The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 4

President's Message

We Are... A Community!
N

Kurt Althouse
2017 President

4 | Berks Barrister

ot being an accomplished public speaker or writer, I approach this coming year
with some trepidation. It is a great honor to be chosen to be President of the
Bar Association, the public spokesperson for our profession, at least on a local
level. As I am not normally an expansive person, you will probably all be glad to know
that my speeches and columns will generally be brief.
The first thing that I must do, and I would be remiss if I did not, is to thank
Judge Jill Koestel for setting the table for me and for being a tireless and enthusiastic
advocate for Lawyers everywhere and our Bar Association in particular.
Somehow she was everywhere and did everything one could ask to represent our
profession while still embarking on a new phase of her career as a distinguished Judge
of our Court. She is not just the Queen, but the President, and now, Your Honor.
I want to thank all the Past Presidents, many of whom were at the annual meeting
to welcome me aboard. They represent a long line of tradition of service to the
profession and to the Bar. Each of them is a fine example of being a good Lawyer and
a leader of the profession. Among these many fine Lawyers and leaders, one stands out
for me - my father, Ralph J. Althouse, a lifelong example to me on how things should
be done.
I also want to recognize and thank our Executive Director, Don Smith, and the
fine staff of the Bar Association for all the work they do, some of which is not always
obvious. Without them, we would not have the public recognition, fine educational
programs and enjoyable conferences and dinners that we have come to expect.
The Berks County Bar Association is deservedly recognized as a leader by the
Pennsylvania Bar Association and all of us, as members and as professionals, should
appreciate what we have. I am looking forward to our Executive Director and fine staff
making me look good next year.
I grew up the son of a Lawyer and always knew that it was something special to be
a Lawyer. You were a professional. More was expected of you. You did not just have a
job. You had a career. You had two masters: one, that of serving your clients' needs; and
two, that of the requirements of the law.
As Lawyers, we are an integral part of the most admired legal system in the world.
We are expected to work to preserve that system and represent it well. All Lawyers
need to be engaged in our profession to make it work. There are many opportunities to
do so.
We live in challenging times today - the availability of information (if not always
knowledge) on the internet, ever-increasing client expectations as to outcome and time
of completion, competition from internet services like Legal Zoom, rising student loan
debt - all of this has developed since I started my career but we can't let these issues
detract from the responsibility we have to our profession.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Berks Barrister Winter 2017

The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 1
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 2
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 3
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 4
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 5
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 6
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 7
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 8
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 9
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 10
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 11
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 12
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 13
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 14
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 15
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 16
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 17
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 18
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 19
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 20
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 21
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 22
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 23
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 24
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 25
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 26
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 27
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 28
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 29
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 30
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 31
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 32
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 33
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 34
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 35
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 36
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 37
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 38
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 39
The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 40
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Springr2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Fall-Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Springr2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/berksbarrister_winter2017
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com