Chair’s Message

by Bernadette S. Curry

Bernadette S. Curry is Deputy County Counsel for Solano County and the Chair of the Public Law Section Executive Committee.

Greetings from the desk of the 2018-2019 Chair of the Public Law Section! I am honored, although admittedly in a bit of denial, to be this year’s Chair and so it is with great pleasure and knees knocking that I write my first "Message from the Chair." As a member of the Public Law Section’s Executive Committee since 2014, I have witnessed firsthand the commitment of my fellow public law practitioners throughout California to promote the practice of public law. I have been blessed to meet other pubic practitioners, like Bruce Reed Goodmiller, Richmond’s City Attorney and this year’s recipient of the Ronald M. George Public Lawyer of the Year award, and to visit law schools to discuss careers in public service with future lawyers. Through it all, I am reminded of the diversity and breadth of what is entailed in the practice of "public law." Whether you work for the state, a county, city, or special district, (or in the private sector working on public law issues,) this Section has much to offer you.

My goal for this year is to maintain the high caliber of programs and resources our Section offers as we continue to chart our way as part of the newly formed California Lawyers Association. As I write this, we are in the home stretch of planning our Law Enforcement Use of Force & Lability Conference that our Section will co-present with the Litigation Section at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) on November 16, 2018. We are also working on other quality educational opportunities, in both webinar format and in-person (such as the Public Records & Open Meeting Conference) in the coming year. We will be mindful to not blow up your mailboxes with excessive announcements, but will do our best to keep you informed of all that is going on with the Public Law Section.