SBAND PRESIDENT
SBAND PRESIDENT
THE STATE BAR ASSOCIATION’ S CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO THE PROFESSION AND OUR COMMUNITIES
ROB MANLY SBAND President
I’ m honored to serve as your State Bar Association of North Dakota president through June 2027. I’ ve served on the board since 2020 with a succession of excellent previous presidents, including our most recent, Deb Hoffarth. Deb’ s commitment to her profession is only matched by her kindness and generosity. SBAND is better for her many contributions, and I want to start my first essay expressing my appreciation for her service.
So where are we as a profession as we hustle and bustle through 2026, my 30th year of practice? I’ ve attended no shortage of bar leadership meetings and CLEs proclaiming( and often decrying) the rapid pace with which our profession has changed. Remote work, Zoom hearings, and electronic filing did not exist when I started practicing law in 1997. And with artificial intelligence( AI) being integrated into many of our practices- with the promise of enhancements to AI being imminent- the pace of change is staggering.
That said, for purposes of this column, I want to buck this trend. I’ d like to examine those parts of our profession that have NOT changed and remain essential to the practice moving forward.
First off, we remain problem solvers. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the rest of these AI tools can generate text, provide data, and summarize endless documentation. They can suggest certain arguments to counter your opponents. However, while many of our clients have plugged their issue into a laptop or iPhone, they depend on us to utilize our experience, education, and above all, common sense to navigate them through their legal problems.
Secondly, we remain communicators. AI can quickly spit out perfunctory emails and even legal memoranda. But leveraging that information and effectively communicating it to the court and opposing counsel remains the province of attorneys. Clear, informative, and persuasive communication remains vital to our profession.
Finally, we remain public servants. Just look at any North Dakota law firm’ s website, scan the attorney bios, and you’ ll notice example after example of SBAND members serving on boards of charitable organizations, contributing to local schools, coaching youth sports, and providing pro bono services to those without financial means. In a profession that still values time as its means of income, our attorneys remain committed to putting their valuable time into enhancing their communities ahead of their personal financial interests.
While technological advancements will undoubtedly improve the efficiency with which we can complete various tasks, AI is not going to present arguments to a judge or jury and is not going to look a client in the eye and offer reassurance. AI will quickly find statutes and case law, but will not be able to advise a client as to how a judge may interpret and apply the law.
In the face of persistent technological and cultural change, our mission at SBAND remains the same. As previous SBAND President Dann Greenwood said at SBAND’ s Centennial Annual Meeting in 1999:“ During the last 100 years, members of the State Bar Association have been gatekeepers and grounds keepers of the … law, serving as guardians of the rights and defenders of law on the front line of reform, taking on an outmoded system, and putting the public before their pockets or their prestige.”
Our mission as a profession in 2026 remains the same as in 1899 and 1999, and will hold true for the decades of change to come.
I look forward to helping usher our state bar through another year of rapid change, while remaining true to our 127 years of principles and service. Our executive director, Tony Weiler, and your board of governors are committed to responsiveness to our members. Thanks for having me as your board president.
4 THE GAVEL