Dear colleagues,

This will be my last newsletter to you. After a wonderful four-year run as director of our Association, I have decided it's time to move on. I want to thank each and every one of you for the honor and privilege of serving this great organization.

Last week I had the chance to greet many of you in person at the retirement parties for Judge Leclerc and Judge Bohlman and the investitures of Judge Marquart and Judge McCullough. These were joy-filled gatherings—celebrating two long and distinguished careers on the bench and the launching of two new judicial careers that show great promise. Making the circuit from Bismarck to Fargo and Grand Forks and back gave me some time to reflect and think about how proud I am to be a North Dakota lawyer. I can tell you ...you are an impressive group! I witnessed real camaraderie and collegiality among the lawyers in Fargo and in Grand Forks, qualities that I had previously thought existed only among the lawyers in the Bismarck-Mandan legal community, which I have been lucky enough to have been a part of for these thirty years. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to hold the position of director of your professional association and your foundation. Thank you for giving me the chance to work in a job that I love, with people I love, for the profession I love.

Looking back, I feel pretty happy about the things we were able to accomplish during my tenure. A few things stand out. We built a fine, state-of-the-art website from the ground up, with several features designed to make lawyers' lives a bit easier: things like a free search engine, free searchable on-line pattern jury instructions, free lawyer-friendly real estate transfer forms, and free searchable ethics opinions. We introduced this email newsletter, which provides a convenient mechanism to keep up and stay connected to each other. We worked hard to upgrade the annual meeting into a classy affair, with high–quality educational and social events, complete with a three-year established tradition of holding a national-caliber public symposium on an important constitutional issue. We ran a tight financial ship and managed to end 2004 with a net surplus, even though this year marked the last of fourteen consecutive years without a dues increase to the Association. I am happy that Bar Foundation contributions have been up in each of the last 3 years. Thank you, Foundation members, for your generosity. We have good relations with the Supreme Court and the Judiciary, for which I give much credit to our exceptionally wise and gracious Chief Justice for his thoughtful leadership and for setting a tone of civility from the top. Thank you, Chief. You are a dear friend.

But perhaps the one thing from which I take the most satisfaction is the acquisition of the historic C. B. Little House for the Association's headquarters. Lawyers now have a gathering place—an elegant and dignified setting for your meetings, depositions, law firm retreats, and even your wedding receptions! And, best of all, the staff gets to work here too! It is a place to cherish and to take good care of. If that is my legacy to the lawyers of this state, it seems like a fine one to me.

Speaking of the staff—I hope you realize you have some truly excellent people working for you here in the office. Jeanne Schlittenhard, Carrie Torgerson, MeDonna Fryer, Justine Schneider and Bonnie Storbakken (in order of seniority) are here working for you each day, and I can tell you they do understand the SBAND mission of service to the lawyers and the people of our state. Thank you, ladies. You're the best! But an organization doesn't thrive on work alone. So we usually manage to sneak in a bit of fun every day, never mind the outright silliness that goes on. Most of you who are regular visitors here have probably wondered about the rowdiness. It's a fun place to work and to hang out and I will miss it. Not that things don't get tense at times. They do. Like when the copier quits and we have a CLE brochure that needs to get out… yesterday. Or when an irate caller is on the line with an unsolvable problem who wants SBAND somehow to solve it…yesterday. When stuff happens, we resort to some pretty goofy routines that let us blow off steam. We like to quote (loudly and with feeling) Teddy Roosevelt ("Ours is the glory of work and the joy of living!") and President Bush ("It's hard work!") and we make funny animal noises. Don't ask.

There is still much to accomplish. I tried, but was not very successful in getting more people involved in our Volunteer Lawyer Program. To you lawyers who do participate in SBAND's pro bono and reduced fee services for people who have no where else to turn—I can't praise you enough. Thank you. We have much to be proud of when it comes to our volunteer lawyer services. No other profession does what we do. And the SBAND Indigent Defense Task Force's proposed system-reforming legislation and appropriation is now before the Legislature. If it is to survive, it needs the active support of each one of us. Our Blue Ribbon Task Force concluded the current contract system is near collapse and is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge. Let's finally get on the stick and get this job done once and for all.

In closing, I want to thank all the committee volunteers and chairs. You returned my phone calls and you never protested when I asked for help while gently twisting your arm. You are the lifeblood of this Association and it was always a pleasure working with you. Finally, thank you to the bar leaders, officers and board members for your dedicated service and your guidance. The Bar has been very good to me. But the job is demanding, and at this point in my life these old bones don't handle stress as well as they used to. It's time for some much-needed time off—and then on to the next challenge.

I wish you all the best life has to offer and look forward to seeing each of you in person. This is just farewell, definitely not goodbye. In casting about for a meaningful quote to end with, I think I'll just go with my usual source of wisdom—Abraham Lincoln—and with my all-time favorite lines of his. You all know them by heart. To me, Lincoln's words of advice to a lawyer are pearls. All these thirty years they've been scotch-taped to the credenza right by my phone, where I see them many, many times every day.

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
– Abraham Lincoln, 1850

Sincerely,
Christine Hogan
The Board of Governors announces the resignation of Christine Hogan as the Executive Director of the State Bar Association of North Dakota. Christine made invaluable contributions to the association during her tenure, as she has so eloquently outlined in her letter, and the association wishes to thank her and wish her well in all her future endeavors. Interim measures have been put into effect to continue the business of the association and a search process is underway for a replacement.

In keeping with its policy of advertising all board appointments, the Board of Governors is seeking applications from lawyers interested in serving on the Character and Fitness Committee of the Board of Law Examiners. Because of his position as United States Magistrate, Charles Miller, is unable to complete his term on the Character and Fitness Committee. The appointment would be to fulfill the term which ends on December 31, 2008. Committee members investigate the character, fitness and moral qualifications of applicants for admission to the bar upon request by the Board of Law Examiners Rule 2 Admission to Practice Rules. Knowledge or experience in the area of addiction and recovery is helpful. If not from the Bismarck/Mandan area, must be willing to travel to committee meetings. Interested persons should contact the SBAND office by January 27, 2005.
The SBAND Annual Meeting is to be held June 14 – 17, 2005 in Bismarck, North Dakota at the Ramkota Hotel.