|
|
The Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota
A Message from the ACTLM Dean,
Charlie Bird
Dear ACTLM Members:
It has been with great pleasure that I have had the honor of serving
as your Dean for the past year. As we approach the midpoint of
2010, it is with great pride that I am able to say that it has been and
will be a year of accomplishment and transition. ACTLM is
not only maintaining its current membership, we are enjoying new members
increasingly joining our ranks. We have been striving
hard to control costs and, as such, have been fortunate enough to not
have to increase dues for the past several years, including the upcoming
year. At the same time, we have added the benefit of including
member attendance in the cost for the Spring and Annual meetings. Through
the dedicated volunteerism of our officers and members and the efforts
of our Executive Director, Kristi Paulson, we continue to
offer many valuable opportunities for networking, information sharing,
and promoting professionalism in the practice of trial law.
In May, 2010 ACTLM hosted its Spring meeting which was held at the Lexington
in St. Paul, MN. The meeting was very well attended by our membership
and we were fortunate to have Justice Helen Meyer as the keynote speaker
addressing the Coleman/Franken election trial. Your incoming Dean,
Tom Jensen, worked hard to put together a fantastic CLE program on the
topic of E-Discovery. Judge Janie Mayeron, Eric Mandel
and Paul Luehr each put on very well prepared and articulately presented
presentations and shared their knowledge and expertise with all our members
in attendance. There were several individuals attending the ACTLM
Spring meeting for the first time and I am happy to report that the feedback
from the first time attendees was all positive as we had an opportunity
to visit during the social hour following the seminar.
We have an exciting ACTLM Summer event planned for our membership August
17th. We were able to secure the Skyline Suite at the new Twin's
Stadium and that evening 96 members and guests will be watching the Minnesota
Twins in the company of the best trial lawyers in the State. At
7:05 that evening, the Twins will take on the White Sox and it is
looking like the tickets will be hot tickets, as the White Sox just took
over the lead in the Central Division. We will enjoy an appetizer
menu and the opportunity to, once again, get together and socialize. Seems
like a great way to spend an August evening -- get together with
your fellow ACTLM members, have a hot dog and a beer and get to know
each other a little better. If we can beat Ozzie Guillen again,
that’s a bonus. If you don’t have a ticket now, call
Kristi Paulson -- the event is sold out but in the event any tickets
become available -- she will do what she can to see that you get one.
Even though we are enjoying this lovely Minnesota summer, the officers
have been working hard to prepare for the Annual Meeting that has been planned
for Friday, October 22, 2010 at the Minneapolis Club. I,
as your Dean, have been working hard to secure a great speaker for this
event and more details will follow once the speaker confirms. Once
again, ACTLM will honor a Distinguished Jurist from the long list of
well deserving retired judges from our State. Bob Christensen,
ACTLM Secretary, will lead the committee in the task of selecting the
2010 honoree. The Annual Meeting is also the time that we elect
the officers to govern for the upcoming year; Tom Jensen, ACTLM
Dean-Elect, is chairing the nomination committee and will have the committee's
recommendation ready to present at the Annual Meeting. Kate
Flom, ACTLM Treasurer, has been hard at work making sure that our finances
are in order. Dues statements will be coming our for the 2010-2011
year so we know that she will finish off her year as treasurer hopefully
able to report that all members have paid his or her dues by the time
the Annual Meeting rolls around.
I am proud to say that our committee structures are getting more and
more established and the volunteers are not only growing in number but
are demonstrating hard work and dedication to ACTLM. The Long
Range Planning Committee under the watchful eye of Tom Jensen and Bob
Christensen have met several times and are hard at work establishing
future plans and goals for our organization. The Membership Committee
under the leadership of Bob Christensen and Jim Lavoie are set to begin
a membership drive in the upcoming weeks. Howard Helgen has once
again agreed to take the lead on the Judicial Endorsement Committee and
that committee is getting ready to make its recommendations for judicial
endorsements in the upcoming months prior to the elections. I
have just mentioned a few of the committees and a few of the members
- but my thanks go out to all of you as ACTLM members for your hard work
and time in making this organization one of the most valuable and worthy
organizations.
While ACTLM is a great organization as it is, we are working hard to
make sure that the image is dynamic and professional. We have
a new logo that will be revealed soon. Thanks to the efforts of
Tom Jensen in leading the project in soliciting proposals and in getting
the final selection ready for use by ACTLM. We are also
looking to update our website and efforts are in process to make that
happen in the next few months.
I am most interested in hearing any ideas or suggestions that you may
have and I encourage you to feel free to give me a call, drop me a line
or send me an email. I still have several months to serve as your
Dean and my dedication and service to this organization will not cease
at the conclusion of my term. I assure you of that.
Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your
Dean.
Charlie Bird
ACTLM Dean 2009-2010
Return to top
|
