The Atlanta Lawyer January/February 2014 | Seite 9

Celebrating 125 Years

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were renovated, and the Atlanta Bar worked to develop and
pilot the first affordable software specially designed for bar
associations. Three-year strategic planning sessions began,
which resulted in the creation of the Reputation and Public
Trust Committee, the Celebrating Service luncheon, and the
new “Lawyers Who Serve” logo. A new mission statement was
drafted and approved. Sally Hogsette was hired as the first
full-time Executive Director for the Atlanta Bar Foundation,
alleviating some work from the Atlanta Bar Association
Executive Director, Diane O’Steen.
It was during Shayna Steinfeld’s presidency in 2008 that
membership was at an all-time high; however, the Atlanta
legal community was not immune from next year’s recession,
and membership dues dropped $40,000 in 2009. Energized
and challenged by this, the next Bar Presidents – David
Schaeffer (2009), Michael B. Terry (2010), Rita Sheffey (2011),
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association

Lynn Roberson (2012), and Wade H. Watson III (2013) - all
continued to strengthen the Bar’s commitment to its members,
the public, diversity, public interest, and public service.
As we look back to the Atlanta Bar Association’s beginnings125
years ago – the 100 lawyers gathered at the Fulton County
Courthouse on a balmy Saturday afternoon in an effort to
promote the honor and dignity of the legal profession – we are
reminded of the adage that the more things change, the more
they stay the same. Celebrating the 125th anniversary of the
Atlanta Bar Association, we are again in a city surging with
energy and renewal, a legal landscape changing and growing,
and the Atlanta Bar at the helm of prominent participation and
leadership in creating not only a just practice of law, but a just,
safe and hopeful community.

January/February 2014

THE ATLANTA LAWYER

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