PRESIDENT'S ARTICLE

January 2019

Happy 2019, members of the Greenville Bar.  I’ve long enjoyed being a member of this very friendly and active county bar association.  I am honored to serve as your 2019 G-Bar president.

Thanks to our excellent past-President, Jennifer Howe, in 2018 we carefully asked you – the members – what you wanted from your bar association.  The practice and business of law, and the professional and social interactions of lawyers, are evolving in unpredictable ways. The G-Bar wants to stay relevant.  Carefully surveying our members and listening to your ideas in 2018 was time very well spent… and was kind of fun. I notice y’all are not shy with opinions.  Thanks for not being shy.    

It’s clear from your feedback that there are two special events that G-Bar members strongly appreciate and value.  Good news – both of these events are scheduled in the next two weeks:  (1) the Tommy Thomason Award Luncheon (Thurs., Jan. 24th), and (2) the annual G-Bar all–day CLE (Fri., Feb. 8th). 

Tommy Thomason Award -- Stuart Mauney is our 2019 recipient of the G-Bar’s Tommy Thomason Award.  One of the best things the G-Bar does for its members is quietly take care of our own and help when needed: we have time-tested local programs for fee disputes with clients; experienced local help with client grievances; an outstanding Caring Committee when there is a loss in the family, etc.  Special recognition, however, is warranted for the long-time work and advocacy Stuart has provided in Greenville and across South Carolina through his involvement with Lawyers Helping Lawyers, a S.C. Bar program providing confidential services to judges and lawyers suffering from depression and/or substance abuse.  With grace and professionalism, Stuart has personally helped an untold number of G-Bar members when they were in their darkest hour. Congratulations to Stuart for this well-deserved award. Please join us on Thurs., Jan. 24th at noon at the Poinsett Club to both remember the worthy example of Tommy Thomason and to honor Stuart Mauney.

G-Bar annual CLE – unlike the Tommy Thomason award, which is intentionally not given out every year, CLEs are mandatory and counted quite strictly every calendar year by the S.C. Bar. Thus, we’ve got what you need all day on Fri., Feb. 8th at the Greenville Conference Center (formerly known as the TD Center).  Our 2019 CLE chair, Kirsten Small, has done an outstanding job on the 2019 agenda and this CLE remains the second largest in the state behind the SC Bar convention (at a fraction of the cost to attend).  In response to G-Bar member surveys, we have added a new afternoon breakout track -- Probate Court / Elder Law – with Greenville’s probate court judges and several Greenville Health System (now Prisma Health) doctors and medical staff.   

I hope you stay not shy in 2019.  You are welcome to contact me and/or any of the other 2019 G-Bar officers: President-Elect Powers Price, Secretary Lance Crick, and Treasurer Reid Sherard about anything on your mind.  Greenville remains a great place for lawyers to meet in person – I am often available for coffee in the early a.m. and often agreeable to a beer later in the p.m.; that’s unlikely to change in 2019 (I happily made no 2019 New Year’s resolutions).  I look forward to seeing you around – Kirby