Bar Association leaders push Apex Award nominations and launch oath review survey

At a meeting of the Bar Association's Board of Governors, speakers urged members to submit nominations for the Apex Awards and announced a forthcoming survey from an Oath Review Task Force.

"The award nomination period is open through February," said Speaker 3, urging governors to "get a really healthy, big, robust amount of nominations." The board stressed that nominees who advance the association's strategic goals and local legal work should be considered, not only nationally prominent figures.

Speaker 5 and others framed the awards as a tool to spotlight people advancing the association's strategic plan. "Thinking about people who are advancing our strategic goals...it would feel very synergistic to highlight them through our Apex Awards," Speaker 5 said.

Speaker 3 also announced that the Oath Review Task Force will launch surveys "by Monday or Tuesday" to seek member input on three different oaths tied to three license types. Speaker 3 described the potential change as consequential: "it's potentially like a really significant change that could last decades or even a century." The surveys will ask whether members think the current oath should change and what is meaningful to them.

Speaker 1 said the association will circulate nomination materials and requested that Speaker 3 resend the Apex award email with links. Speaker 6 encouraged members to resubmit past nominees who did not win: "If you submitted a nomination in a previous year and the person did not win, please consider resubmitting it." The board asked members to avoid conflict-of-interest situations when nominating.

Next steps: the task-force surveys were announced to launch imminently; the Apex nomination window remains open through February and association staff will publish nomination materials and links.