From the Chair

As we begin the 2013-14 year for the Standing Committee on Government Lawyers, I must extend a warm thank you to outgoing Chair Sharon L. Eiseman, who provided such effective and caring leadership for the Committee in the 2012-13 year. Sharon’s leadership was shown in all aspects of the Committee’s activities in the past year, from her contributions to The Public Servant newsletter, to the roles she assumed in fostering the Committee’s CLE programs, to guiding us at the Committee’s regular meetings. Sharon’s role in the CLE programs was invaluable; Sharon contributed throughout the process of developing and presenting CLE programs, starting from the idea stage, to fostering co-sponsorship of the programs by the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Racial and Ethnic Minorities, to arranging for speakers and participating in the presentations. Sharon continues to contribute strongly to the Committee as we look forward to this coming year. For example, Sharon has been working on two proposed CLE programs, one of which addresses “The Role and Reach of Independent Inspectors General.” Sharon has fostered the goals of the Committee and been a great support to all of us who serve on the Committee.

The Committee’s goals include bringing together attorneys in government service, discussing common interests, benefiting from each others’ talents, and keeping informed of developments in the law affecting government. The Committee also has the benefit of participation of attorneys from across the state. The Committee will continue to support the ISBA’s goals, particularly those that ISBA President Paula H. Holderman has determined the ISBA should focus on addressing this year—namely: the challenges facing new lawyers; the future of the courts; defining and marketing the value of ISBA membership; and women and diversity in the law.

Our Committee in the recent past has been excited about considering new ways of increasing membership of government attorneys in the ISBA. We have focused on having valuable information on the Committee’s link on the ISBA website (http://www.isba.org/committees/governmentlawyers). Now we would like to focus on how we can use electronic and other means to reach out to more attorneys and draw attorneys to the ISBA and the Government Lawyers Committee. Our Committee also is made up of a group of attorneys with a diversity of practice areas and representing a number of local, state, and federal government offices. We have presented CLE programs, such as the “Ethics Extravaganza,” that have brought a number of attorneys from around the state and have been very well received. And, with the support of the ISBA, we have been able to offer our CLE programs often at a discounted cost to participants. We are committed to continuing to contribute to strong CLE programs and also to promote the ISBA’s Free CLE for Members benefit.

The year already has been off to a great start, as a large number of our Committee members attended the annual meeting held in Lake Geneva in June. We welcomed many new members, and are fortunate that a number of members are returning. I am very happy to be serving this year on the Committee with such talented and enthusiastic attorneys. I thank Pablo Eves for taking on the role of Vice Chair, and Kevin Lovellette for serving as the Committee’s Secretary. Also, thanks goes out to Patrick Driscoll, who continues to serve as the Committee’s CLE Coordinator; and to all of the Committee members who already have agreed to serve on one or more of the Committee’s sub-committees. Finally, I must give special thanks to the Committee’s long-serving Newsletter editors, Lynn Patton and Kate Kelly, who have graciously agreed to continue to serve as editors this year, with the generous assistance also of Tiffany Elking. I think the entire Committee also looks forward to working with new Staff Liaison Rachel McDermott, who already has provided invaluable assistance. Here’s to another great year! ■