Joining some 300 other emerging leaders of lawyer organizations from across the country at the American Bar Association’s Bar Leadership Institute (BLI), March 12-14 was Thomas P. Whelley, II, incoming President (above, third from left), and Hon. Mary E. Donovan, incoming First Vice President (above, second from left) of the Dayton Bar Association.

The BLI is held annually in Chicago for incoming officials of local and state bars, special focus lawyer organizations, and bar foundations. The seminar provides the opportunity to confer with ABA officials, bar leader colleagues, executive staff, and other experts on the operation of such associations.

Whelley and Donovan joined ABA President H. Thomas Wells, Jr. of Birmingham, AL, and ABA Executive Director Henry F. White, Jr. in sessions on bar governance, finance, communications, and planning for a presidential term.

Various ABA entities briefed the participants on resources available from the ABA for local, state, national, and specialty bar associations and foundations.

The BLI is sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services and the ABA Division for Bar Services as part of the Association’s long-standing goal of fostering partnerships with state and local bars and related organizations. Cooperating ABA staff entities included the Division for Media Relations and Communication Services.

With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.