National Conference of Bar Presidents

Registration is now open for the 2025 NCBP Annual Meeting, August 7-9, in Toronto, ON! Continue celebrating NCBP's 75th anniversary with old friends and new and connect with other bar leaders at the 2025 NCBP Annual Meeting. We'll focus on the latest trends affecting the legal profession, and you will also have plenty of time to engage in insightful roundtable discussions where you can share best practices as well as pitfalls. Network, become a well-informed bar leader, learn, and celebrate our collective achievements while preparing for the challenges ahead in the ever-evolving legal landscape. All NCBP sessions will be at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Register and view a preliminary schedule here: https://loom.ly/f8lAr5k

How can you be a steward of NCBP and its mission to empower, connect and inspire bar leaders on their journey to be the best leaders they can be and unleash what’s possible for their communities? Consider applying to be a member of NCBP's Executive Council or as Secretary. Apply by May 30, 2025, and learn more about eligibility, Council roles and responsibilities: https://loom.ly/9Pg4lU8

Wondering how you can access resources or learn about sessions you may have missed from the 2025 NCBP Midyear Meeting? In several upcoming posts, we are highlighting key sessions from the Midyear Meeting. Next up is the Saturday morning plenary, Reframing the Rule of Law for Bar Associations – An Open Forum, where opening remarks were shared via recorded video from Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, in an interview with moderator Carl Smallwood. The program then moved on to a panel discussion featuring Amanda Arriaga, Nancy Conrad, Judge Adrienne Nelson, and Miles Pringle where they shared their perspectives representing mandatory, voluntary, and metro bars and shared the best ways to protect and advance the rule of law in 2025. View the full interview with Jeffrey and access additional resources from this program on the Midyear Meeting agenda page: https://loom.ly/GRwsiNg

This month's NCBP Member Spotlight is on Nicole M. Smithson! Nicole is a 2024-25 NCBP Diversity Scholar and a member of the Non-Dues Revenue Committee. She also is currently serving as president of the WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF MICHIGAN. Nicole was asked how NCBP has helped her grow as a bar leader, and she said, "NCBP provided opportunities to learn from bar leaders around the country and take a deeper dive into topics that I normally would not have been able to learn more about." Her personal theme song is "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J - "Like LL, I been here for years and over the competition I'm towerin'." Want to see yourself or a colleague featured in a future member spotlight? Just fill out this simple member spotlight questionnaire! ???? https://loom.ly/DAR1UYw

Wondering how you can access resources or learn about sessions you may have missed from the 2025 NCBP Midyear Meeting? In several upcoming posts, we are highlighting key sessions from the Midyear Meeting. First up is the Thursday afternoon plenary, Leading Your Bar: Tips for Your Presidential Year, where speakers David Blaner, Molly Flood, Terra Nevitt, and Brenda Plowman, led by moderator Lynette Paczkowski, provided essential and practical tips for stepping into your role as bar president in their 15-minute TED-style talks. They covered starting the year off right with a successful board orientation and working committees, bar finances, non-dues revenue, and managing a crisis. Access each speaker’s presentation slides on the Midyear agenda page: https://loom.ly/GRwsiNg

Order your NCBP 75th anniversary merch! Time is running out to order special NCBP merch to celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2025. Choose from branded jackets, vests, sweaters, and much more, and rep NCBP at the Annual Meeting in August and your own bar events throughout the year. So don't wait! Order by this Friday, February 21st: https://loom.ly/anq6628

"The past teaches us lessons. The present offers us opportunities. The future gives us hope. Thanks to all those in NCBP who over the last 75 years have taught us lessons through their leadership. Thanks to those in NCBP today for creating the opportunities we have which are moving us forward. As to the future of NCBP, I have said it before and I will say it again, 'The future so bright, I gotta wear shades.'" -- Joseph M. Sullivan, NCBP Past President and 75th Anniversary Committee Chair NCBP was founded in 1950 to provide information and training to state and local bar association leaders. 75 years later, NCBP is still empowering, connecting and inspiring bar leaders and organizations. NCBP kicked off its 75th Anniversary celebrations with a special Past President’s Forum on January 30, at the 2025 Midyear Meeting in Phoenix and continued them during the Welcome Cocktail Reception and the NCBP Council Dinner, led by a toast from NCBP Past President and 75th Anniversary Committee Chair Joe Sullivan. 75th Anniversary celebrations will continue throughout 2025, concluding with a gavel pass of past NCBP presidents to welcome new NCBP President Patrick Palace at the Annual Meeting in August, as well as a gala on August 8. Keep checking the NCBP 75th Anniversary webpage for more information and to order your 75th Anniversary gear – merchandise will be available until Feb. 21! https://lnkd.in/g9fPm_2Y

What a great few days it was last week at the 2025 NCBP Midyear Meeting in sunny Phoenix! Thursday featured programming that honored past NCBP presidents and ended with a lovely reception with live music where everyone could mingle before their first night at Midyear. Our president Dan Cotter and president-elect Patrick Palace then kicked off Friday programming with high energy that flowed into an informative and eye-opening session on AI in the legal profession with CEO of Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology Jack Newton. We got to honor our three award recipients at the luncheon--Mark A. Dupree, Sr., Carl Smallwood, and Diana Perez Gomez. It was wonderful getting the chance to honor them and their contribution to the legal profession. Thank you again to NCBP's generous sponsors, without whom these meetings wouldn't happen -- LexisNexis, Clio, Momentive Software, CLE Abroad and Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Special shoutout to Arizona State University and their participation in the AI Lab during the sponsor breaks. Let's keep the celebration going in August in Toronto for the 2025 Annual Meeting!

Congrats to past Executive Council member Richard Kaplan for his firm being selected as a Law360 White Collar Practice Group of the Year! Your success is much deserved, Rick.

This month's NCBP Member Spotlight is on Sharon Stern Gerstman! Sharon is a past member of the NCBP Executive Council and is the current chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Leadership, which presents the Bar Leadership Institute with the American Bar Association Center for Bar Leadership for upcoming bar leaders, this year on March 12-14, 2025 in Chicago. Sharon was asked how has NCBP helped her grow as a bar leader, and she said, "Working on many programs for Annual, Midyear and 21st Century Lawyer has allowed me to be deeply informed on important issues and the various views towards tackling them." Her personal theme song is "If I Had Wings" by Peter, Paul and Mary, especially the last line: "I won't ask of myself to become something else, I'll just be me." Want to see yourself or a colleague featured in a future member spotlight? Just fill out this simple member spotlight questionnaire! ???? https://loom.ly/DAR1UYw