The Oklahoma Bar Journal August 2023

on. Our goal is to ensure they come to the association eager to join – not just to be able to practice law but to become a part of an association that will give them an opportunity to associate with lawyers across the state and a feeling they can get help and answers to their questions as they build their practice. The committee hopes that its work in these areas will make our membership recognize the value of OBA membership, and that mem bership is much more than just a requirement to practice law in the state of Oklahoma. It is our challenge as a committee to take a strategic, long-term and forward-thinking approach to making sure OBA mem bers truly understand why belonging to the association matters. We will continue to work diligently to ensure members take pride in being an Oklahoma lawyer and as members of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

spoke, and we listened! We are working with OBA staff and other stakeholders so OBA members will have the use of an integrated, highly functional website that pro vides a more seamless experience for members who interact with the association online. The survey regarding the Annual Meeting yielded valuable insights into our membership’s opinions about what programs, continuing legal education and social events have been presented and what they would like to see continued, changed or eliminated. We learned we need to make every effort to ensure events held during the Annual Meeting feel welcoming and inclusive to all of our members. Among the suggestions were creating “dry” spaces at the meeting to support those members who prefer to attend alcohol-free events and presenting CLE and programs for lawyers who practice in rural areas of our state. Others expressed a desire to have the meeting be held concurrently with the annual judicial conference. The committee and OBA staff are work ing to try to incorporate those ideas into future meetings. And we don’t just create sur veys! The committee is also actively leading discussions with law school student representatives to engage with future lawyers to build rela tionships with members-to-be early

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Tim DeClerck practices at Mitchell DeClerck PLLC in Enid. April Moaning

is a sole practitioner in Oklahoma City. If you have any comments or suggestions for the committee, send an email to ted@mdpllc.com or april@moaninglaw.com.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL