May 2023 President's Letter

Greetings! It’s hard to believe we're at the halfway point in my year as President. We're just coming off our Midyear Meeting, which by all accounts was a resounding success. We had in-depth discussions and workshops, facilitated by a facilitator, about where NAWJ is now and ways in which we can better serve the organization and our membership moving forward. NAWJ was well represented by members from our past-former Presidents and Board members; our present-current Board members and leadership; and our future-those who aspire to be in leadership and some new NAWJ members who are interested in learning about what NAWJ has to offer. We had healthy discussions on issues confronting NAWJ, and in some instances agreed to disagreed. But in every instance the discussions focused on what is best for the organization and how to better serve our members. A full report prepared by the facilitator based on the discussions at the meeting is forthcoming and will be available to our membership once it is produced.

Thursday afternoon was our diversity outreach program Planting the Seed. We hosted law students from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the University of Baltimore School of Law.  It was a great opportunity for those students to meet and talk with our judges from across the country about legal careers, judicial clerkship opportunities, the practice of law, work family balance, and answer questions the students had regarding these topics. The students were then invited to join us at our opening reception where they had an opportunity to meet and greet all the judges in attendance. Our opening reception was Thursday evening at the Naval Academy Club, at which we were honored to have Maryland 's Governor Wes Moore in attendance. I think those in attendance were encouraged and impressed by his remarks and his charm. There is a link to the photos from that event on the NAWJ website. Thank you to Governor Moore for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us.

During Friday’s lunch, we highlighted some of our programs and projects by having several of the Judges who have presented these programs and projects talk about what goes into planning and producing them. The expectation is that we create toolkits for these programs and projects so our members can use them to host them in their respective jurisdictions. Thank you to the Judges who presented at the luncheon.

Saturday morning, we had a CLE on Problem Solving Courts; the dos and don’ts of establishing and maintaining Mental Health, Re-Entry, Drug and Veteran’s Courts. Thank you to the Judges who came out Saturday morning to present this very informative program. Their power point presentations are available on the NAWJ website.

Thank you to all who attended and presented, and the staff for all your contributions to make the Midyear a success. And now, we’re off to Morocco for the IAWJ Biennial Conference.

Respectfully submitted,
Judge Toni E. Clarke (Ret)
President, NAWJ