Welcome to the 2016-17 bar year!

This is your Committee’s annual plan template that you will be using at the upcoming Committee Planning Workshop in October at the Fall Leadership Meeting. Please use this format to map out your planned committee activities for this bar year. In an effort to minimize paperwork, we want you to fill in the attached chart, and submit it at the end of the planning session in October. Between now and then, begin executing on the plans that are currently in place for your committee for August and September, and consider what else you can/should be doing to get your year off to a strong start.

Please focus on the following planning process:

c  IDENTIFY what is the one thing beyond your ordinary sustaining activities that your committee could do to improve year-over-year membership in your committee?

c  PLAN your committee’s activities.

o  This means identifying which member benefits you will deliver, your deadline for delivery and the committee leader responsible for seeing the activity through.

o  Even the smallest committees in size should be targeting at least one member benefit per month; larger committees should plan on more than that.

o  Decide what works best for engaging members in your committee, and create several opportunities for that engagement throughout the year.

o  Look for other committees to partner with to deliver member benefits.

c  CONFER with support committees, staff and sponsors as needed to obtain assistance as needed.

c  VET your draft plan with your Division Director(s).

c  COMPLETE your plan by the end of the Fall Leadership Workshop, make any necessary adjustments and deliver a copy to your Division Director(s).

The attached guide to developing your committee’s plan has some helpful reminders for plan development. Other useful resources include your Division Director(s), and our updated Guide to Member Benefits on the Leadership Portal.

Throughout your planning, please feel free to consult your Division Director(s) and other committees. You should think about ways in which to partner with other committees to deliver benefits.

The steps you will follow are:

IDENTIFY

What are the strengths of your committee? What is the one thing beyond your ongoing activities that your Committee could do to improve your year-over-year membership?

PLAN

·  Attached is a worksheet you may wish to use as you work through a draft.

·  Or you may wish to work from an electronic version, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/leadership_portal.html

CONFER

·  Discuss your plan with support committees, staff and sponsors as needed to obtain assistance as needed.

VET

·  Discuss your draft plan with your Division Director(s) for review and any revisions.

COMPLETE

·  At Fall Leadership, make any necessary adjustments to the Annual Plan and email the final version to Rachel Kunz at .

OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

·  Does the plan use the full gamut of available member benefits? All the available communications channels? Are communications planned to tout upcoming member benefits? Networking opportunities? Ways that Young Litigators can engage with your committee?

·  Is the plan specific – is there enough detail that anyone reviewing the plan would know what the committee plans to do?

·  Does the plan assign a deadline and a responsible person for each member benefit?

·  Has the committee considered how a committee sponsor might be involved in the delivery of member benefits?

·  Does the plan adequately publicize the member benefits within the committee? For example, is there a January listserv and social media campaign planned to announce the February Roundtable?

·  Is there a plan to re-purpose the content generated by one member benefit into another? For example, does the March website update and newsletter contemplate using the content from the February Roundtable for articles and web content?

·  Does the plan take into account the monthly themes for the Section wide communications for the year?

August / Building Your Case / December / Federal Rules Amendments / April / Paying it Forward
September / Social Media / January / Inside and Outside Counsel / May / Expanding Your Network
October / Diversity & Inclusion / February / Attorney-Client Privilege / Client Confidentiality / June / Work Life Balance
November / Developing Young Lawyers / March / LGBT Litigator / July / Ethics & Professionalism

Developing Your Committee’s Plan: Worksheet

Here are things to keep in mind when developing your committee’s plan:

Section M&M Initiatives
+ Content on Business Development Skills and Referral Networks
+ Strategy and Programming for Young Lawyers
+ Local and Regional Meetings/Events
Chair Initiatives
+ Diversity & Inclusion (PSS, LGBT Forum)
+ Young Litigator Task Force
+ Pro Pro Bono Task Force
+ Strategic Planning
Other Resources
Consider your committee’s Navigant partner, where appropriate as a sub-committee co-chair for newsletters, websites, Sound Advice, or other programming.
Consider whether the Young Lawyers’ Leadership Program committee can assign resources to your committee to assist with, young lawyer outreach. / Member Benefits:
+ Books
+ CLE
+ Regional Meetings
+ Roundtables/Brown Bags
+ SAC Programs
+ Sound Advice
+ Networking Events
+ Opportunities to Engage
CHECK OUT THE SECTION’S GUIDE TO COMMITTEE MEMBER BENEFITS FOR TIPS ON THESE BENEFITS / Committee Communication Channels:
+ Newsletters
+ Web Site
+ Webinars/Video Trial Tips
+ Social Media
+ List Servs
+ Conference Calls
Committee Governance
+ Succession Planning
+ Subcommittee Structure
+ Diversity & Inclusion
+ Young Litigators
+ Membership Initiatives
+ Networking Opportunities
Month / Section Theme / Member Benefits to Be Delivered / Member Engagement & Network Strengthening Activities / Committee Leader Responsible for Delivery /
August / Building Your Case / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
September / Social Media / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
October / Diversity & Inclusion / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
November / Developing Young Lawyers / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
December / Federal Rules Amendments / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
January / Inside & Outside Counsel / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
February / Attorney-Client Privilege & Client Confidentiality / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
March / LGBT Litigator / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
April / Paying It Forward / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
May / Expanding Your Network / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
June / Work Life Balance / 1.
2. / 1.
2.
July / Ethics & Professionalism / 1.
2. / 1.
2.

7