Many fine lawyers have practiced in Peoria, including Abraham Lincoln and Robert Ingersoll, a Peoria lawyer who served as Illinois Attorney General and was known as the finest orator in America for several decades after the Civil War. We walk in the steps of Everett McKinley Dirksen, who went on to serve with distinction in the United States Senate. Seven of our members have served as Presidents of our State bar association. We rightly believe we are the finest bar association in Illinois. It is my great honor to serve as President of the Peoria County Bar Association, continuing the work of my predecessors to expand the reach of our activities for our members and our community.
As the 103rd President of this Association, I will work with you to provide first rate continuing legal education opportunities and meaningful activities for all our members and to improve the standing of lawyers in our community. At the same time, we will continue our efforts to provide benefits and services to our members and to make the practice of law a rewarding experience. In these challenging times (I wonder how many of my predecessors have written that same phrase in describing their upcoming year?) this Association must do all it can to allow our members to make a reasonable living from the practice of law, allow them to retire in reasonable comfort, and provide places for the many new graduates being produced by law schools each year.
As the husband of a practicing attorney, the father of two professional women and the partner and employer of women attorneys, I am keenly aware of the challenges facing women in developing a professional practice and balancing the demands of family life. We must continue to provide opportunities for all our members and new graduates, so that there is a real track to partnership in private practice for the women who now make up the majority of law students and graduates around the country.
Any bar association is only as strong as the efforts of its members as volunteers. Thank you to each of you who serves on the Board or a committee, speaks at a CLE seminar, makes a presentation for Law Day in the schools, works on a pro bono case, or picks up the phone when someone calls on behalf of the Association. Peoria is a great place to live, to raise a family and to practice law. We may not agree on every issue, but together we can build and strengthen this Association, the profession and our community.
I know we’ll have a good year, and as I thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President, I ask you to join in to help me continue the fine traditions of our Association, and to make its services even more effective and rewarding.
Karl B. Kuppler, PCBA President 2010-11
