PRESIDENT’S  MESSAGE

To my fellow synergists in the law who toil and sweat, nay, whose very situs lies bounded within Sunnyvale, Cupertino, or other adjacent domain, and who are otherwise known as the collective membership of the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Bar Association:  Greetings, Salvete, and Yiassou.

I am your new President, and I write to tell you what goes on with SCBA.

SCBA is a splendid association because it is local, it is friendly, and it serves worthwhile goals of its members by allowing local lawyers to socialize, to make informal referrals to each other, and to meet MCLE requirements.  The goals are simple, and therein lies the beauty of the group.  In not needing to be more than it is, it becomes more than it appears to be:  a neighborly and useful group where local lawyers can actually want to be, a veritable rara avis among professional organizations, one untainted by the petty and preening politicking, and by the cliques, that can so beset and besiege such groups at their worst.  For this, we can thank the many fine leaders who have ably directed the activities of SCBA for over fifty years now and who have kept the fundamentals fundamental.

Our February MCLE luncheon features Mr. Larry Stone, our Santa Clara County property tax assessor.  Mr. Stone is an able and much-sought-after speaker who will discuss the range of issues affecting property taxes, assessments, dispute resolution procedures, and the like.  This is our chance to find out how to get that badly needed reassessment on our now-dismally-depreciated realty assets, and that alone has to justify the modest price of admission and the short trek to Country Inn involved.  The date, time, location, and cost of the February luncheon are as follows:  February 11, 2008, 12:00 p.m., Holder’s Country Inn, 998 S. De Anza Boulevard, Cupertino, $29.  All are welcome, members and non-members alike.

Doron Ohel, our Vice President, is busily lining up the remaining speakers who will complete the 2008 schedule.  He is always open to any suggestions you might have for completing the roster.  SCBA has featured a long line of excellent speakers over the past years, with scarcely a dud in sight, and we want to keep up that tradition.  MCLE can be a dreary triennial burden by which we go both half-heartedly and half-panicked to eve-of-execution cram seminars out of a desperate desire to keep our licenses from lapsing, but it doesn’t have to be – it can instead be a fun way of learning truly interesting developments about a broad and diverse range of topics such as those presented by SCBA over the past years.  We cannot force you to drink, but we can lead you to the horse.  Or something like that.  You get the idea.  Get thee to the luncheon, counselor!

We are also emphasizing new member recruitment this year.  Stephanie Ferrill, another of our officers, has done wonderful work identifying local colleagues who are not part of our group, and we plan to make a special effort to get the word out to them about who we are and what we do.  At the macro level, we will do mailings and we will offer special incentives for first-time people to attend the lunches.  However, in this effort, there is no substitute for personal contact at the micro level, and I would encourage each of you to make a special effort to talk to your local colleagues about SCBA, to direct them to our website (www.suncupbar.com), to invite them to the lunches, and/or to give them my name, or that of any other of our newly installed officers and directors, so that they can give us a call to talk about possibly joining our group.  It is good to share a good thing, and we should do it.  Let’s see if we can add significantly to our group this year.

Any organization with a long and distinguished history inevitably has ancient vestiges bound up in it, and it is incumbent upon this year’s SCBA board of directors to cease being recumbent concerning our bylaws.  While the Pony Express references are reputed to have been long ago removed from that party-of-the-first-part/party-of-the-second-part document, a few out-of-date items remain to be fixed.  You will get further word on this later in the year.

For all of the above projects, and much more, my predecessor, Dave Schricker, did a splendid job throughout 2007, for which we all owe him a vote of thanks.  Dave will continue on the board in his capacity as immediate past President, and I look forward to continuing to receive his strong contributions.

Before closing, I would like to thank Dorie Barras for the fine job she did with the January 23rd Installation Dinner – always a fun event, with this year being no exception – and I would also like to express our collective appreciation to Judge Pichon for officiating and for taking the time to bring us up to date on the activities of the Court.

I look forward to sharing what I hope to be a productive year for SCBA as we move forward in 2008.  It is an honor to have been appointed to this role as President, not because of what I bring but because of what others have brought before me, and I can only hope to make a modest but worthwhile contribution to that effort.

                                                                                    Respectfully,

                                                                                   George Grellas

FUTURE MONTHLY LUNCH MEETINGS

Mark your calendars for the upcoming MCLE Lunch Meetings:

February 11 - Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor

March 10 – A panel of three speakers will discuss providing for special needs clients.  We will have an estate planning attorney, a financial advisor and a professional fiduciary giving the presentation.

April 14 – Craig Needham, Esq. – topic to be announced

CUPERTINO OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE

Cupertino Law Office has space for rent.  Space includes an 87 square foot private window office and use of the California law library and large conference room.  This space would be great for an attorney starting out or considering downsizing.  If you are interested, please contact Nancy at (408) 252-5211.

BOARD MEETING

Our next board meeting will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, 2007.  All board members please mark your calendars. If you are unable to attend, please contact Dorie at 408-777-3405.

2008 MCLE LUNCH MEETING DATES

Here are the dates for the 2008 lunch meetings.  Mark your calendars!

February 11, 2008

March 10, 2008

April 14, 2008

May 12, 2008

June 9, 2008

July 14, 2008

August 11, 2008

September 8, 2008

October 13, 2008

November 17, 2008

December 8, 2008

BOARD MEETINGS DATES FOR 2008

The Board of Directors for SCBA will meet on the following days:

March 20, 2008

May 15, 2008

July 17, 2008

September 18, 2008

November 20, 2008

TOPICS OF INTEREST?

Do you know someone who would make an interesting presentation at our MCLE lunch meetings? Is there a topic of interest that you would like to hear about?  If so, please contact SCBA secretary, Dorie Barras.