As the extreme weather season begins, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters threaten to bring myriad civil legal problems for St. Louis area residents, from accessing critical disaster assistance to securing temporary housing to handling insurance claims.

We are pleased to announce that BAMSL Executive Director Zoe Linza will be presented with the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) Bolton Award, NABE's highest honor recognizing Outstanding Bar Leadership. Linza will receive the award on Aug. 9, 2019, at the NCBP/NABE/NCBF Joint Luncheon in San Francisco.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) kicked off its 2019-20 bar year with its annual Law Day celebration on Thursday, May 2 at the Missouri Athletic Club in Downtown St. Louis. The event featured a keynote address by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jon Meacham, awards presentations, and the swearing-in of the new Board of Governors.

Over the next year, I plan to focus my columns on the features and benefits of BAMSL membership and involvement. BAMSL has a lot to offer, no matter the size of your firm, your practice area or the number of years you have been practicing. Today, I begin with my own experience.

BAMSL's Women in the Legal Profession (WILP) Section congratulates The Simon Law Firm; Stinson Leonard Street; and Tueth Keeney on being recognized as best workplaces for women in St. Louis by the Women's Foundation of Greater St. Louis.

NOW IS THE TIME! This is the phrase I want to shout to legal professionals in the St. Louis area who have been thinking of making an employment change in 2019.

Where did the past year go? Somehow, I am wrapping up an entire year serving as President of BAMSL. Over the course of this year, I have learned to appreciate, more than ever, how important BAMSL is to the entire St. Louis area. And it appears that my enthusiasm for all of the things BAMSL does has been contagious. Over these 12 months, we have seen BAMSL members grow to more than 6,750 legal professionals looking for ways to better serve their community.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) and Bring Me a Book St. Louis recently partnered to spread the love of reading to local elementary schools in the metropolitan St. Louis region during the annual Read Across America event. BAMSL participates annually in the nation's largest reading celebration, the National Education Association's (NEA) annual Read Across America Day. This year's celebration was held on Fri., March 1 to celebrate the birthday of one of America's beloved wordsmiths, Theodor "Ted" Seuss Geisel − or "Dr. Seuss" - who was born on March 2

What would it be like to have no meaningful access to the legal system, no remedies for many wrongs and a highly constricted version of justice?

More Than 72,500 Hours of Pro Bono Legal Work Provided to People in Need in Past Two Years

The Bar Association of St. Louis (BAMSL) announced the winners of its 2018 Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Memorial St. Louis Pro Bono Challenge Awards at a luncheon on Feb. 28 at the St. Louis Club. BAMSL members provided more than 40,503 hours of pro bono service to the community during 2018. The 2018 award winners are Ruth Schneider with RCJ Law, LLC, who reported providing 334.4 hours, and Dowd Bennett LLP, which reported an average of 69 hours per attorney.