Dear Fellows:
Happy New Year! I trust that you have all had a safe and relaxing time with family and friends through the holidays. Now comes the beginning of a new cycle as we think about the year ahead and the challenges it may hold. As we face the future, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from a man of great wisdom, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” May this sense of optimism permeate our thinking as to any obstacles we might face in the year ahead and leave us with an enduring hope.
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As many of you know, one of the most important duties of the College’s President is to attend as many state and province gatherings as he or she can and to meet and interact with our Fellows. The travel can sometimes be arduous, but it is so rewarding that it is all worthwhile. In my last travel before the holidays, I travelled to five cities in six days, starting in Portland and ending in Philadelphia, with stops in Little Rock, Jackson, and New Orleans. In each location, I met with 40-50 Fellows and their spouses and guests, usually over dinner and drinks. We were all able to enjoy each other’s company, note the coming close of another year, and celebrate this wonderful organization. In each location, I am usually called upon to offer some brief remarks about the College. My stump “speech” has focused on our strategic planning process, our new logo, and our new website. Now that the website and the logo have been unveiled, I can no longer tease their release. But another thing that I have included in these remarks is an email from a recent inductee, inducted in Nashville. This new Fellow shared that he was “humbled that [he] may be considered to share any degree of the ability and ethics of the attorneys [he] met this weekend….” The Fellow’s comment reflects the same sense of humility that most of us felt upon our own induction. But the beauty of the College is that we can all be assured that we were inducted under the same singular standard of ability, ethics and professionalism. The Past Presidents see to that!
So, while to date I have made about fourteen visits to state and province gatherings, I look forward to the many more to come. In the meantime, I want to encourage you to get involved in the work of the College. There is so much to be done on so many fronts. For instance, the College is very actively involved with the National Constitution Center and its Scholar Exchange Program wherein our Fellows lead online discussions with middle and high school students about various aspects of our constitutional democracy. The Boot Camp Trial Training Programs Committee, in conjunction with various State and Province Committees, continues to put on outstanding, day-long trial training programs. New Jersey, assisted by Fellows from Delaware and Pennsylvania, recently held a very successful program and many more are scheduled. We are always looking for Fellows to help with those programs. The new website makes it easy to identify the College’s various activities and to get involved in whatever ways you are interested. I encourage you to put it to use.
Finally, I look forward to seeing many of you at the Spring Meeting in Maui. President-Elect John Day has planned an engaging program with outstanding speakers. You do not want to miss the excitement!
All the best for the New Year!
Richard H. Deane, Jr.
ACTL President
To read more from the January eBulletin, click here.