Membership Committee (50+)

The Membership Committee of the New York State Bar Association Senior Lawyers Section may be the most important committee in the section. Obviously without a strong membership, the Section would not be able to function properly. At present we have a strong membership consisting of more than 2,300 attorneys. There is still a great deal of room for growth. Senior lawyers, those over 55 years of age, who are members of the NYSBA make up 25% of the Association’s membership. Our job as the Membership Committee is to increase membership as much as possible.

To that end, we have granted one year’s free membership to any NYSBA member upon reaching their 55^th birthday. This has been an excellent way of bringing in new members.

We need to increase the number of attorneys on the Membership Committee. Ideally we would like to have one member from each judicial district so that membership can be promoted throughout the State. Outreach to non-members remains our greatest challenge.

Committee Activity in Review

As published in The Senior Lawyer

Spring 2010 The Senior Lawyer Membership Committee

The Senior Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association has done extremely well during its first year of operation. As of January 12, 2010 we had 1,073 members. Needless to say the overwhelming majority of the members have been admitted for more than 10 years. More than 65% of the members are sole practitioners or members of firms of five or fewer members. More than 80% of the members are male. Our membership is spread throughout each judicial district in the State, with the largest numbers coming from the First District, Ninth District and Tenth District.

As you know, the Section did not charge any dues during this first year. In 2010 the dues will be $20. It will be interesting to see if there is any appreciable shrinkage in our membership.

The Membership Committee continues to look for means to recruit new members to our Section and would be appreciative of any ideas that any members may have. In fact we invite you to join the Membership Committee by contacting either one of us at the e-mail addresses below.

John Marwell
jmarwell@smdhlaw.com

Charles A. Goldberger
cgoldberger@mgslawyers.com

Fall 2009 The Senior Lawyer Membership Committee

The Section Membership is now 1,225 and compares very favorably with other Sections that have been in existence for considerably longer. Incentives for increased membership and member retention include personal, direct contacts through the Section Web site, including the link to linkedin.com, Materials of Interest and other features of the site.

The gender demographic of the Section is 80% male and 20% female, which is generally similar to the ratio in the State Bar. The preponderance of the members are in solo practice or in firms of nine persons or under. A letter from Michael Getnick, President of the New York Bar Association, has challenged us to increase our membership by 10% in the coming year. With your help we can reach that goal.

Charles A. Goldberger
cgoldberger@mgslawyers.com