The 2022-2023 bar year begins on July 1, and renewal information will be sent via email to members later this month. When renewing, you will notice changes to Section listings and pricing for the bar associations. To streamline programming and reduce duplication of offerings, the Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and Minnesota State Bars have unified many of their previously offered practice area Sections. With this change, each association’s members now have a larger list of Sections to select from, increased leadership opportunities, and more programming choices. These changes to the Sections are designed to better serve you and support a wider variety of interests and practice areas.
In addition to the Section changes rolling out this year, we are introducing more signature HCBA programs during the bar year—all included with your membership. These CLEs and networking events will be free or deeply discounted for HCBA members, and many will be offered exclusively to HCBA members. By attending just a few of these signature offerings during the year, members will see savings that cover the cost of their HCBA membership and help satisfy CLE requirements. Programs will kick off during the summer and will be offered throughout the bar year.
With our Section changes, we are working to bring together the best offerings from each association’s current Sections into a new unified model that can serve members here in Hennepin County and throughout the state. As part of this change, some of the Sections you may have been part of will now have slightly different names. You’ll also notice on your Section signup/renewal that groups are no longer prefixed with HCBA, RCBA, or MSBA, and now just display the Section’s name (i.e., the HCBA Criminal Law Section is now just Criminal Law Section). Note: the HCBA New Lawyers Section will remain as is.
As you go through your renewal process for 2022-2023, be sure to select the Sections you want to be a part of going forward. You may need to reselect some of your past Section choices, due to system-setup changes in our member database. Remember that Sections are optional additions to your shared HCBA/MSBA membership and provide exclusive offerings and discounts to members—above the savings you get from your HCBA membership. Note: Individual Section dues apply.
If you have any questions on the HCBA’s new Section offerings, please reach out to
Kara Haro, Section Services Director.