COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT
Membership, Member Benefits, and Pictorial Roster Committee By Nick Nicholas
The Houston Lawyer
A
lthough all HBA committees serve the needs of Houston’s legal community, there is one committee with the specific goal of bringing all together into the Houston Bar Association. This is no small task given the number of practicing attorneys in the Houston area and the diverse fields in which they practice. At the HBA, this task falls to the Membership, Member Benefits, and Pictorial Roster Committee, which is currently chaired by Alistair Dawson, a partner at Beck, Redden & Secrest, L.L.P. The committee tries to fulfill its goal in three separate but equally important ways. First, membership promotion, which includes monitoring and reporting membership statistics to the HBA Board, conducing three membership drives each year, and finding other ways to convince non-members to join. However, membership promotion involves much more than just increasing membership numbers. It also involves making Houston area attorneys, members and non-members alike, aware that the HBA provides numerous opportunities for attorneys to get more involved in their profession and the Houston community, and that they should take full advantage of these opportunities. By doing so, the committee hopes to convey the message that the benefits of HBA membership far outweigh the annual membership dues. 34
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Second, the committee oversees the HBA’s Member Benefits program, which includes reviewing and approving discounts on products and services, as well as special offers for sports and performing arts events. The committee also ensures
that the benefits program includes opportunity for professional improvement through participation in the HBA committees, substantive law sections, mentor programs, and the Houston Lawyer Referral Service. This year, the committee has been working on setting up a system to allow HBA members to pay their dues by credit card. All of these efforts support
the core message that the benefits from HBA membership far outweigh the cost. A complete list of HBA member benefits can be found at www.hba.org, under the menu item “Join the HBA.” Finally, the committee oversees the creation and publication of the HBA’s annual Pictorial Roster. This arduous task begins with the selection of a cover that reflects Houston at that time, be it the host of the G7 conference or the builders of a new courthouse, and ends with committee members proofing each and every entry before it is sent to the publisher for printing and distribution. Although the roster’s intended purpose is to provide the contact information for all HBA members, it also serves the important communal purpose of allowing us the opportunity to make a pictorial record of who we – the current Houston legal community – are as a whole. In essence, it is our group picture in front of the courthouse. Through its efforts in each of these areas, the committee hopes to fulfill its one goal of bringing Houston’s legal community together through a premier bar association that provides its members with numerous opportunities for professional and personal success, and that helps all of us become better lawyers and better Houstonians. Nick Nicholas is senior counsel at Jackson Walker L.L.P. and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.