This post is my last "In A VBA Minute" for the bar year and is hitting the press as we gather in Williamsburg for our milestone 125th Annual Meeting. That meeting, which will serve as the launching point of the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta and feature the presentation of the Gerald L. Baliles Distinguished Service Award to former Supreme Court of Virginia Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, will be a memorable one. As my term as VBA President is quickly coming to a close, I want to take this opportunity to summarize some of the highlights of the past year and to give special thanks to those people who made these highlights possible.  

During 2014, some of the VBA's key accomplishments were the following:

1. Thanks to the hard work of our lobbying team from Reed Smith, our Board of Governors, our substantive law sections and commissions, and our affiliates for whom we lobby, including the Boyd-Graves Conference and the Virginia Family Law Coalition, the VBA had yet another highly successful year pushing a robust legislative agenda through the General Assembly;
2. The relationship between the VBA and the Supreme Court of Virginia has never been stronger, with the VBA serving as the leading advocate for the best interests of the Judiciary in the General Assembly. This past year, the VBA's top legislative priority was to continue its leadership role advocating for the General Assembly to fill and to fund the numerous judicial vacancies in Virginia and thereby reduce what has become a huge obstacle to the efficient and equitable administration of justice in Virginia. As the result of the VBA's efforts, the General Assembly authorized funding for 36 additional judges and authorized an increase of 27 judgeships (429 total) in the Code. While the need to fund more judgeships still remains, this legislation from the past session was a huge step in the right direction and represents the VBA's legislative highlight of the year;
3. In 2014, a strategic planning task force met throughout the year to re-evaluate and modify the comprehensive tactical work plan that the Board of Governors adopted in 2010 to support the strategic plan that the Board adopted that same year. The new plan will give the Board a fresh roadmap to accomplish its objectives over the next few years. Further, the evaluation process will be ongoing so that the strategic plan will be evolving and never stale or stagnant.
4. This year, the VBA continued a recent trend of growing its membership, finishing the year with 5,743 members. The membership strategy this past year was focused on communicating the value proposition of the VBA differently than in years past. The message this year had both business and non-business components. The business message is that, if firms and companies want well-known, service-oriented lawyers with leadership skills and enhanced business development skills/prospects and subject matter expertise, then they should support their lawyers' active involvement in the VBA because the VBA provides a unique platform for lawyers to develop those attributes and to do so relatively quickly. The non-business message is that, just as bankers, physicians, and accountants belong to their voluntary statewide trade associations to further their respective professional best interests, Virginia lawyers should join the VBA for the same reason. As the independent, voluntary statewide bar association, the VBA is uniquely qualified to effect positive change on a grand scale for our profession and the public alike and has done so repeatedly over the course of its 127 year history;
5. Together with the Supreme Court of Virginia, the VBA planned and presented the third biennial Chief Justice's Pro Bono Summit, once again bringing together major stakeholders from the pro bono community throughout the Commonwealth to discuss the status of pro bono services, current needs to improve such services, and potential solutions for resolving those needs. Special thanks go to former Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn (Co-Chair of the Court's Access to Justice Committee), and to the chairs of the VBA's Pro Bono Committee, Pete Johnson of Hunton & Williams and Scott Oostdyk of McGuireWoods, for their key roles in the Summit;
6. For the first time in several years, we held our Summer Meeting at the Greenbrier and had a huge crowd. As part of the meeting, we hosted the first senatorial debate between Senator Mark Warner and Ed Gillespie, which was moderated by Judy Woodruff of PBS. We also had a general session featuring nationally known keynote speaker Anne-Marie Slaughter who, along with a distinguished panel, delivered a terrific presentation on gender and work/life balance issues;
7. Thanks to the amazing efforts of the VBA staff, and the leaders of our substantive law sections and affiliates that host conferences for their members, we continued our longstanding tradition of hosting a multitude of outstanding conferences in 2014 that provided significant value to members;
8. This past year, the VBA's wholly owned insurance agency subsidiary, Virginia Barristers Alliance, Inc. (VBAI), entered into a major partnership with the well-established insurance agency of the Medical Society of Virginia that will enable VBAI for the first time to sell property and casualty insurance, including professional liability coverage, to lawyers, in addition to the life, health, and disability insurance products that VBAI has sold historically. As a result, the VBAI will greatly enhance the member benefits of the VBA. Former VBA President Hugh Fain has been the driving force behind the growth of the VBAI, and we all owe Hugh a huge debt of gratitude;
9. The Young Lawyers Division of the VBA won 2nd place in the Comprehensive Category of the ABA Awards of Achievement -- the category that speaks to the depth and breadth of a bar association's work. Indeed, this year, under the leadership of Elaina Blanks-Green of Norfolk Southern, approximately 40 YLD projects had a positive impact on hundreds of people in Virginia and beyond;
10. The VBA continued to strengthen key relationships with other bar groups, including the Virginia State Bar, the Old Dominion Bar Association, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, as well as several local bar associations. For me, it was a great privilege to work with and to spend quality time with the members of these outstanding organizations;
11. In 2014, the patrons of The Virginia Bar Association Foundation gave the second largest amount of contributions ever donated to the Association -- $77,300. Our patrons are the heart and soul of our organization, and I am deeply grateful to them for their generous support, without which the VBA could not undertake the numerous educational projects that have served both the profession and the public so well over the years.

I could go on and on. Incredibly, the VBA's accomplishments this past year were done while the VBA was converting to a new website and database. Suffice it to say that the VBA continues to do outstanding work that really matters -- work that improves the administration of justice in Virginia on multiple levels. For me, it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve as your President. I wish I could thank everyone who has worked so hard on the VBA's behalf by name, but space will not permit it. Please know how grateful I am for your service and support. Special thanks go out to my colleagues on the Board of Governors, whose selfless dedication to the VBA is extraordinary. My successor, Pete Johnson, will be a phenomenal VBA President, as will his successors, Jim Guy of LeClairRyan and David Mercer of MercerTrigiani.