SBAND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SBAND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
PROVIDING STRONG RESOURCES TO NEARLY 3,000 SBAND MEMBERS
TONY J. WEILER SBAND Executive Director
SBAND continues to thrive in our mission of serving our members, so you can serve your clients. Our staff of four full-time employees, along with a contract staff attorney, and contract Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Program director, continue to serve our nearly 3,000 members. We are in the process of hiring a new executive assistant as our current team member is heading to the University of North Dakota School of Law.
We are consistently looking for ways to help you in what you do, and because of that, we launched a new website on Aug. 3. We hope you find it easier to navigate and find information you are looking for, while still being a landing place for information we are providing to you.
We have also worked very hard over the last several years to streamline our CLE reporting process. We understand the system in Minnesota is one that many of our members really like. We spent considerable time looking at Minnesota’ s OASIS system, which cost well over $ 1 million to build. That simply wasn’ t feasible for SBAND, and a custom application built by those who do such things was also very cost prohibitive. The additional problem with a custom application is if it doesn’ t work or it is not liked.
Our association management system is run through a company called YourMembership. No system is perfect, but we find this to be one of the most effective in the bar association world. We think your reporting will be easier, but not like that of other states. We will continue to tweak it to make sure we are meeting your needs. If you ever have questions you can reach out to me or my team.
As you may know, we are focused on our two-year strategic plan that includes doing more pro bono with Legal Services of North Dakota. We are actively planning how best to meet the needs of those in our state who cannot afford legal services.
I recently served on the Lawyer Licensing Task Force with several judges, justices, members of the bar, and legislators. This second iteration of this task force was established by the Court to examine the structure of lawyer licensing in North Dakota and to identify reforms that may better serve the public, the legal profession, and the justice system. The task force formed three subcommittees covering the topics of paraprofessional licensing and non-lawyer assistance, online education, and the supervised practice of law. Each subcommittee reported to the full task force with recommendations surrounding each specific area.
The task force finished an“ interim report” and provided that to the Court on June
30.( If you are interested in a copy of the report, please reach out to me). The Court will now review the recommendations and propose legislation or court rules for implementation. I believe these proposals will improve the practice in North Dakota and provide more access to justice in our state.
As I celebrate my 13th anniversary as your executive director, I’ m proud to report I’ m now the president of the National Association of Bar Executives( NABE), a nationwide member organization with close to 500 members. I have been on the NABE board since 2019, and it’ s hard but rewarding work. I’ m only the second North Dakotan in NABE’ s 85-year history to serve as president. The first was Alfred Schultz in 1969( ironically, the year I was born). Schultz was SBAND’ s first full-time executive director and called being the president of NABE one of the highlights of his professional career.
I must thank all my past and present bar leaders and board members for allowing my involvement in NABE. It truly is a place to learn and grow and bring back best practices and ideas to our bar. It’ s also a place where I can share the great things we are doing here at SBAND. Thank you!
As always, feel free to reach out to me if you ever have any questions or want to chat about SBAND.
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