VBA Blawg: We the People (and other highlights)

Of course our 139^th Annual Meeting was chock full of quality, informative and entertaining CLE’s. That goes without saying. We are so fortunate to have a dedicated and knowledgeable volunteer pool of members to choose from when organizing our annual meetings. So first stop, in this post-meeting blog, is to give a HUGE thank you to all of our volunteer presenters that helped make our meeting a success. But wait, there’s more!

New on the agenda this year, was a 2-hour ethics seminar using movie clips to highlight the best, but more often than not, the worst, legal ethical violations on screen (and hopefully just on screen!). Larry Cohen delivered a hilarious and enlightening presentation, while members were treated to popcorn and a cash bar throughout. The most surprising moment? When we suggested a break at the half-way point so folks could stretch and refresh at the bar and the majority vote was to keep going! Members were thoroughly engaged—the presentation was a real treat.

Another notable event? The luncheon business meeting! No, that wasn’t a typo. Yes, the required business meeting can be dry at times, and long, but, alas, it is the members’ annual business meeting containing many mandatory elements. To kick off the meeting, we were treated to a speech from Governor Scott who commended the essential and beneficial work of lawyers in the State on many planes. Also, this year during the meeting, Chief Justice Reiber led the entire membership through a restatement of the Oath of Admission. Hearing all of us recite the oath in unison was inspiring and reinvigorated a sense of loyalty and a common duty of service. For further motivation, we heard from the VBF and Access to Justice Campaign as well as from the Attorney General about the food drive results.

Most would agree that the top feature of the luncheon meeting was the karaoke treat by outgoing President Mike Kennedy. As promised in his blog, if a person or firm gave $1,000 to the Access to Justice Campaign, he would perform a song at the Annual Meeting. And perform he did! President Kennedy recited a statistic indicating that only 40% of polled Americans knew even ONE of the protections afforded in the First Amendment. So, facing laughter, tears, surprise, awe, a chorus of members and applause, Mike sang the preamble to the Constitution from the Schoolhouse Rock series. The video clips won’t be in this blog, but hope to post video to our website. It was incredible, with the whole crowd joining in! After a performance like that, we can understand why incoming President Dan Maguire scrapped his speech and had to just give props to Mike. What’s on the agenda next year, Dan?

Throughout the 2-day event, members networked, laughed and brainstormed cases. It is always fun to watch members connect, or re-connect at our large gatherings. The seminar rooms were all well-attended and the questions were flowing. The pictures from the event are below, including glimpses in each room, from wellness to real estate, from employment law to cemeteries, from bias to Casemaker, from probate to Act 250 and from evidence to pro bono, among others.

Hopefully our attendees still had time to visit our exhibitors and sponsors offering products and services to help attorneys streamline their practices. We had an amazing batch of sponsors and exhibitors this year, so special thanks to them as well!

As we wind down from an amazing event, don’t forget Real Estate Law Day on November 15^th, ESOPS on December 6^th and our Mid-Year Meeting on March 22^nd-23^rd. We encourage our members in attendance to complete the survey as we strive to constantly improve our service to our members. Also, even if you weren’t in attendance, please feel free to drop me a line with any CLE suggestions or suggestions for the VBA. We are here and we are always listening. Enjoy the event pictures, below and see you next time!