New Member The Program Today Barney March, III & Guests, “Community Theater in Mobile” "WALTER" A. BELL Insurance Barney March grew up in Mobile, Alabama, attending UMS Preparatory School where he first gained a life-long love of the theater. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Birmingham-Southern College, and his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law. He is member of Johnstone Adams, LLC, where he has practiced law since 1993. His practice has focused on creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, as well as mental health and related issues in the probate courts. Dwayne Vaughn - 2 Community Organizations Housing Board P.O. Box 1946 Mobile, AL 36633 Birthday: 10-1-43 Alabama Spouse: Introduced by: Ann Bedsole 11-13-14 Among his other activities, Barney is a member of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Theatre Guild, and has served as President of the Guild since 2012. He is married to Corinne Hollingsworth March, and they have two children, Mattie and Russell, both of whom have inherited their father’s love of the stage. David Trent - 4 “Bill” Kinnaird - 4 Kevin Polk - 5 Engineering - Aerospace Government - FBI Communications - Management Upcoming Programs & Events December Program Chair, Barney March, III 12-11-14 TBA South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program 12-18-14 Mark Foley "Special Christmas Program" 12-25-14 NO MEETING MERRY CHRISTMAS Minutes of the Rotary Meeting November 6, 2014 CALL TO ORDER: Stephen Potts - 6 “Billy” Cassady - 7 Jex Luce, Jr. - 7 Periodicals - Publishing Judicial - U.S. Magistrate Judge Real Estate - Appraisal, Commercial The meeting was called to order by President Ken Robinson. John Rogers gave the invocation and Tommy Blankenship lead the song and pledge, accompanied on the piano by Bill Oppenheimer. Tom Martenstein welcomed visiting Rotarians and club member’s guests. Today’s student guest was Marquis Burgess from B.C. Rain High School who was introduced by Brent Day and took as his theme, “The Best Way to Find Yourself, Is to Lose Yourself in Service to Others”. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Darrell Randel had Cheryl Williams. John Skipper and Ginny Russell, Mobile Sunrise. Kim Brunson, Lakeland, FL. Loresa By Keith Manwaring Member’s Guest Week of November 13, 2014 Visiting Rotarians Week of November 13, 2014 Senior Advisor Swiss Re America Holdings 55 E. 52nd St. New York, NY 10055 Email: [email protected] David Hannan - 8 Robin Luce - 8 “Bobby” Williams, Jr. - 8 Law - Admirality Landscape Managment Paint Manufacturing ***Contributions to the Centennial Fund now stand at $107,450 with a total of 235 members having contributed to date. ***Members who have not yet received their copy of the Centennial Book, were invited to collect one from Peggy or Tommy before leaving. NEW MEMBERS: Meeting Make-ups Paul Sousa, Douglas Kearley, Les Greer, Hank Cobb, Virginia Edington, Bart Greer, Lee Phillips, Sandy Stimpson, Pat Edington and Robert Edington, Mobile West on November 4, 2014. Robert Greer, Mobile Sunrise on November 5, 2014. E-Club Make-ups Bob Chappelle and Rebecca Byrne. Ty Bullard was introduced by Les Greer and welcomed to the club by President Ken Robinson. PROGRAM: Today’s speaker was Anthony “A.J.” Joseph, Past President of the Alabama State Bar and a partner in the law firm of Johnstone Adams. He is also a former Assistant District Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney. The title of his talk, was “Why the Good Lawyers Must Prevent the Bad & the Ugly”. continued --> The meeting adjourned at 12:53 pm. Please send address changes to P.O. Box 94, Mobile, Alabama 36601 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY PEGGY BUGGS ROSE M. JOHNSON ERNEST F. LADD, IV THOMAS C. McGEHEE CLAIRE G. McCARRON ELIZABETH S. SANDERS IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT POSTMASTER: SERGEANT-AT-ARMS THOMAS E. BLANKENSHIP, JR. SECRETARY TREASURER JOHN T. DUKES VICE PRESIDENT PRESIDENT ELECT A. LESLIE GREER ROBISON C. MCCLURE, JR. THOMAS B. MARTENSTEIN WELCOME PRESIDENT In “AJ’s” view, the main distinction between lawyers that are part of the “Good” vs those that make up the “Bad and the Ugly”, is one of Professionalism vs Unprofessionalism. Ultimately it behooves each one of us to ensure that we act “professionally” in all our dealings with others. This will start to change the public’s perception and lead to a resurgence in the number of those choosing to study law and wanting to be a part of the legal profession. Lawyers need to be civil, even-tempered and advocate efficiently on behalf of clients. In closing, “AJ” shared a brief anecdote about the danger we all face in losing our temper, pointing out this simply cedes control to someone else if we react to provocation, whether deliberate or unintentional, by a third party. Today,12:15 P.M.,Thursday, December 4, 2014 Lunch - 11:45 Bell - 12:15 Adjournment - 1:15 Battle House Hotel J. KENNETH ROBINSON, JR. To illustrate his point, “AJ” reported that lawyers are built to serve the public and one way of doing so, is by the more than 4,000 hours in Pro Bono legal services they provide each year. Sadly, this fact is not widely known or appreciated. Another indicator of the public’s jaundiced view of the legal profession, is that over 1,800 people die every day in the US, without a will. Everyone owes it to their loved ones, to draw up a will and keep it updated as necessary, during their lifetime. DIRECTORS According to “AJ”, most clients want to know and feel, that their lawyer cares about them and understand their needs. With the indisputable decline in a sense of community, society as a whole has seen a weakening of the kind of caring that was part of the fabric of community life just a generation or two ago. This has led to a growing distrust in the “system” and people’s perceptions have shifted to where they have lost faith in the law profession painting everyone with a broad brush which helps explain the 19% survey result about the honesty of lawyers. This has also contributed to the decline in law student enrollment in the past 40 years. Volume LXXXXVV. .No. 22. .December 4, 2014 Thursday 12:15 P.M..Battle House Hotel OFFICERS There are 17,788 members of the Alabama State Bar, of which 53% are baby boomers, nearing the end of their career. Fewer young people are choosing to study law with student enrollment in 2013 at only 39,765 which is a decrease of 17,000 in the 40 years since 1973. This is a trend that clearly needs to be reversed. MOBILE ROTARY CLUB BULLETIN Official Publication of Club No. 120 Mobile, Alabama ROTARY CLUB OF MOBILE 56 St. Joseph St., Suite 1502, Mobile, Alabama 36602 At the outset, “AJ” explained that the points he wanted to make today, have a wide application and transcend just the practice of law. He posited that Involvement, Professionalism and Service were qualities that all clients would like to see when engaging the services of a professional in any field. In a recent survey, only 19% of those questioned felt Lawyers were honest and the number for Judges using the same criterion, was 47%. This indicates that some serious PR is required to enhance the image members of the public have about the legal profession. BARNEY MARCH, III & GUESTS Community Theater in Mobile Rotary Club of Mobile P.O. Box 94 Mobile, AL 36601 Phone (251) 432-2362 Fax (251) 432-2368 www.mobilerotary.org