SBAND 118th Annual Meeting Highlights
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By Tony Weiler, Executive Director, SBAND
The State Bar Association of North Dakota’ s annual meeting was held June 14-16 in Fargo, and all attendees agreed it was one of the best. Most of the continuing legal education seminars were held at the Delta by Marriot, formerly the Ramada Plaza Suites, and the social events were held at the Sanctuary Events Center in downtown Fargo and the Avalon West.
ABA President Linda Klein
American Bar Association( ABA) President Linda Klein kicked off the event with a welcome and talk describing issues facing lawyers across the country and giving tips on how the ABA can help lawyers do their jobs.
The meeting’ s opening plenary session was a program and talk by NFL referee and Phoenix trial lawyer Ed Hochuli. He spoke about“ Managing Crisis in Real Time,” which included the similarities of referring an NFL game to those of being a lawyer. Hochuli used clips from certain NFL teams and players to explain how players manage events and circumstances that come at them quickly, and what lawyers can learn from how they handle those situations. Hochuli provided this seminar while wearing his NFL uniform and spent a lot of time after his session chatting with attendees, taking photographs, and signing autographs.
Ed Hochuli 6 THE GAVEL
The format for this year’ s annual meeting featured several different tracks at one time, with the opportunity to hear a speaker at different times during the day. The speakers were varied and covered a wide range of topics. This year’ s Mart Vogel
The Mart Vogel Lecture Presenters
Lecture on Professional and Legal Ethics covered“ The Challenges of Wellness in Our Legal Communities.” Presenters included UND School of Law Dean Kathryn R. L. Rand, Lawyer’ s Assistance Program Chair John Olson, and Professor David A. Grenardo. The panel was moderated by UND School of Law Professor Michael McGinniss.
Other CLE programs included“ Communications for Lawyers” by Meredith Z. Avakian-Hardaway from the Philidelphia Bar Association,“ Memory Power” by Paul Mellor,“ The Structure of the Fourth Amendment” by Thomas K. Clancy, a LAP Sponsored program called the“ Joyful Journey” by Bob Bianchi, and a Women’ s Lawyers Section program called“ Balancing
Tony Weiler the Scales,” which included lecturer and panelist Sharon Rowen, along with Lynn Erin Slaathaug Moen, Justice Carol Kapsner, and moderator Lori Conroy. Some of the presenters provided multiple programs, including Mellor, who also presented“ How to Remember Names & Other Important Stuff.” The annual meeting concluded with a plenary session presented by Robins Kaplan lawyer Bill Manning, who discussed“ Nelson Mandela: The Greatest Lawyer That Has Ever Lived.”
Social Gatherings Held around Fargo
Attendees at this year’ s annual meeting were treated to an opening night social at the Sanctuary Event Center in downtown Fargo.