By James T. Leavitt
I have been instructed by our amazing Stephanie Abbott to make this president’s message more of a shout-out for upcoming events and to thank those who have contributed so much to our community in past events. As such, I am happy to oblige!
You may notice on the cover of this issue a picture of me wearing an Uncle Sam costume with the co-chairs of our New Lawyers Committee Pranava Moody and Danielle Jimenez. There are a couple of reasons for this!
First, we ran a contest among our various committees to see which committee could sign up the most new members. While the competition was stiff, the New Lawyers Committee won! The prize was allowing representatives from the winning committee to appear on this month’s cover of the Communiqué (June/July 2026)!
Second, we are promoting the CCBA’s now annual anniversary party! The theme this year, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the USA, is “Vintage Americana”! This event is going to be amazing and will be taking place on June 25th, 2026, at the Speakeasy @ the Mob Museum! Get your tickets now!
I’d like to offer another shout-out to Clifford Senior Law, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Nevada Legal Services, and the Senior Law Project for an amazing night of trivia on April 23rd, 2026. It was an amazing night of fun supporting the 2026 Section Pro Bono Challenge. The event generated 21 new attorney volunteers (including yours truly). I had an amazing time, and it was an example of what I have been writing about in these messages since January. It showed how events like this can bring our legal community together to have fun, volunteer for good work, and promote civility within our profession. Personally, I can’t wait for next year’s event! Congratulations to the winners, “Mostly Lawyers,” with team members Kathleen Bergquist, Hai Ling Chu, Ron Sung, and friends, who narrowly edged out my team by one point!
Finally, I want to thank Meadows Bank for their very generous sponsorship of our Mark’s Blanket the Homeless Program. As our first corporate sponsor of the program, they provided $2,025 towards the purchase of blankets to be distributed this fall. I would like to encourage everyone else to follow the guiding example of Meadows Bank in supporting this amazing program! Our donor page can be found at clarkcountybar.org (https://clarkcountybar.org/community-service-activities/blanket-the-homeless/).
About the author
James T. Leavitt operates Leavitt Legal Services, P.C. in Las Vegas, Nevada. His practice focuses primarily on bankruptcy law and criminal law. James earned his bachelor’s degree in U.S. History from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and his Juris Doctorate at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. James serves as CCBA President through December 2026.
About the article
This article was originally published in the Communiqué (June/July 2026), the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association.
The articles and advertisements appearing in Communiqué magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the CCBA, the CCBA Publications Committee, the editorial board, or the other authors. All legal and other issues discussed are not for the purpose of answering specific legal questions. Attorneys and others are strongly advised to independently research all issues.
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