The VBA Journal is the official publication of The Virginia Bar Association.
Issue link: http://vba.epubxp.com/i/436865
4 • VBA JOURNAL T he primary objective of my VBA communications this year has been to highlight the extraordinary value of VBA membership. My first President's Page column focused on the numerous rewards of VBA membership for the individual member and the significant business value of VBA membership for the entities that employ VBA members. These components of VBA membership include significant leadership development opportunities, business development enhancement and greater subject matter expertise for the individual members, all of which inure to the direct benefit of not only the members but also their employers. My next President's Page column highlighted an overarching attribute of VBA membership – the opportunity to be part of an independent, voluntary and statewide bar organization that effects positive change for our profession and the public on a grand scale. Such change has been effected through a wide variety of VBA initiatives and resources over the years, including the VBA's annual legislative agenda, the Chief Justice's Pro Bono Summits, the Rule of Law Project, the Principles of Professionalism, the Pro Bono Hotlines, and the VBA's Law Practice Management Division, to name just a few. In this column, I will highlight another example of the VBA's leading advocacy role in improving the administration of justice and also underscore the distinction between reality and perception regarding the VBA's membership. Judicial Funding For the past several years, the lack of adequate judicial funding in Virginia has compromised Virginia's long-standing reputation for fair and swift justice. All Virginia citizens – individual and corporate alike – have been adversely impacted. The reduction in funding has led to fewer judges, which, in turn, have led to significant backlogs in civil dockets. Virginia families with critical issues in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts have been unable to get swift justice in emergency matters with dire consequences, many involving children. Virginia corporations involved in litigation have likewise been entangled in the backlog, unable to have their cases resolved in a reasonable time. Their employees have had to spend more time on litigation matters when their talents and services are needed elsewhere. The judges on the front lines are overextended and often exasperated with their enormous dockets and limited resources. As a result, the administration of justice in Virginia has suffered to a critical degree. For these reasons, the VBA has made judicial funding its top legislative priority. The VBA's goal of full funding for our judiciary has not yet been realized. Nevertheless, I can say that we have made tremendous progress on this important issue. During the 2014 General Assembly session, the VBA actively lobbied both the Senate and the House of Delegates to enact PRESIDENT'S PAGE Advocacy for the Judiciary support from members in law ofces of all sizes across Virginia make it possible BY JOHN L. WALKER III PRESIDENT, THE VIRGINIA BAR ASSOCIATION