Yesterday, the Bowling Green - Warren County Bar Association hosted our annual Law Day luncheon and celebration. Thanks to everyone who made it to the event, and a special thanks to our Board President Jamie Spinks Meredith and our board member Katie Embry for helping pull this event together. We recognized several local attorneys for their outstanding service and dedication to the community. Olivia Hester introduced Alan Simpson as the recipient of the Gwyneth Davis Outstanding Public Service Award. Shawn Rosso Alcott introduced Mark Alcott, who was the recipient of the Pro-Bono Publico Award. Finally, Buzz English introduced Charles English, who received the William H. Natcher Award.

The BG/WC Bar Association will be updating the composite picture hanging in the Justice Center. The cost is $45.00 per member to be paid to the BG/WC Bar Association. For that amount, you will get a professional headshot to use as you please and said headshot will be included in the composite photo to be displayed. Dates for photos are set for Sept. 25, 26, and 27 at the Warren County Justice Center. The exact room will be determined. A session is set for Oct. 7 for those unable to sit in September. Click on this link to schedule your appointment with photographer Lewis Clinton. Follow the instructions carefully. Ff you know of any local attorneys who are not members of the BG/WC Bar but would like to be included in the portrait, feel free to forward this story to him/her.

Jamie Spinks Meredith was elected 2024 president of the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association by acclamation at a general meeting of the bar on Jan. 23, succeeding Colton Givens. The meeting was well-attended on a cold, rainy day at 440 Main restaurant in downtown Bowling Green. Meredith has been an assistant county attorney since 2007 with Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken's office; Givens is engaged in private practice and has been associated with Kerrick Bachert in Bowling Green since 2018. Here's the full roster of bar association officers and board: 2024 Officers Jamie Spinks Meredith, President Carlos Bailey, Vice President Leah Morrison, Treasurer Carrie Jolly, Secretary Colton Givens, Past President Directors (term expiring 12/31/2024) Blake Beliles Lindsey Carter Cade Snodgrass Brent Stinnett Flora Templeton Stuart Directors (term expiring 12/31/2025) Katie Embry Kayla Fugate Lauren Marley Darren Mexic Luke Wetton 

Dear Members of the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association, On behalf of the Officers and Directors of the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association, I want to thank each of you for your continued membership in our local bar. We have been encouraged by the ever-increasing participation we have seen this year as we adjust to the practice of law in a post-COVID world, and we have tried to increase our programming accordingly. Our year began in January with a well-attended membership luncheon. In February, we had the privilege to honor our local attorneys who have attained forty years of practice by hosting over 275 guests at the first Barrister’s Ball since 2015. Thanks to the Barrister’s Ball planning committee, this event was a great success and we are already looking forward to the next one in 2027-2028. In May, we hosted local practitioners and students for our annual Law Day ceremony at the Capitol Arts Center. We expanded our typical CLE offerings by presenting a two- day CLE program, which featured four hours of ethics credit. We also expanded our social offerings, with a variety of events including a Hot Rods outing, the first post-COVID Barrister’s Open, a social to support the Kentucky Bar Foundation following the Kentucky Law Update, and the annual holiday party. Perhaps most importantly, thanks to the financial stewardship of our predecessor officers and directors, the local bar was able to extend year-end gifts to several local organizations and scholarship funds focusing on legal services and education, including Kentucky Legal Aid, the Baren River Area Child Advocacy Center, the Gary A. Raymer Scholarship Fund, the Kiwanis SKYCTC Scholarship, the WKU Mock Trial Team, and Warren County Teen Court. This year, our local bar started a partnership with the Louisville Bar Association that we hope will pay dividends in the future. Members of the BGWC Bar Association now have access to the LBA’s extensive CLE programming at a discounted rate. A portion of the fees paid by our members to the LBA for CLE programming comes back to the local bar. If you need last-minute CLE credits as the end of the educational year approaches, or if you simply want to expand your understanding of a particular area of the law, I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity and help your local bar at the same time. The LBA has also expressed interest in expanding its Kentucky Lawyer Referral Service to cover Warren County. KLRS operators place prospective clients in touch with participating attorneys who service the clients’ geographical area and case type. In 2019, participating attorneys earned a combined total of $1.6 million in fees through KLRS referrals. We understand the KLRS often receives calls from prospective clients in Warren County, and as such, the LBA believes it could be worthwhile to expand the reach of its service here. More information regarding the KLRS may be found on the LBA’s website at https://www.loubar.org/public-resources/lawyer-referral-service/. If you might be interested in participating in the KLRS if it was offered in Warren County, please let us know. Finally, enclosed is the dues notice for 2024. We look forward to each of you renewing your membership in the local bar. If you know an attorney who is new to the Bowling Green area, or was once a member but has dropped off our rolls, we ask that you forward them a copy of the notice, or provide us with their contact information so we may reach out. Our goal is to extend the opportunity of membership to every attorney in Warren County, as well as those in the surrounding counties who regularly practice here. You will see that our bar dues remain set at $100/year. Our dues have stayed consistent for many years, even as the cost to put on CLEs, social events, and other activities has increased. At the same time, various economic and budgetary pressures have caused some employers, especially those in the public and non-profit sectors, to cease paying their attorneys’ bar dues. As a result, we have lost members whose perspectives are important and should be represented in our local bar. This year, the bar board has discussed various options to recapture some of these lost members. One option is to create a program through which private attorneys could sponsor the bar dues of public and non-profit attorneys whose employers do not pay their bar dues. Another option is to expand the categories of attorneys exempt from paying dues and modestly increase the amount of dues for everyone else. The bar board does not take the notion of increasing dues lightly, and that is why we are seeking your input. If you have suggestions regarding how we might increase membership and participation in the local bar, both generally speaking and specifically among public and non-profit sector attorneys, please let us know. This is an ongoing discussion, and we want all our members and prospective members to be part of it. Once again, please accept the sincere gratitude of the officers and directors of your local bar association for another successful year in the practice of law in Bowling Green and Warren County. We wish you and your families a happy holiday season and look forward to seeing each of you at a bar event in the new year. With warmest regards, Colton W. Givens President, BG-WC Bar Association December 18, 2023

As is often the case among lawyers, judges had the last word in the 2023 Barristers' Open played at Park Mammoth on Sept. 22. Judge Greg Stivers (U. S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky) and Judge John Brown (Commonwealth of Kentucky Warren District Court) teamed up with veteran barrister Tim Edelen (center) and McKenzie Carter (left) to win with a 14-under 56 in a scramble format. Stivers is not pictured. Edelen has made his career at Bell, Orr, Ayers & Moore in Bowling Green. Carter, one of the area bar's younger attorneys, is Litigation Counsel for Shelter Insurance covering several states. Park Mammoth Golf Club was renovated a few years ago by Bowling Green resident David Chandler and is much improved from the younger days of the Barristers' Open, also known as "The Fifth Major," and infamous for the "Mole in the Hole" incident during the event's infancy. Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association board member Brent Stinnet took the lead organizing the Barristers'. Bar president Colton Givens was on hand as well on a fun day at Park Mammoth. By Dick Downey Photo by Colton Givens

The 8th Barrister's Ball and 40-year dinner was a great success with almost 300 signed up for the event. Joe Imel photography has posted over 300 photos of the event that can be ordered.  To view the photos, please click here .

The Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association will host the 2023 Forty Year Commemoration Dinner and Barristers' Ball Saturday, Feb. 18. The black tie-optional party begins at 6 p.m. at WKU's Knicely Center. Following a social gathering and banquet, Dizzorderly Conduct will perform. Producing the event is no small task, and the bar is grateful for the efforts of Susan Page Minton and Nancy Priest, the Barristers’ Ball Chairs, and a committee comprised of (in alphabetical order) Mary Edelen, Nancy English, bar president Colton Givens, past president Scott Laufenberg, Leslie Priest, Micki Simpson, bar board member and past president Brent Stinnett, and Jane Wilson. It's the eighth Barristers' Ball. The event is ordinarily held every five years but was thrown off its usual timetable by restrictions imposed after a pandemic began spreading throughout the country in early 2020. The attorneys to be honored are: Deceased Honorees: Robert Bradley Coffman (1977), Nicholas Noel Brown (1978), William Ward Allen, Jr. (1979), Penny Travelsted (1980), Lela Elizabeth Shepherd (1981) 1970-1972: Phillip R. Grogan (1970), Robert Harvey Johnston, III (1972) 1976: Kenneth A. Meredith, II, Murray Albert Raines, Flora Templeton Stuart 1977: Scott Kenneth Crocker, James Richard Downey, Mark Dennis Esterle, Larry Floyd Hinton, John D. Minton, Jr., Stephen Chase Todd 1978: David William Anderson, Steven Douglas Downey, Edward Faye, David A. Lanphear, Michael Venable Pearson 1979: Kevin Clark Brooks, Jo Ann Spinks Coleman, Mark Hill Flener, Hoy Poteet Hodges, Phillip Lynn Kimbel, Kurt William Maier, Frank Hampton Moore, Jr., Claire Lynn Russell, Judy Freeman Schwank, Susan Watson Tinnon 1980: Walter Ralph Beck, Thomas Neal Kerrick, Timothy Leigh Mauldin, LaJuana S. Wilcher 1981: Lee Lawrence Coleman, Wade Thomas Markham 1982: Scott Adrian Bachert, Thomas Francis Chimera, John Reidlinger Grise, Stewart E. Warren

New officers and directors were elected by acclamation at the 2023 annual luncheon and business meeting of the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association held at 440 Main restaurant in downtown Bowling Green on Jan. 24. About a dozen new Bowling Green attorneys were introduced at the well attended event, which was attended by, among others, former Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court John Minton and Kelly Thompson, who was elected to the high court upon Minton's retirement. Outgoing president Scott Laufenberg (photo below, right), who was presented a plaque to honor his service to the bar, is succeeded by Colton Givens (left). The full slate of officers and directors is: 2023 Officers Colton Givens, President Jamie Spinks Meredith, Vice President Carlos Bailey, Treasurer Leah Morrison, Secretary Scott Laufenberg, Past President Directors (term expiring 12/31/2023) Sarah Carey Carrie Link Ryan Galloway Zanda Myers Kate Payton Directors (term expiring 12/31/2024) Blake Beliles Lindsey Carter Cade Snodgrass Brent Stinnett Flora Templeton Stuart  Photo by Jamie Spinks Meredith

The BG-WC bar baord requests you reserve Tuesday, January 24 on your calendars for the annual membership luncheon at 440 Main in downtown Bowling Green. A new slate of officers and directors will be elected, new members of the bar will be introduced. Although a bar notice did not specify a time, the luncheon is traditionally held at noon. Those expecting to attend are requested to complete this online RSVP , which will take only a few moments, by Friday, January 20. Any member desireing to volunteer or nominate someone for election to the board of directors, please get in touch with secretary Carlos Baily by Friday, January 13. Three or four openings are anticipated on the board.