Page 4 - July August CBA Report

President’s Brief
President’s Brief
Finding Purpose
in Service
By Alan Abes
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 busi-
ness 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 reflec-
tion. 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
4 THE REPORT | July/August 2025 | CincyBar.org
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 coordi-
nate 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.