Leaders from the MBA's 27 affiliated bars will come together for networking and education on Oct. 31 at the MBA Bar Services Department's first annual Bar Leadership Institute.
The event, which takes place at the Warren Conference Center in Ashland from 8:30 a.m.- 4 p.m., will provide presidents, presidents-elect and executive directors with an opportunity to meet other bar leaders, share ideas and learn from experts.
One of MBA President Richard C. Van Nostrand's primary goals is to strengthen the legal community, and the Institute is a giant step toward achieving that goal.
Massachusetts has a diverse array of professional associations serving the legal profession and local communities, and this type of forum for networking and exchanging ideas will help leaders establish relationships that ultimately will benefit the profession as a whole, as well as each individual organization.
The institute program will cover a broad range of topics useful to bar leaders.
Keynote speaker Dan Coughlin, a consultant and executive coach, will speak on "See the Future and Actually Get There: Five Keys to Effective Leadership." He also will lead a session on motivating volunteers.
SJC Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall will address the group and MBA Past President Michael Greco, a candidate for ABA president-elect, will give his perspective on how local and specialty bar leaders fit into the state and national picture of professional leadership.
In addition, a media expert, past-presidents from local and specialty bars and representatives from the ABA, MBA and other New England state bar associations will facilitate sessions and discussions covering such topics as: "Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became President," "Public Image of the Profession," "Fiduciary Responsibility of Board Members" and "Volunteer Leadership: Sharing Ideas for the Future."
Presidents, presidents-elect and executive directors are invited to attend the Bar Leadership Institute for free, and other board members may attend for a fee of $125 per person.