association which has been selected as Bar Association of the Year. How a CLSBA Conference Representative Benefits Your Bar Association Designating a representative for your bar association helps your association better serve its membership and the community. Having a member of your bar association, other than the president, serve as representative, relieves your president of having to serve, which means the president can focus on other matters requiring presidential attention and ensures that you have a member of your association who can concentrate on informing your membership of what the CLSBA has to offer your association, your association’s leadership, and your individual members. Scanning the CLSBA’s website will introduce you to the annual awards program administered by the executive committee, the BLI, the “So You’re 18” project, and other information about the CLSBA. A good representative can motivate your membership to become involved with the following, especially submitting nominations for awards, which are presented at the annual meeting of the CLSBA during the VSB’s annual meeting at Virginia Beach in June. Annual Awards Administered by the CLSBA All CLSBA awards and entry instructions can be found at bit.ly/CLSBA. Nominations are due by May 5, 2021. The CLSBA selects the following for recognition at the annual meeting: A. Local Bar Leader of the Year and Specialty Bar Leader of the Year. These awards honor outstanding dedication and achievement by a deserving bar leader from each category of association with an emphasis on service during the past ten years. B. Bar Association of the Year. This award has been given annually since 2014. Once a bar association wins the award it is thereafter forever ineligible to win again. This means your bar association is guaranteed to be selected, if you just keep nominating it until it wins; and every year your association is nominated, the odds of winning improve. C. Bar Project Awards of Merit. If your bar association has run any project, whether to benefit the members of your association or the community you serve, nominate the project for an Award of Merit. The CLSBA website provides information about projects run successfully by other associations, which your association may be able to run successfully. Projects submitted by associations which receive merit awards will be added to the database and will be available for other bar associations to peruse and determine whether they can run the project to benefit their membership or their communities. A representative can (i) ensure that everyone who chairs a project for your bar association enters the project for a merit award and (ii) work with a committee to nominate your association for Bar Association of the Year and one of your hardworking bar leaders for Bar Leader of the Year and submit those entries by the spring deadline. So You’re 18 Project The CLSBA has prepared a booklet on legal topics important for all Virginians as they reach the age of majority. It is updated annually and available for distribution to high schools and organizations in your community. Copies are available from the VSB. It is an easy project to run, and every local bar association should provide these booklets to the appropriate residents of your community. Your representative can work with a committee from your association to coordinate receipt and dissemination of the booklets and direct you to the website: soyour18.com. The Annual Meeting of the CLSBA All representatives should plan on attending the CLSBA’s breakfast during the VSB’s annual meeting at Virginia Beach, where the CLSBA awards are distributed. The dress code is The CLSBA Award of Merit presentation at the Annual Meeting in 2019. www.vsb.org THE CLSBA ISSUE | VOL. 69 | DECEMBER 2020 | VIRGINIA LAWYER 23