SIDEBAR Winter 2017-18 - 4

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

OUTGOING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

A

Eric B. Smith, Esq.
Montgomery Bar Association
2017 President

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MONTGOMERY BAR ASSOCIATION
BUSINESS HOURS:
Monday thru Friday
8:45 AM - 4:45 PM
ADDRESS:
100 West Airy Street
P.O. Box 268,
Norristown, PA 19404-0268
PHONE AND FAX:
Phone: 610-279-9660
Fax: 610-279-4321 & 610-279-4846
4 SIDEBAR

s I look back on 2017, I find myself honored and humbled to have served as
the President of this Association. All great experiences involve learning, and
this past year has been no exception.

GIVING. It can be said that our attorneys give their time and open their wallets
to pro bono endeavors, volunteer appointments and charitable causes and that our
Association is at the center of access to justice in the County. But, when we look at the
numbers of hours committed by our members, it is staggering. Court related volunteer
hours alone totaled approximately 1,325 for 2017. The Bar Foundation has 204
Fellows, and has given grants in 2017 totaling $60,000. MCAP has helped nearly 550
children in 2017, all by approximately 125 Montgomery County volunteer attorneys.
The Bar Foundation has celebrated 30 years of improving access to justice and giving.
In 2018 the MBF and the MBA will commence the EPIC eviction diversion program
in conjunction with the Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community
Development and Your Way Home collaborative, court administration, and the
Honorable Margaret Hunsicker's Magisterial District Court in Norristown. EPIC will
require dozens of volunteer attorneys, and the MBA will provide them. All of this is
just a small fraction of the volunteer contributions of our members, and it is a solid
reminder to all that lawyers and judges, are naturally charitable individuals.
BENCH AND BAR. Our Association enjoys a unique relationship with our Court
it has been said many times. Firsthand I witnessed the participation, teaching, giving,
volunteering and attendance by our Court in connection with MBA and MBF events.
The opening of Courtroom "A" for Law Day and the Annual Memorial Service; and
regular Full Bench attendance there and at our Bench Bar Committee Dinners are
standing testaments to this relationship. Even now, in 2017, our Court and the MBA
began working together in the design and implementation of the new Judicial Center.
When the Court calls on the MBA, the MBA and its members are there. The same
holds true in that every time the MBA needs volunteers, CLE lecturers, speakers, Mock
Trial Judges, even musical acts for Lawyerpalooza, our Court and Judges are there
as well. Thank you to our Court for its steadfast commitment to the MBA and its
support and participation in 2017.
COMMITTEES AND SECTIONS. Our committees and sections are the
backbone of the MBA and are active and vibrant, led by leaders in each substantive area
of the law. As Bar President, what I learned is the level of leadership and commitment

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SIDEBAR Winter 2017-18