I am grateful for having the opportunity to serve as the CCBA President this year. I am pleased to report that our organization continues to thrive with active members participating in bar events and services.
A few weeks ago, on October 21, 2021, Nevada’s newly minted lawyers were sworn-in at a ceremony held at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. At the invitation of Supreme Court of Nevada Chief Justice Hardesty, I congratulated the new lawyers on attaining the milestone and welcomed them to the practice of law on behalf of the Clark County Bar Association and its membership. Offering some advice, I relayed that one of the tenets of the CCBA is professionalism and explained that CCBA members pledge to serve clients with undivided allegiance; pay courts and tribunals respect, diligence, candor, and punctuality; and offer other counsel and staff, courtesy, candor, and cooperation. I was fortunate to be accompanied by many of the Directors of the CCBA Executive Board and Donna and Steph were on hand to distribute welcome packets to the admittees. The future looks bright!
In the next few weeks, on December 2, 2021, the CCBA will host the annual 40 Year Club Induction Luncheon at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate those Nevada attorneys who have been practicing law in Nevada for 40 years. The luncheon will also honor those attorneys who were previously inducted into the 40 Year Club and who have now been practicing law in Nevada for 45 years and 50 years! With Dan Polsenberg returning as our MC, I personally invite you to attend this very special event to pay tribute to the stalwart “who’s who” of our legal community.
The juxtaposition between the two events could easily be viewed as stark. The celebration of inexperienced lawyers beginning their careers versus the celebration of seasoned lawyers who have mastered the practice of law. Nonetheless, both instances celebrate membership in the Nevada Bar. Novice or veteran, we will forever be members of one of the same clubs: the Nevada Bar. To that end, we owe it to each other to treat all attorneys with the civility and respect.
As the end of the year draws near and we celebrate Thanksgiving later this month, I invite you to reflect on your legal career and identify who helped you develop your legal skills. Then, take the time to contact the lawyer(s) you identified and express your gratitude.
Finally, as I look forward to the continued success of the CCBA, I invite all members to renew for the 2022 membership year and continue to participate in CCBA’s activities. To that end, please be sure to complete the 2022 CCBA Members Diversity Form. The form will be available via hyperlink in an email to members upon renewal. The form will not collect personal identifiers like name, email address, or IP address. The form will collect information relevant to a member’s ethnicity, veteran status, years of practice, and more. With this information, we will be able to enhance our understanding of diversity issues relevant to our membership. The information will help us to better organize educational programs that facilitate constructive discussion and Increase cultural understanding of others within the profession.
Thank you for being an active CCBA member.
About the author
James E. Harper, Esq. is the founding member of Harper Selim, PLLC, a civil and commercial litigation firm. James’s practice is focused on insurance matters, including coverage and bad faith, and appellate matters. James is president of the CCBA through December 2021.
About this article: This article was originally published in the “Real Estate Law” issue of Communiqué, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association, (November 2021). See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2021/communique-november-2021/.
© 2021 Clark County Bar Association (CCBA). All rights reserved. No reproduction of any portion of this issue is allowed without written permission from the publisher. Editorial policy available upon request.