PCBA's President's Message
Recently a friend asked me if I had selected a theme for my upcoming year as President of the PCBA. He reminded me of what other presidents had focused on: not long ago our presidents brought us a Habitat for Humanity project, started a committee on Fitness, Health & Wellness, and had drawn our attention to ways in which lawyers could assist those in the military with their legal needs. He suggested that I find some common cause for our bar association this year.
“Common Cause.” The more I thought about that phrase, the more I realized that nothing the PCBA does could ever be described as “common.” In fact, what sets us apart is the way we embrace the uncommon cause. Consider for example:
- How uncommon for lawyers to care that children of imprisoned felons receive a Christmas gift at the holidays.
- How uncommon for lawyers to roll up their sleeves and donate blood to the American Red Cross.
- How uncommon that, after a day in court litigating against our adversaries, we would put our arguments and differences aside and enjoy a drink together at a happy hour or play a round together at our golf outing.
- How uncommon that, for over 40 years, our bar association has been a leader in CLE, extending last year more than 2000 hours of unparalleled CLE Credit to hundreds of lawyers, and that we have done this long before it ever became mandatory.
- How uncommon for us to assemble every February over the last 103 years to celebrate the memory of Abraham Lincoln.
Our list of uncommon activities goes on. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the Peoria County Bar Association as its 104th President, 2011-12. Our success lies in our uncommon cause.