December 2025 eBulletin Now Available

Dear Fellows:

Each fall the College gathers its leadership to launch the new working year that began with the installation of a new president at the Annual Meeting. The purpose of the aptly named Leadership Workshop is to educate and invigorate leadership and to provide an opportunity for fellowship.

The 2025 Leadership Workshop was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which blessed us with surprisingly warm weather for mid-November. Hawaii State Vice Chair Richard H.S. Sing from Honolulu won two prizes for his participation: 1) “longest flight” and 2) “only person who had to purchase a fall jacket so he could attend the meeting in comfort.”

The 112 attendees included three Past Presidents (Bob Byman, Doug Young, and Rodney Acker), the Immediate Past President (Rick Deane), the remainder of the Board of Regents (except for two who had business-related conflicts), and various chairs and vice chairs of our 62 state and province and nearly 40 general committees. Over 30 spouses also attended.

Attendance at this meeting is a big ask from our Fellows. While the College pays the costs of the attendees, I estimate that the participating Fellows collectively incurred an opportunity cost of over $1,100,000 by coming to Minneapolis.

Knowing the investment required, the Executive Committee and National Office staff worked hard to make the meeting as substantive as possible. The meeting began with an in-depth discussion over the organizational structure of the College, allowing each leader present to see how his or her role fit into the overall governance structure. Hours were spent discussing the importance of the work of state and local committees, focusing on ways to improve fellowship, increase our outreach, and the identification of new candidates for fellowship.

We also released what we call a “Guide to Successful Nominations.” This new document, recently created by a subgroup of the Admission to Fellowship Committee, explains the seventeen steps that lead to the induction of a new Fellow and gathers and restates all previously available material on the subjects in one place on our website. The new document will make it much easier to do the work necessary to bring new people into our fellowship.

Attendees also got an update on the current work of our general committees and their plans for the coming year and learned how the College makes decisions about whether to speak out on legal issues and the process used to issue statements. The clear message from the leaders who were present was that the College should continue to speak out on issues of judicial independence, the rule of law, and access to justice while maintaining our commitment to nonpartisanship and collegiality.

The entire group enjoyed dinner together on Thursday and Friday nights, giving our leadership from the United States and Canada the opportunity to get to know one another better. Friday night’s dinner included an inspiring presentation by Past President Rodney Acker.

By any measure, the 2025 Leadership Workshop was a success. Our leaders left with a deeper understanding of their roles in the College and a renewed commitment to performing at the highest level. They will bring this insight back to their respective committees, strengthening the value of fellowship and advancing the standing of the College.

I continue to be impressed at the willingness of our Fellows to volunteer their time and talents to continue the work of the College. To those of you who took time from your practice and your family to be with us in Minneapolis, please accept my sincere thanks.

John A. Day
President

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