Called to duty

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Law Day began in 1957 when Charles S. Rhyne, then president of the American Bar Association, believed in creating a special day for celebrating our legal system.

As a result, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established Law Day in 1958, and May 1 was designated in 1961 by a joint resolution of Congress as the official date for celebrating it.

Besides being a day to celebrate our legal system, Law Day is an opportunity for civilian practitioners and their military counterparts to get together and learn about each other's practices and customs.

With so many reservists being activated, civilian practitioners may be surprised that the military practitioners they invite to Law Day events are actually colleagues who have donned uniforms for various periods of active duty.

I have been at military assignments where local bar members were invited as guests to a military “Dining Inn,” a formal evening event where customs, camaraderie and patriotism are mixed in a special and memorable manner.

I have also been at assignments where the local bar members were invited to military luncheons that featured the military community, its commanders and its legal advisors.

Whatever the event, I have seen an amazing team-building spirit take place between civilian and military practitioners. The introductions, the contacts and the exchange of information often result in synergistic collaborations that benefit clients at later times.

Conceivably, the colleague you meet at a Law Day event could actually turn out to be vital in providing legal support to family members of deployed service members or to the service members themselves. The potential rewards and the client success stories are immeasurable.

This year's Law Day theme is “Liberty Under Law: Separate Branches, Balanced Powers.” The theme reflects the need for Americans to understand what the founders intended and accomplished in creating a government of separate powers.

This theme addresses the manner in which branches represent separate powers, but together form a dynamic system that works for the common good.

While military and civilian practitioners are often separated in their respective jurisdictions, I encourage both military and civilian attorneys to use Law Day as a means to share ideas, views and information.

Together, military and civilian practitioners can form a dynamic system that works for the common good of active duty and reserve service members and theirs families around the world.