– Ending 2022 Newsletter –
Happy New Year From Your Local FBA Chapter Family
People around the world utilize the holiday season to reflect on the year past, and look forward to the year ahead. This December, join us in reflecting on the joys and accomplishments of the past year, while we look forward to 2023 together.
A Message From Our President Ethan Lange
Dear Friends –
What a year! We sent a delegation to Washington D.C. to lobby for judicial security, produced numerous high quality CLEs, introduced civics education programming to students across the metro, established a summer reading program for kids, created a children’s coloring book that explains the legal system in an understandable way, read the U.S. Constitution on the courthouse steps of four different courthouses, mentored dozens of law students, and still found time to squeeze in a social at Boulevard. Let’s just say, we have more of the same slated for this upcoming year. Here’s a sneak peek (with additional details to follow—keep an eye out!):
6-7 CLEs covering a diverse range of topics from courtroom technology to the Federal Rules of Evidence to our courts’ local rules to implicit bias to claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1983 to the First Amendment to legal writing;
2 socials, one in the spring and the other in the fall;
3-4 brown bag lunches with our judges;
Capitol Hill Day, heading to the Capitol to meet with our local elected officials to discuss matters important to the District of Kansas and the Western District of Missouri;
Law Day, teaching civics and law at schools throughout the area;
Annual Convention in Memphis, Tennessee (our Chapter will host the Annual Convention in 2024!);
Constitution Day, reading the United States Constitution at each of our courthouses;
Civil Verdict Reporter, reporting on federal civil verdicts from the District of Kansas and the Western District of Missouri; and
Much more!
Since this is my first column as the Chapter’s President, I’d be remiss not to thank our Immediate Past-President (a new position created just for her), Judge Teresa James, for her contributions to our Chapter. No wonder she was awarded the coveted “Outstanding Leader Award” at the Annual Convention. On a personal note, I am grateful for her guidance over the past year and will commit to doing my best to keep us on the same trajectory.
I hope you have a fun and safe holiday season and look forward to seeing you at one of our many events in the New Year.
Happy Holidays!
LAW DAY 2023 COMING SOON!
Law Day will be observed the week of May 1, 2023
Law Day 2023 will be observed the first week of May. It’s never too early to start thinking about how you can spread civic education and involvement this year. The theme of this year’s Law Day will be “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility, and Collaboration.”
Our FBA Chapter is proud of our commitment to sharing resources and learning opportunities on civic education with students in our communities. We participate in Law Day celebrations (See ABA Law Day information here: LINK) each year on May 1.
What we will need from you:
Volunteer Presenters! Please be on the lookout for an opportunity to sign-up to speak in classrooms for Law Day 2023. We need volunteers to go into schools and speak to the children (classroom assignments may be elementary through high school). We will provide you with a presentation and training on that presentation. All we need is your time! Fee
School Contacts! We need contacts to more schools/teachers who may want an attorney or judge presenter to come to their school (in-person or virtually). Please send potential teacher contacts to Civic Education and Outreach committee chair, Danielle Atchison at datchison@uslegalimmigration.com”
Huge Success of Constitution Day 2022
Thank you to all who participated in planning, presenting, or coordinating our civics outreach efforts for Constitution Day 2022. Our chapter would like to give an especially large “Thank You” and shoutout to Danielle Atchison, who worked tirelessly and devoted many hours leading the organization of Constitution Day efforts.
Based upon the activities at the Kansas City, Kansas Courthouse, the Day was a tremendous success. Our chapter achieved several milestones — to name a couple of them, expanding the Constitution Day readings to the Western District of Missouri Courthouse and for the first time having a busload of students from the Shawnee Mission High School Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program.
Congress Passes the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, New Jersey – The federal judge who lost her only child when a gunman opened fire at her home
Statement from FBA National: One of the FBA’s top policy priorities this past year was securing the passage of the bipartisan Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act. We applaud Congress for passing the bill as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and await the President’s anticipated signature by year-end of this vital legislation. It was an honor to collaborate with the Federal Judges Association, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts as well as other stakeholders to highlight the urgent need for judicial security legislation. Thank you Rep Sherrill, Sen. Menendez, and Sen. Booker for helping to protect our Federal Judiciary. The cornerstone of our democracy is an independent judiciary.
Membership Committee – Growth Excitement for the Future
The Membership Committee is excited about the prospect of returning to in-person events this year! Our goal is to have a social event this year which would allow for our members to interact face-to-face and allow for prospective members to attend. We have a goal to add to our membership to ensure practitioners in the District of Kansas and Western District of Missouri access the benefits of the FBA. Thank you for being a member and please be on the lookout for our upcoming events! If you know someone that would benefit from being a member, please have them contact our membership chair Abby McClellan: mcclellan@stuevesiegel.com.
Judge Teresa James honored with “Outstanding Chapter Leader Award”
Our very own Judge Teresa James was honored at the 2022 Federal Bar Association National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina for her outstanding leadership of our FBA Chapter.
Upcoming Events:
Civil Rights Étouffée: Thanks again for the support of your chapter for the 2023 Étouffée. We are super excited about our return to New Orleans, and we wanted to share with you a few items.
Initially, We are really looking forward to the panels at the Étouffée. We have been able to update our website with more information on the panels and the panelists. https://www.etouffeelaw.com/2023-civil-rights-etouffee/ The Étouffée has been approved for CLE credit in Kansas and Missouri.
Introducing the FBA Law Clerk Directory
The FBA Judiciary Division’s Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee has initiated the launch of “The Law Clerk Directory.” It is a searchable, national database of current and former federal law clerks who are FBA members or who otherwise opt-in to the directory. All FBA members will be able to search the directory by name, judge, jurisdiction, and year of clerkship. The Law Clerk Directory will be a robust resouce to maintain contact between judges and former clerks, create bridges for law students to learn more about federal clerkships and the application process, and connect practitioners with current and former clerks for networking opportunities. The FBA encourages former and current clerks to participate, as judges and lawyers across the country are looking forward to the launch of the directory.
The FBA has created a page for members to easily input their clerkship information. If you are a current or former federal law clerk and wish to be included in the directory, log into www.fedbar.org and follow these instructions:
Select “Member Tools” at the top right
Select “Update my Profile”
Select “My Clerkship” from the right-hand navigation (“My Account Links”)
Select “+ Add”
Complete the form contents and select “Save”
Note: Leave the End Year blank if you are currently in a clerkship or if the end year is undetermined.
To enter additional clerkships, simply repeat the process. You can also edit entries if needed. The details you enter will be visible in the Law Clerk Directory once the directory is launched. If you ever decided to opt out of the directory, simply select “Edit Demographics” from your “My Profile” page, check the box at the bottom labeled “Law Clerk Directory opt-out,” and then select “Save.”
You can access these instruction at the button below, with screen shots to make the process easier. If you have questions, email: sections@fedbar.org.
