Saturday August 6th, of the ABA annual meeting was “election day”, for both the Labor and Employment Law, and Legal Education Sections.  My morning began with a cab ride to the Le Meridien King Edward Hotel for the Legal Ed Section business meeting and program.  En route, my cab driver gave me a complete run down on the decline of the U.S, morally, politically and economically.  I kept thinking, “It’s waaay to early for this!” That was one time I was especially eager to exit my cab.  When I got to the hotel I ran into the usual suspects, several deans who’d just come out of the deans’ breakfast. The meeting turned out to be amazingly brief. Bucky Askew, who is the Section Consultant, prepared the Annual Report of the Consultant 2011and referred us to that.

 

The outgoing Section Chair, The Honorable Christine Durham, thanked the section for their service on the various committees and for their feedback and participation in the standard review process. The Vice-Chair, The Honorable Oliver Solomon, Jr., was also brief, and basically stated that he looked forward to working with everyone on the important business of the section.  The bios and positions of the incoming officers of the section are available at this link.

When the business meeting adjourned, I learned that there would not be a section program. That created a space for Dean Veryl Miles and me to spend some together. Since I’d not eaten breakfast, we asked the concierge for a recommendation and he sent us to the Over Easy, a breakfast place right around the corner from the hotel.  Over a breakfast burrito (which in no way compared to yummy burritos of El Camino  Real in Fayetteville) we talked about life and work, and I learned that she too, is transitioning out of her deanship at the end of the 2011-2012 school year.  It’s always a blessing to have quiet times like that one to be able to share with friends, and I was grateful to have spent time with her.

The next item on the agenda that day was the Labor and Employment Law Section elections, which meant cabbing it back to the Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel. Fortunately, there was a little time before the meeting, which I used to get out and walk around the area near the hotel.  Our meeting was also brief.  The nominating committee submitted the following slate of officers: 

Chair-Elect (Employer, 2011-2012), Stewart S. Manela, Washington, DC; Vice Chair (Union & Employee, 2011-2012), Joel A. D’Alba, Chicago, IL;  Vice Chair (Employer, 2011-2012), Joyce E. Margulies, Memphis, TN; Secretary-Elect (2011-2012), Mark W. Bennett, Sioux Falls, IA; Section Governance Liaison (Union & Employee, 2011-2014), Vicki Bor, Washington, DC; Council Member (Employer, 2011-2014), Gail Golman Holtzman, Tampa, FL; Council Member (Employer, 2011-2014),Douglas E. Dexter, San Francisco, CA; Council Member (Employer, 2011-2014), Samantha C. Grant, Los Angeles, CA; Council Member (Union & Employee, 2011-2015),  Wendy L. Kahn, Washington, DC; Council Member (Union & Employee, 2011-2015),   Howard Z. Rosen, Los Angeles, CA .

The membership unanimously approved the slate. Incoming Chair of the Section, Rick Seymour thanked the outgoing Chair, Gordy Krischer for his service.  Gordy then passed the gavel to Rick.  Afterwards all toasted the incoming officers with a glass of champagne (my favorite part of the elections).

From there I scooted over to the Fairmont Hotel for a walk-through, with my fellow panelists of the presentation the next day, Investigating and Forgetting on the Web. We had a great discussion, as you might imagine because these issues lend themselves to debate.  Our agenda for the next day was fairly ambitious, given that we only had 1 ½ hours, but that’ s typically the case. There’s so much to cover and so little time. One good thing was thought that the attendees would be able to pick up the papers  for a more thorough analysis of the topics each speaker discussed. 

That meeting ran a little long, so I had to hurry to my dinner date with Jim and Cindy LaVaute.  Jim is a past union-side chair of the section and a pretty funny guy.  Cindy’s a sweetie, and they’ve both been very supportive of me over the years, so I was looking forward to spending time with the two of them.  We had dinner at Sotto Sotto, which means “hush hush” in Italian.  I must have been pooped, or really distracted by the good company and meal, because I didn’t get any pics.  Sorry about that.  The restaurant is down in a basement and is small and noisy, but the food is great.  Jim ordered a missed seafood dish. I selected penne pasta with tomato cream sauce and smoked salmon and Cindy ordered the veal. Jim treated. Thanks Jim!  During dinner I asked them how they met. The story of their courtship was funny and sweet.  I enjoyed my evening with them very much, and had fun getting to know them better. We hopped in a cab on the way back, as it was pouring rain, but the weather couldn’t dampen our spirits, as it had been a good evening.