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 TIPS Members,
It was wonderful to see so many of you during the ABA Midyear Meeting earlier this month in Dallas. We had a fantastic meeting that kicked off with an outstanding ethics CLE program entitled Value-Based Billing from the Client's Perspective: A Panel Discussion of Viewpoints from Corporate Counsel. We had a packed house of TIPS members and local in-house counsel and enjoyed a stellar program and networking reception immediately after the program. Our Council Dinner on Friday evening was extra special as the members of our current Leadership Academy class and major Section sponsors attended. We hosted a reception at the emotional Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which honors the legacy of JFK, on Saturday evening, and concluded our meeting with the ABA House of Delegates Brunch on Sunday. We packed in a lot of activities and business meetings in a short period of time and had a fantastic meeting.
We now move ahead into our busy lineup of Spring CLE programming. The well-attended and highly educational Annual TIPS Insurance Coverage Litigation program took place a couple of weeks ago at the Biltmore in Phoenix. TIPS also presented two convenient distance learning programs on Failed Bank Litigation and the Animal Law Committee's Update on Dangerous Dog Laws. Our always popular Transportation MegaConference takes place next week in New Orleans, March 6-8, and will be a great program.
Registration is now open for our Spring Leadership Meeting and CLE Forum, which will take place April 24-28 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. Please click here to register online. The meeting website will soon be available as well. This is a joint meeting with the ABA Judicial Division and will be the highlight of the year. This meeting and room block is likely to sell out fast so please register today and make your hotel reservations online or by calling 202/393-2000 or 800/393-2503! The ADR National Forum and other CLE's are blockbuster programs that have nationally known keynote panelists and cutting edge topic discussions. Throughout our Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. we will continue to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of TIPS. You will not want to miss any of the networking events which will include the ABA Judicial Division, especially the Leadership in Action Luncheon Sponsored by CourtCall, and the 80th Anniversary (black tie optional) Gala at the Library of Congress Sponsored by the RC Baker Foundation, which will have wonderful keynote speakers. This is a meeting you will not want to miss!
I am looking forward to seeing you all in our nation's capital in April.
Dick Semerdjian,
Chair, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
TIPS Leaders Appointed During Midyear Meeting
During the Midyear Meeting earlier this month in Dallas, TIPS Council nominated G. Glennon Troublefield of Roseland, NJ as the new TIPS Vice-Chair, Darcee S. Siegel of North Miami Beach, FL as the new Secretary/Diversity Officer, Loren D. Podwill of Portland, OR as the new Financial Officer Elect and Robert J. Caldwell of Las Vegas, NV as the new Revenue Officer Elect. In addition, the Council nominated five new Council members including Roy A. Cohen of Morristown, NJ, Patricia G. Hughes of Farmington Hills, MI, James D. Myrick of Charleston, SC, Alan S. Rutkin of New York, NY and Wesley Sunu of Chicago, IL. This slate of leaders will be officially elected and installed at the ABA Annual Meeting in August. Congratulations to all!
John Tarpley to Chair ABA Journal Board of Editors
Past TIPS Chair, John R. Tarpley of Lewis King in Nashville, TN, has been appointed to serve as Chair of the ABA Journal Board of Editors beginning in August at the close of the ABA's Annual Meeting. Congratulations John!
The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession---Measure of Success Survey
The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession ("IILP") is examining various issues in its current research project, "The Measure of Success." Such issues include: When corporate clients ask their outside counsel for diversity data, at what kinds of diversity should they be looking; are there minimum diversity standards that law firms or corporate law departments ought to meet; and what are bar associations measuring their diversity and inclusion success against?
This study is aimed at understanding what the legal profession's diversity and inclusion goals actually are. YOUR opinion matters! Please tell IILP what you think by completing the online survey before March 15, 2013. All responses are anonymous and completely confidential!
Muskie Award Nominations
The Edmund S. Muskie Pro Bono Service Award recognizes TIPS members who have the attributes embodied by Senator Muskie: his dedication to justice for all citizens, his public service, and his role as a lawyer and distinguished leader of TIPS. In addition to individuals, formal or informal groups, such as corporate legal departments or persons working cooperatively on a pro bono project, may be nominated, so long as a significant number of members of the group belong to TIPS. The deadline to submit a Muskie Award nomination is March 15, 2013. Please click here to submit a nomination for the 2013 Muskie Award!
Task Force Spotlight: The Task Force on Outreach to Law Students
For many law students, joining TIPS has given them the tools and experience needed to stand out. TIPS provides countless opportunities for law students to interact with a TIPS community that includes the legal profession's most accomplished attorneys. Additionally, TIPS has instituted a number of programs focused on the development of law students. These programs include: (1) Leadership opportunities to students, including a student vice-chair position on every substantive committee; (2) Scholarships to help fund law student attendance at TIPS meetings; (3) The TIPSTER Newsletter with articles targeting issues of interest to law students, and (4) Several student writing competitions, including the annual TIPS-wide Law Student Writing Competition that awards cash to the top two papers and paid air and hotel accommodations to the ABA Annual Meeting to the first place winner.
Learn more about this Task Force!
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It has been said that "memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." That couldn't be more applicable to some of my favorite TIPS memories.
US Supreme Court Swearing-In Ceremony and Bush v. Gore-
I was somewhat astonished at my own reaction when 56 TIPS members (including me) were sworn in as part of a group admission ceremony in the United States Supreme Court on December 10, 2000. It was the morning of the final oral argument in Bush v. Gore, Washington, D.C. was the center of the universe and we were there in the middle of history. I was so proud to be a lawyer on that momentous day and especially mindful of TIPS' role in bringing those diverse members together on that occasion. In a matter of two days, former strangers became colleagues and friends as we shared a truly meaningful experience through TIPS.
Soweto- A TIPS delegation visited South Africa in March 2001, taught at law schools in Cape Town and Johannesburg, participated in an insurance and reinsurance roundtable with the Law Society in Johannesburg and, most significantly, conducted a public service program in Soweto. Now, I realize that "conducting a public service project" sounds clinical, more than a little "goody two-shoes" and certainly beyond the concerns of our daily lives. I frankly thought that way myself. Then, I participated. Along with my wife and two school-age daughters, we went to the Khomanani Primary School in Soweto to donate and read books to the students. Neither words nor pictures begin to tell the story. We were welcomed as friends, pumped with questions, given tours of the school, joked with, smiled and tugged at and hugged by children who themselves know so little opportunity but who somehow have embraced life and reflect its best spirit. I will never forget seeing my daughters talking and laughing, each surrounded by literally scores of young students. As I watched the effortless interaction of youth-two from the privileged North Shore of Chicago and dozens from the almost other-worldly township of Soweto-I could see the best of humanity played out before me. Different languages, governments and cultures were no obstacle. I could feel my own walls of ignorance and fear being torn down before my eyes, simply by people coming together. TIPS in South Africa was a highlight of my life, not simply my time in TIPS.
Read More About Mitch's Best Memories
Mitch Orpett, TIPS 2000-2001 Chair
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Join TIPS as we celebrate 80 years of relevance, professionalism and excellence in the practice of law during the TIPS Joint Spring Leadership Meeting and CLE Forum with the ABA Judicial Division, taking place April 24-28, 2013 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. 
