Barbara Roman, inaugurated as president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, said she is proud to be a Clevelander, proud of her profession and "this is my chance to bring it all together."
Barbara Roman, new president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar AssociationBarbara Roman kicked off her one-year term as president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association with a speech to hundreds of lawyers and judges that was part heartfelt Valentine, part rousing call-to-action for her home town.
Roman said at the bar's annual meeting that the group wants to expand its acclaimed 3Rs program, in which 500 volunteer attorneys teach constitutional law and other civics subjects to Cleveland and East Cleveland 10th graders.
The bar asociation, with almost 6,000 members, plans to rename its classroom coaching "3Rs Plus" and extend it to 11th- and 12th-graders. Lawyers will mentor the older students to help prepare them for college and guide them in finding scholarships and grants.
The bar also will help "construct a better Cleveland" by joining with COSE, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the medical profession and other sectors to strengthen the city's economy, she said.
"As lawyers, we can play an important role by using our talents for civic initiatives. The departure of major corporations and industries has left a gap in local leadership. . . Together we can be part of the renaissance of this great city."
Roman noted that the region has nearly $7 billion committed to public and private projects, six times the outlay in the early 1990s when Cleveland was hailed as the "Comeback City."
The bar association was formed in 2007 from the merger of the 134-year-old Cleveland Bar Association and the 80-year-old Cuyahoga County Bar Association.
Roman, 61, a divorce and family law attorney, repeatedly struck a note of local pride.
She told the 450 lawyers and judges gathered in the Marriott Hotel ballroom in downtown Cleveland that she was born in Cleveland to two Cleveland-born parents, grew up in South Euclid, got her law degree at Cleveland Marshall College of Law and is a named partner at a suburban Cleveland firm, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis.
To help everyone internalize the message, it was stamped on pledge cards for pro bono work and T-shirts for attendees: "I live here. I practice here. I am a Cleveland lawyer."
Roman and a half dozen prominent lawyers at the head banquet table punctuated the end of her speech by plopping on white hard hats to signify the work ahead.
"I found it inspiring," said Donald Scherzer, a litigator at Roetzel & Andress in Cleveland.
The bar association gave its highest award for professionalism to Thomas Kilbane, a famed courtroom advocate and chairman of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey's worldwide litigation group, who died in April. Cleveland lawyer Steven Wolkin received the Justice for All Volunteer of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children and indigent clients. Hugh McKay, a past president of the Cleveland Bar and driving force behind launching the 3Rs, received the President's Award.