done,” said NCBA Executive Director Allan Head in congratulating both the sections that have fulfilled their goals and the staff members who assisted in this endeavor. “When President Mike Colombo said a 3% membership growth in each and every section was one of his goals for the year, I knew our staff was up to it. Our team really pulled together, emphasizing the importance of membership while providing more and more services to help recruit and retain members.
“I was very pleased to see the enthusiasm with which the volunteer leaders in all sections took this goal to heart. Their efforts resulted in a wonderful increase in section memberships – which as we all know is one of the main reasons many NCBA members join and retain their Association membership.
“This is, however, one emphasis we must continue to keep on our radar screen. Healthy sections, growing their membership, bring great strength to the N.C. Bar Association.”
Another vital component of the NCBA, the Legal Assistants Division, has achieved an astonishing growth rate of its own in 2005-06. Membership in LAD has increased by more than one-third, from 649 to 875.