OCBA UPDATE: New lawyers make a difference

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By Thomas H. Howlett

They were young lawyers in their 30s, finding their way in their careers and still making time to make a difference.

That was perhaps the most meaningful discovery I made a couple of months ago when I sought to learn more about the founding of the Oakland County Bar Association, which is celebrating its 80th year as an organization this year.

As I mentioned during remarks at the OCBA’s Annual Meeting in June, our organization’s archives reveal an interesting story about the formal creation of the OCBA on July 20, 1934.

That day, four attorneys in downtown Pontiac went to the office of a fifth attorney in a building that still stands at the northeast corner of Saginaw and Lafayette. The five attorneys then signed articles of incorporation for the OCBA as a dues-paying organization “to foster and promote the ideals of the legal profession.” (The State Bar of Michigan would not be created for another year.)

The five attorneys gathering that day to create the OCBA were H. Russell Holland, David C. Pence, Clark J. Adams, Lawrence Moloney and Harold E. “Hap” Howlett, my grandfather. Prior to undertaking this research, I had not been aware of my grandfather’s role in the formation of the OCBA, and it’s obviously a source of personal pride.

But the most noteworthy aspect of the OCBA’s creation – the relative youth of our founders – should be a source of inspiration to all of us.

Each of the OCBA’s founders was in his 30s, about 10 years removed from law school, and far closer to the start of a legal career than the end.

Hap Howlett, for example, was a solo practitioner who had moved to Pontiac less than a decade earlier to start a law practice in a city he did not know. He and his wife, Lucile, were busy raising two small children.

But these relatively new lawyers made time to make a difference, organizing an association of attorneys that now serves as the heart of the Oakland County legal community as well as the single largest and most influential voluntary bar association in Michigan.

So this is what I learned when I reviewed the history of our organization on the occasion of its 80th birthday: The OCBA owes its formal creation to young lawyers who envisioned an organization that would advance legal careers and help others.

 And this enduring sense of belonging and place provided to attorneys of all backgrounds and experience levels is still perhaps our association’s greatest hallmark.

The role of new lawyers in the OCBA is not only embedded in our history, but also elemental to our future.

The OCBA’s New Lawyers Committee – composed of our members who have been practicing 10 years or less – plays a dynamic and essential role in the continuing success of our organization.

It probably goes without saying that the new lawyers are the most hip and fun among us, but they also provide valuable leadership to the association as a whole.

 Former chairs of the OCBA’s New Lawyers Council, the leadership group within the New Lawyers Committee, now serve on the OCBA’s board of directors, and three additional recent former chairs admirably ran for election in last spring’s competitive race for the board.

New lawyers also lead some of the OCBA’s other committees that provide benefits to all members with forums for discussion on substantive areas of law and opportunities for professional development.

Our new lawyers typically also are at the front lines of the OCBA’s public service efforts, and they annually select a non-profit organization to become the recipient of funds raised by the New Lawyers Committee throughout the bar year.

Ideas and perspectives from new lawyers are absolutely critical to the OCBA remaining an organization attuned to its members’ needs.

In 2014, the legal profession finds itself in a period in which the equation of debt and opportunity for lawyers entering the profession can be vastly different than for those who started their careers a generation ago. New lawyers are essential to the OCBA’s understanding of how best to serve our colleagues operating in this different environment.

In an era in which many organizations struggle with the challenges of aging demographics, attracting new members, and game-changing mobility and technology, the OCBA is better equipped to evolve and grow.

On the occasion of our 80th anniversary as an organization, one reason for the OCBA’s bright future is clear: A pre-eminent role for new lawyers is part our DNA.

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Share your thoughts about the OCBA or anything else. Direct line: 248-502-0862. E-mail: thowlett@googasian.com.

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Thomas H. Howlett, of The Googasian Firm PC, is the 82nd president of the Oakland County Bar Association. Share your thoughts about the OCBA or anything else: direct line 248-502-0862; or e-mail thowlett@googasian.com.

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