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Unsung Heroes A
great joy of leadership is working with the cream of the crop. Sometimes
they hardly need any leadership at all—my job is just helping smooth
their path, and letting them run. This
last column of the bar year offers a platform where an outgoing president
can reflect. This year has seen much accomplished, and its success
has been largely due to volunteer members who have worked quietly—behind
the scenes, with minimal resources, without laurels, without perks—outside
the spotlight. Through them occurs the Association’s good work. My
office has let me notice many volunteer member-leaders and their work
in a unique way. They are the Association’s unsung heroes, and to
them I dedicate this last column. Space will not let me mention even
all the ones that I have noticed (let alone the other officers and
the staff). But let me single out a few examples: J.P. Barone not only chairs the Bar Foundation, but he
also writes and performs in plays—including, as part of the Sesquicentennial
celebration, the reenacted trial of Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, which featured
many modern judges and lawyers. Steve Besser is the exemplary member: committed
to the organization, serving where needed, passionate about his causes,
patient with the pace of institutional progress. Steve retired last
year after three years cochairing the Judicial Elections Committee,
including an intense year and a half on the Quie Commission. But instead
of taking a well-deserved break, he stepped right back in, now chairing
the Insurance for Members Committee. Senators
Don Betzold and (now Judge) Tom Neuville. A great value that the
Association provides to its members is legislative work on matters
that have ranged, just this year, from title standards to judicial
selection, from opposing a tax on legal services to gestational surrogacy,
from the Judicial Branch budget to … you get the idea. Many legislators
have been good friends to the Association, and some legislators are
members. But for years, our patron saints have included Senators Betzold
and Neuville. (And congratulations to Judge Neuville on his elevation
to the bench.) Phil Duran served for several years on the MSBA Council,
and has been then and since a tireless advocate against unlawful discrimination—and
an effective advocate for getting the Association into the fight. Margaret Erickson. Each president comes from
a particular community and experience, and must seek help from others
in order to represent effectively the state’s whole bench and bar.
I have been blessed by the comradeship of my designated successors,
Mike Ford and Leo Brisbois,
who have gone the extra mile in keeping Greater Minnesota in the loop
with a president from Hennepin County. But right up there with Mike’s
and Leo’s efforts belongs Margaret, whose willingness to reach out
to district bars across the state is second to none. Jason Kohlmeyer and Lori Semke have cochaired the MSBA Convention Committee. Their dedication
to giving the members a memorable experience, and their willingness
to think outside the box, will deserve all the credit for this year’s
convention’s success. Chris Larus and Tony Leung have revived the Court Rules & Administration Committee,
and have reconnected the Association with the court boards and committees
through whom Minnesota’s judiciary works. Tom Roe. A decade ago, on the MSBA Operations &
Finance Committee, I learned the nitty-gritty details of running a
first-class bar association while managing expenses, delivering quality
programs and services, maintaining an adequate reserve, and reining
in dues. I usually sat with my friend Tom, who was there long before
I was, and who showed me the ropes. Today, a decade later, Tom is
still benefiting the Association—now on the Operations Committee—with
his talents and his institutional memory. Joan Schulkers has been the Association’s
presence in the Minnesota Sesquicentennial, celebrating 150 years
of living political heritage in which judges and lawyers have played
an outsized role. Nena Street and Madge Thorsen have breathed life into “Operation Arbitration,” an
original project in which volunteer lawyers help students hear and
resolve real-life disputes, inventing a worthwhile program out of
a bare-bones concept while navigating the public-school bureaucracy. Mary Vasaly and Karna Peters. Okay, they aren’t exactly “unsung”: Karna won the MSBA
President’s Award three years ago, and Mary is coming in as HCBA President.
But you probably don’t know how hard they have worked behind the scenes
on judicial selection, perhaps the most challenging and controversial
issue that the Association has faced this year. Let
me also thank my many predecessors and colleagues who have offered
their advice, cheer, support, and wisdom to me in this year. I particularly
thank former presidents Sue
Holden and Pat Kelly, my immediate predecessors during
whose administrations I served as an officer, for their continued
involvement and leadership, and for their advice and friendship in
my administration; and MSBA Executive Director Tim Groshens for his unsurpassed institutional memory, his patient
advice and mentorship, his understated style, and especially his dry,
wry wit. During
a year as president and four years as an officer, I have been privileged
to meet, work with, and get to know hundreds of lawyers and judges
throughout Minnesota. This column being my last, I cannot miss this
chance to say how much I have enjoyed working with you all. You have
made these years both meaningful and fun. I wish you all—especially
my successor Mike Ford
and all the other members who will someday hold this presidency—the
best of luck in the new bar year and in the years to come. I hope
that that time will be as satisfying for you as it has been for me.
I
look forward to seeing you all again soon. BRIAN
MELENDEZ is president of the Minnesota State Bar Association and
a partner in the law firm of Faegre & Benson LLP. He received
his undergraduate and law degrees cum laude, as well as a master’s
degree in theology, from Harvard University. He is active in numerous
professional, civic, and alumni organizations both locally and nationally. |
