SIDESBAR WINTER 2021 - 4

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

OUTGOING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

P

erhaps not until you embrace the full breadth of responsibility that comes with
serving as the leader of an organization, can you truly appreciate just how much
you begin to experience the trials and tribulations of that organization as your
own - the ups, the downs, the ins, the outs, the triumphs, the disappointments, the
missed opportunities, the historical achievements. It can be exhilarating for sure, but
also quite exhausting.

Patrick J. Kurtas, Esq.
Montgomery Bar Association
2020 President

Facebook.com/MontgomeryBarAssociation

Twitter.com/Montgomery_Bar

LinkedIn/Company/Montgomery-Bar-Association

YouTube.com/user/MontgomeryBarAssociation

Instagram.com/montgomerybarassociation

MONTGOMERY BAR ASSOCIATION
BUSINESS HOURS:
Monday thru Friday
8:45 AM - 4:45 PM
ADDRESS:
100 West Airy Street
P.O. Box 268,
Norristown, PA 19404-0268
PHONE AND FAX:
Phone: 610-279-9660
Fax: 610-279-4321 & 610-279-4846
4 SIDEBAR

This has most certainly been a challenging year in the life of the Montgomery Bar
Association filled with all of the foregoing emotions and experiences and certainly
much more. I have written previously at length regarding the arduous tasks of
formulating and conducting the process to select a new executive director, managing
the transition of Bar Association operations from in-person to online in the time of
COVID, working closely with the courts while they employed efforts to continue
operating in the midst of the ever-evolving pandemic, and seeking to serve as an ally,
or as Marilou Watson might say, an accomplice, in propelling this Bar Association to
play a more deliberate and pronounced role in confronting the issues of racial injustice.
I look back at our association's efforts and successes in these areas during this past year
and I am filled with a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Of course, there are many issues that arose throughout the course of the year
which I have not previously written about, some of which have led to perhaps even
greater debate amongst not only our members, but the communities we serve. While
I shall not specifically identify or call attention to any one particular dispute, some
of these disagreements have reached fever pitch, and resulted in less than civil actions
and words. What may come as a surprise to at least some of our membership is
that the bar association is repeatedly called upon to take formal positions on any
number of these issues, leaving those advocating on both sides of a particular dispute
disappointed, and many times critical, of the bar association's inaction. On numerous
occasions throughout the year, those most critical have often found their way to me,
at which point, I have always sought to educate and enlighten those individuals to

http://montgomerybar.org http://www.Facebook.com/MontgomeryBarAssociation http://www.Twitter.com/Montgomery_Bar http://www.YouTube.com/user/MontgomeryBarAssociation http://www.Instagram.com/montgomerybarassociation

SIDESBAR WINTER 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SIDESBAR WINTER 2021