Pictured left to right: Nicholas Shannin, Secretary Treasurer; Kristin Norse, Chair; Duane Daiker, Immediate Past Chair; Sarah Lahlou-Amine, Chair Elect; Chris Altenbernd, Vice-Chair
Dear Section Members,
I hope you are enjoying the summer and some hard-earned time off for family, friends, and adventure. Thanks to the Section’s new social media push, I’ve been able to see some of you in your “natural habitat,” as it were. Keep those photos and “shares” coming! And if you haven’t started following us on Facebook or Twitter, do it now!
Section members made a great big push leading up to our annual meeting and beyond to roll out some big changes implemented by our immediate past chair, Duane Daiker. Thanks to Duane’s leadership, we’ve seen a roll-out of The Record in its new online format, a switch from telephonic CLEs to webinars that can be recorded and viewed beyond the date of the presentation, and the new social media accounts to help our Section members connect. I cannot thank Duane enough for the great strides and the foundation he has built for continuing to move the Section forward.
My theme for this year is “Engage.” Through our current programs and some new ones, we hope to engage our members with each other, with other attorneys who can be referral sources with them, with The Bar and the courts, and with the community at large.
The year ahead is going to be a busy one. Here are some highlights of things to come:
- We will participate in the DCA Judges Conference from September 5 to 7 at the JW Marriott in Orlando, a unique opportunity to join appellate judges from across the state in social and educational programming.
- This is a key year for the Constitutional Revision Commission, and our members are in a unique position to speak to proposals that might seek to change the nature of the judiciary. Those changes may also be proposed in the January 2018 legislative session. Our Legislative Committee hopes to educate and engage members in those processes.
- We will continue our monthly CLE programming, but now through webinars which, if approved by the presenter, will permit recording and later viewing. A full slate of programming is already up on the website.
- Our Outreach Committee has already made strides to engage with other Sections and to recruit new and diverse members for our Section and for leadership.
- Our Publications and Communications are working together to ensure all members have the ability to publish articles for the Section and The Bar, and have immediate and easy access to articles, events, and information through our website, emails, and social media.
- We will be preparing for the Section’s 25th Anniversary with a celebration in 2018, and even looking forward to next year as Chair-Elect Sarah Lahlou-Amine is already working on an exciting and action-packed retreat for 2018.
There’s much more, so keep an eye on the website, emails, and your Facebook and Twitter accounts!
Finally, I am a firm believer in “many hands make light work”—and make the work more enjoyable. If you’ve been waiting to get more involved in the Section, now is the time! Please feel free to reach out to me or any of our leaders if you’d like to pitch in. I look forward to meeting more of you and seeing you in the year ahead.
Kristin Norse, Chair
Appellate Practice Section
knorse@kmf-law.com
(813) 229-1118
