I’ve always been an unrepentant collector. My parents were perplexed by the human-sized stack of issues of The Sporting News that grew weekly in my closet. My wife shakes her head when a new box of baseball cards lands on our doorstep and my son and I race upstairs to open it like we’re getting away with something. But I make no apologies.

Professionally, I collect bits of insight. Not metaphorically, mind you. My desk is full of hotel stationery and those cool mini notebooks with the conference sponsor’s name on the front and a pen on the side. Their pages contain scribbles recording the wisdom of speakers over many years, addressing topics from business leadership to broad social issues. Name a topic likely to be addressed to a professional audience, and there’s probably a note.  

Why? Ideally, one would synthesize these ideas to guide a personal agenda in a deliberate way. Ha, ok. Maybe when we retire. Right now, there’s no time. The best that most of us manage is to make a mental note and try to incorporate what stands out into our regular behavior.

Luckily, however, being CBA President forces periods of reflection. We craft messages and hone big picture goals to make the most of this opportunity. We are also privileged to pause at several events honoring the lives, accomplishments, and dedication of others.

I write on the heels of attending three such events: the CBA Memorial Service, the ProKids Friends of Children Breakfast, and the CBA Past Presidents’ Luncheon. Each event validated a crucial insight written in one of my notebooks — pick a place to help and start there.  

The consistent theme of the memorial tributes read aloud for our colleagues was service to others. There was some overlap, but it was striking how they stood in distinct places to make a mark in their corners of the profession and community and then gave it all they had. 

Their efforts echo the volunteer CASAs and attorneys at ProKids (a longtime CBA partner) who quite literally save one child at a time from getting lost in a cycle of abuse and neglect. Thank you to CBA Past President Tom Cuni for the invitation to honor the work of those volunteers, including his own. And thank you to all the Past Presidents who shared lunchtime stories of founding the CALL program, strengthening the Cincinnati Bar Foundation, and creating the Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio, to name a few places they each made a difference that keeps paying dividends.

It’s easy to get carried away in such moments of inspiration and then watch them fade away into the demands of the next day or even the next hour. It’s just as easy to set lofty goals that fade the same way. Recognizing as much, your Board and committees are hard at work, not only as stewards of the day-to-day.

To implement goals announced at the beginning of the bar year in May, a subcommittee is meeting to execute plans to help the public better understand the law, the courts, and our system of government. A different subcommittee is meeting to coordinate bar community service efforts and promote service efforts in which our members engage. The Board adopted a new Diversity & Inclusion statement (available at cincybar.org) recommended by the committee of the same name charged with promoting our principles. Before long, there will be a call for you to assist in these efforts. There is much to do, but we’ll start here, in our own corner.

Alan Abes is a partner at Dinsmore and the 2025-2026 CBA president.