President’s Report to the House of Delegates: Meet Me at the Bar: Building a Better Bar, Together

President’s Report to the House of Delegates: Meet Me at the Bar: Building a Better Bar, Together

6.27.2026

By Taa Grays

Executive Summary

This report outlines the priorities, initiatives, and organizational focus for the coming year. It is grounded in the New York State Bar Association’s mission to advance the success of its members, promote equal access to justice, and uphold the rule of law.

The year ahead presents an opportunity to build on the Association’s 150-year legacy while addressing significant challenges facing the profession, the judiciary, and the communities served by our members. The report discusses three overarching priorities: membership sustainability, financial stability, and operational effectiveness. This report also describes my presidential initiatives.

Advancing Justice and Leadership: The Association’s Mission and Future Challenges

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor has observed, “There are no bystanders in life. Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.” That principle reflects the Association’s responsibility as a leading voice of the legal profession.

The Association’s role is defined by a continued commitment to advancing the professional success of its members, equal access to justice, and the rule of law. This mission is especially important at a time when foundational principles, including the independence of the judiciary, face significant pressure.

The 150th anniversary provides an opportunity to recognize the Association’s historic contributions including to public discourse, legislative and judicial reform, marriage equality, the right to counsel for indigent defendants, and the creation of the United Nations.

At the same time, the Association must respond to transformative technological change, evolving member expectations, and the need for collective engagement across sections, committees, and leadership bodies.

Focusing on our Strategic Priorities for the Year Ahead

Our strategic plan provides the framework for how we will strengthen the Association in the years ahead. Centered on three pillars—enhancing membership sustainability, making the organization easier to operate, strengthening financial sustainability — our plan outlines the priorities that will shape our collective work. Advancing these goals will require the active engagement of section leaders, committees, staff, and members, as the following discussion highlights.

Membership Sustainability

The Association is member-driven, and its long-term strength depends on attracting new members while retaining and engaging current members. Relationship-building must remain central to this effort, including assuring members that their input is valued and necessary.

Group membership, engagement of young lawyers, and recruitment of in-house counsel and international lawyers will be key components of our membership strategy.

Within that broader membership strategy, two constituencies warrant particular attention because they present significant opportunities for both growth and deeper engagement: in-house counsel and young lawyers.

For in-house counsel, the Executive Committee approved the creation of an In-House Counsel Engagement Task Force to better understand the needs and barriers faced by corporate attorneys and to develop targeted programming, resources, and community-building initiatives that make Association membership, especially Corporate Counsel Section membership, more meaningful and valuable at all career stages. The Task Force has begun its work; it is planning to review attendance data to identify successful programs, explore new engagement opportunities including a major kickoff initiative, approve a mission statement, and develop a member survey.

Young lawyers are equally essential to the Association’s future. They bring new ideas, reflect the future of the profession, and must be included meaningfully in membership and leadership development. To support this goal, the membership committee will include a subcommittee focused on developing a strategic approach to the unique membership needs of young lawyers. The Young Lawyers Section will also work with me to develop a roadshow to meet young lawyers across the state and discuss how the Association can better address their needs.

By pairing an Association-wide growth target with focused engagement strategies for key constituencies, we can strengthen the membership pipeline, deepen member participation, and ensure that the Association remains responsive to the evolving needs of the profession. These efforts should help position the Association not only to grow, but to build lasting relationships that sustain membership over time.

A Seamless Organization

The Association must make it seamless for members to operate within the organization. This includes improving website and digital platform navigation, updating policies, and strengthening communication among sections, committees, and staff.

A corporate governance committee was created by the Executive Committee to evaluate these issues and recommend updates to Association policies and practices. Periodic review is necessary for any large organization, and the current moment calls for focused attention to governance and operational efficiency.

• Strengthening Financial Sustainability

Our Annual Meeting is our signature event, and this year we’re strengthening its impact. With the potential to become a more meaningful source of revenue for the Association, the meeting will introduce two new programs designed to draw greater participation and enrich the member experience.

• Technology, Member Support, and Practice Innovation

The evolving technology landscape presents both opportunities and challenges for the legal profession. Attorneys, particularly solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers, need to understand the rapidly evolving regulatory environment as well as receive practical guidance in evaluating and adopting appropriate legal technology tools.

The Association will host Tech Forward, a legal technology expo, at the Annual Meeting to showcase innovative legal technology approaches and provide members with direct access to vendors and practical resources. The Committees on Technology working with the Legal Profession and Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology will develop this new programming.

Making Attorney Well-Being a Priority

Member success includes the ability of attorneys to prioritize their own physical and mental health. The Committee on Attorney Well-Being will launch a program in 2027 encouraging attorneys and law firms to begin the year with a renewed focus on self-care.

Well-being will also be a central theme of Annual Meeting, where the Association will debut the Wellness and Self-Care Expo. Programming will include seminars on stress management, holistic wellness, and work-life balance. The Committees on Attorney Well-Being, Lawyers Assistance and Judicial Wellness will be working together to plan this Expo.

Presidential Initiatives

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once advised, “Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks,” explaining that we should seek to leave the world better for our having lived. That charge is an appropriate frame for the presidential initiatives that follow, each of which is intended to advance the Association’s mission, strengthen the profession, and serve the public good.

These initiatives will require the collective expertise, judgment, and commitment of our sections, committees, and members. Because our sections and committees are the engine of our collective action, I have asked some section and committee leaders to engage their members, develop recommendations, and help ensure that each initiative is practical, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of the profession and the communities we serve.

The initiatives described below address several areas of immediate importance: improving access to Family Court, helping members navigate technological change, supporting attorney well-being, advancing sustainable energy law, and strengthening consumer protection through clearer terms and conditions.

New York Family Court Access Initiative

The Association will launch an initiative for reforms to improve Family Court, where litigants often face life-altering circumstances involving custody, safety, and family stability. Many individuals are forced to navigate the system without counsel, intensifying the need for reform.

Chief Judge Wilson has identified Family Court as a priority and has acknowledged both recent support for the system and the continuing burden of heavy caseloads. The Association’s initiative will focus on structural barriers that prevent families from effectively navigating the court system.

The initiative will address four primary barriers:

• Excessive delays;
• An impenetrable process for self-represented litigants;
• An unclear landscape of available assistance; and
• Too few attorneys available to meet the need.

Harnessing the expertise and perspective of our sections and committees, the Family Law Section working with the Women in the Law and Judicial Sections, the Committees on Families in the Law, Children in the Law, Legal Aid, Mandated Representation and the President’s Committee on Access to Justice.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Policy Refresh

The Renewable and Sustainable Energy Policy Refresh Initiative will equip practitioners, municipalities, and state officials with legal frameworks, policy guidance, and legislative proposals to support New York State’s environmental sustainability goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and related laws.

The initiative will generate a report that will provide guidance on New York’s clean energy transition and promote implementation that is equitable, legally sound, and effective at all levels of government. The Environmental and Energy Law Section will take the lead on this initiative.

The initiative will:

• Provide authoritative legal analysis on sustainable energy law, including guidance for municipalities and state officials on compliance with Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act targets; and
• Review and update existing Association reports on sustainable energy, incorporating regulatory developments, case law, and implementation challenges.

Terms & Conditions: Consumer Protection Initiative

The Association will implement a consumer protection initiative focused on terms and conditions that consumers are routinely asked to accept. The objective is to support informed consent and help the public better understand contractual commitments.

The initiative will examine New York’s legal framework governing terms and conditions and identify legal, practical, technological, and design barriers that prevent consumers from understanding contractual terms.

The anticipated work product will include a report with legislative and regulatory recommendations, along with practical templates and playbooks for law firms and companies seeking to draft clearer consumer terms and conditions. This initiative will be led by the Business Law Section.

Preserving and Sharing our Legacy

And while we always need to look ahead, we must also be aware of our past.  Part of laying the groundwork for the future is capturing our 150-year history. The Executive Committee created the Building Trust through Justice Task Force that will focus on capturing the stories of the great work our Association has done over the last 150 years.  It will develop a plan to preserve, digitize, and place our historical materials in a user-friendly online space, making them relevant and easily searchable for our members, legislators, and the public.

Conclusion

Earlier this month, it was a distinct honor to be sworn in by Justice Marguerite Grays (my aunt) as the 129th President and the first Black woman to serve as President of the Association. This milestone reflects the importance of leadership that represents the diversity of the legal profession and the people it serves.

I am grateful to the distinguished leaders who attended the installation, including Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, Attorney General Letitia James, and Justice Cheryl Chambers, President of the New York Bar Foundation.

I also acknowledge my predecessor, Kathleen Sweet, for her leadership and accomplishments over the past year and thank her for her service.

The incoming leadership team includes President-Elect Michelle Wildgrube, Treasurer Susan Harper, and Secretary Tom Maroney. I look forward to working with them and with all of you to advance the Association’s mission.

Thank you for the confidence and trust placed in me to serve as President. I look forward to the coming year of service and to working collaboratively to advance the professional success of our members, equal access to justice, and the rule of law.