I would like to take this opportunity to provide a brief tour of the Maryland State Bar Association’s website www.msba.org. Besides being the starting point for services, information and resources, the homepage now contains valuable information located directly on the front page.

You may have seen the “Site of the Week”, the current issue of the Maryland Bar Journal and important notices about upcoming events or news items on our homepage but we have added quite a few new features as well.

Some of the new additions you will find are the “Weekly Practice Tips” that provide information from a variety of sources to help you in your everyday tasks; a list of upcoming MICPEL events located next to MSBA events; features or updates from the different Departments, Sections and Committees that make up the MSBA. One of these features is a direct link you can use to update your email address or member information with our membership department. The site also feature an online opinion poll with viewable results. There are also convenient links located at the top left side of the page for information posted lower on the page.

Here are some of the other things that you can find on MSBA.org:

DEPARTMENTS

Lawyer Assistance - Lawyer Assistance is a CONFIDENTIAL, non-disciplinary assistance program for judges, lawyers, law students, and legal staff whose personal problems may be affecting their work productivity.

Law Office Management - The LOMA department provides guidance and information to our members, and especially to new or experienced solo and small firm practitioners

Legislative Relations - The 2001 session of the Maryland General Assembly began on January 10. During the new 2002 session, we will update this information and will include the ever-popular Legislative Update.

Membership - Our membership department has information about dues, updating your information or contacting someone with questions.

Calendar - There are three separate calendars. Here you can find meeting schedules, upcoming events sponsored by the MSBA, MICPEL, and other local and specialty bars.

Contact Us - Here you will find information about contacting members of the MSBA Officers, Directors and Staff. You can find the person you need by their name, department or title.

Sections & Committees - Contain individual web pages for the MSBA Sections and Committees. Each page contains information about the current council or committee members as well as other information such as links, calendars, minutes of meetings, and available email listserv discussion groups.

Member Benefits - Here you can find information about meetings, seminars, publications, and member services. This area of the site also contains name and telephone numbers for many valuable resources. You can also find discounts on car rentals from leading companies, discounts on Lexis computerized legal research, fax machines, mobile phones, express mail, and long distance telephone service.

Member Only Areas -There are only a few areas on the site that require a username and password to access information.

The first is the Electronic Bar Briefs (EBB), which is a service of the Daily Record that you may sign up for free of charge. Upon signing up, you will receive short synopses of each Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals decision, in a given practice area delivered by email.

The other Member Only area is the MSBA Ethics Opinions, which are issued by the MSBA Committee on Ethics. You’ll have instant access to the online Ethics Opinions in either HTML or PDF formats and you can search for opinions by either opinion number or by keyword search.

A Note About Passwords - I receive questions about the MSBA usernames and passwords quite often. These passwords are not issued to you and nor are they created on any registration form. The username and password us a combination of your last name and social security number. Information about this is located on the login pages for Members’ Only areas.

Mentoring Program -A link to the Mentoring Program appears on our main navigation. The Maryland State Bar Association sponsors a pro bono Mentor Program to assist newer, less experienced members of the Bar. The purpose of the program is to provide a resource forattorneys to seek and receive advice, or to discuss concerns.

Publications -The MSBA publishes a number of brochures, reports, newspapers, magazines and other print publications each year. Information on the editors, staff involved, and how you can sign up to receive these publications is listed under the Publications link on the main navigation. You can also find an archive of the Table of Contents for the Maryland Bar Journal and selected articles from the Bar Bulletin online.

What’s New At MSBA? -Check out the PressCenter for new articles and press releases issues by the MSBA. The information on this page highlights the latest news, press releases and top legal issues of Maryland’s legal profession. It features news articles, legislative updates, MSBA public information resources and public service programs.

Public Resources provides information about the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, Legal Information Brochures, Disaster Planning, Living Trusts and more.

Legal Links has been one of the most visited areas of the MSBA website. It provides easy access to local and specialty bar websites, court and government websites, legal info, law schools and more.

Legal Vendor e-Mall - One of the newest additions to the MSBA website is an online Legal Vendor e-Mall. This online directory contains almost 100 different vendors in over 30 different categories. These companies have been added because of their familiarity with the legal community. You are sure to find the professional you need.

There is really more available to you than I am able to tell you about here. The next time you are looking for that specific piece of information or need to know if the MSBA can help answer a question, visit www.msba.org and take a look around.

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