Maryland Bar Bulletin
Publications : Bar Bulletin

Editor: W. Patrick Tandy

March, 2004

When MSBA launched its inaugural issue of Bar Brief, the Association’s new monthly electronic newsletter, last September, it was an overnight success - literally. The Association’s staff hit the send button the morning of September 2, e-mailing Bar Brief to 10,000+ MSBA members and then anxiously awaited member response. It didn’t take long; within minutes of receiving this electronic newsletter, members responded enthusiastically, giving it a “thumbs up” rating as a valuable communication tool.

MSBA unveiled Bar Brief to electronically keep members abreast of the latest Association news and issues, calendar of events, meetings, law practice tips and alerts on breaking news that Maryland attorneys need to know. It serves as a valuable communication resource, briefly and expediently informing members about MSBA activities and “hot” legal trends. Bar Brief enhances the Association’s communication with its members.

Upon receipt of September’s issue of Bar Brief, members replied immediately, congratulating MSBA on this innovation and offering positive feedback. Bar Brief’s electronically abbreviated news capsules, calendar of events, listing of upcoming MICPEL programs, judicial announcements, updates on revised laws and Board of Governor updates and Section and Committee news all proved popular with members. They embraced the ability to quickly peruse the electronic newsletter for items of particular interest to them, check out upcoming meetings, answer the monthly membership poll question, respond to MSBA volunteer requests and click on website links for additional information. In addition, members have found the previous month’s membership poll results of interest.

“In just a few short months, the number of members who receive the member-only Bar Brief has increased from 10,000 to 12,000,” states Paul V. Carlin, MSBA’s Executive Director. “Fast, concise information is the coin of the realm and reminds us that communication with members is our critical service. In addition to MSBA’s website, Bar Brief joins the expanding array of electronic services like our Online Member Directory.”

Now in its sixth month, Bar Brief continues to attract attention. Readers clearly scrutinize most items contained in the newsletter as many respond to issues toward the bottom of the publication. It was heartening to receive a large response to the request for volunteer attorneys for MSBA’s Speakers’ Bureau in September and MSBA’s special Brown vs. Board of Education Speakers’ Bureau in December. Twenty-two signed up from the September Bar Brief volunteer solicitation, and over 40 signed up from the one in December and January. MSBA is grateful to them all. The Bar Bulletin gained a number of theme issue writers when it ran a similar Bar Brief request.

Bar Brief offers timely MSBA and Maryland legal community bulleted news items to MSBA members. E-mailed at the beginning of each month, this newest Association publication is an excellent addition to the wealth of electronic information available on MSBA’s website (www.msba.org) and supplements the comprehensive legal news found in the Bar Bulletin, the Association’s print newsletter, which is issued on the 15th of each month.

It also supplements MSBA’s bi-monthly electronic MSBA Events, which reminds members about upcoming MICPEL educational sessions and MSBA programs and events. All MSBA communication vehicles are popular with MSBA members.

The readership of Bar Brief continues to grow as members hear about Bar Brief or read about it in the Bar Bulletin and call MSBA headquarters to give their e-mail address to the Membership Department so they can receive future issues. Bar Brief is automatically sent to all MSBA members, but it is only sent to members who have shared their e-mail addresses with MSBA. A member may opt out at any time.

To guarantee receipt of Bar Brief, your e-mail must be on file with MSBA’s Membership Department. Please send your name and e-mail address to the Membership Department at membership@msba.org. Bar Brief will be sent as both HTML and, for those members whose e-mail does not allow for HTML, text files. For additional information on MSBA’s new Bar Brief, refer to MSBA’s website or contact Pat Yevics at (410) 685-7878.