I’m looking forward to participating in the Anne Arundel County Homeless Resource Day for the second year in a row! I’m committed to helping my client and the community at-large.
As the membership co-chair of the Maryland State Bar Young Lawyers Section, I am often approached at various events and aggressively asked in so many words, “Do you have a job for me?” I always cringe at this. As John F. Kennedy meant to say: “Ask not what your bar association can do for you, ask what you can do for your bar association.” Or ask yourself what you can do for that community association or for that person you are meeting at the networking event. When you meet people you should be asking yourself, ‘How can I help the other person?’ Networking takes time. Exchanging a business card is just the beginning, it isn’t the end. Networking takes time because networking is really about trust and trust takes time to build. There will always be people who I will describe as “political hacks”, who are seemingly able to network with ease. They do little work and they skyrocket to that dream job or to that position despite the lack of work. Maybe this is because they were born into the right family or work at the right firm. Long term success, however, will ultimately depend on your consistency and reliability to others. There really shouldn’t be an “I” in networking.
But there should be a “U” in “success.”
What do YOU think?
I was lucky enough to clerk for one of the most respected, influential and likeable judges in the State of Maryland, The Honorable Nancy Davis-Loomis. She is the Administrative Judge for Anne Arundel County and the 5th Circuit for the State of Maryland. Her retirement dinner is tonight in Annapolis. From knowing her and her friends, it will most definitely be a blast! Her leadership, kindness and smile will be missed! Here is more information on the event: The Honorable Nancy Davis-Loomis Retirement Dinner.
Excited and honored to be Severn School’s new Alumni President! Severn alumni include: moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, business guru Tom Peters and last, but not least, The Honorable Richard D. Bennett.
Here is the article from Severn’s Bridge magazine:
Uniting the Clans
Scott MacMullan ’00 is new Alumni Association President
Severn’s Alumni Association welcomes a new president this year, Scott MacMullan ‘00. An attorney, Scott started his own practice in Annapolis last year, focusing on civil,
criminal, and family law matters. Recently, Scott was appointed to the Maryland State Bar Association’s judicial appointments committee, where he is interviewing judicial applicants across the state of Maryland and submitting the committee’s confidential findings to the Governor for consideration.
Scott knew he wanted to be a lawyer when he successfully argued for dismissal of a speeding ticket while he was in college.
Scott was, before welcoming Chesapeake Academy into the Severn family, what was known as a Severn lifer, starting in the 6th grade. “I went to Severn for seven years but I made friends for a lifetime,” recalled Scott. “The School has been good to me on both a personal and professional level. It is time to give back.” One of his professional mentors is The Honorable Richard D. Bennett ‘65, a Rolland Teel Distinguished Alumnus. Citing the invaluable advice and guidance he has received from Dick, Scott also noted that “anytime I have reached out to any Severn alum, he/she has always been receptive to me and helpful.”
Scott played varsity lacrosse all four years in the Upper School, leading his teammates as a captain his senior year. He was captain of both the JV and varsity football squads, was a Senior Prefect, and a member of the National Honor Society. “Scott is an outstanding individual to head the Alumni Association,” reflected Mr. John Bodley, Scott’s history teacher and football coach. “He was a great student and three sport athlete. Scott was a team leader that a coach could always rely on.”
Clearly Scott is a natural leader. Severn is delighted that he has agreed to now guide the Alumni Association as it moves into its next century. “Why am I doing this? It’s the same as when I was on the playing field during high school. I want to beat Boys’ Latin, Gilman, Loyola, Georgetown Prep or Landon. And especially that Catholic school by the water in downtown Annapolis. I just want to beat them on a professional level now. To do that, I want to ‘unite the clans’ and bring Severn’s network closer together.”
Scott’s goal is to connect all generations of Severn alumni, with a focus on recent alumni. “If we can engage and unite recent alumni with networking, community service, and career development opportunities, we can continue to build on and leverage Severn’s reputation within the local and world community. The traditional gripe regarding Severn alumni networking has been that Severn isn’t situated in a big city like Baltimore or DC. With new technology, social media and a flattening globalized world, that is no longer an excuse.”
Working with newly appointed Alumni Director Tyler Larkin ’03, Scott is formalizing and focusing the alumni association to build momentum. “The work of the association will provide alumni with the opportunity to take responsibility for the ongoing advancement of the School.”
Most immediately Scott plans to recruit new members to the Alumni Association. To that end, he’s creating four new committees:
- Communications: strengthen the connection between all alumni and current students, and increase visibility of the Association.
- Development: increase participation in the Annual Fund.
- Leadership: recognize outstanding alumni and students who exemplify the mission and values of a Severn School education.
- Programs: develop new activities to encourage alums to
reconnect with Severn.
He’d also like to organize a community service event with students and alumni, and to plan a networking Navy lacrosse event in the spring.
All of this takes work and dedicated volunteers. Interested? Please contact Scott MacMullan ’00 ([email protected]) or Tyler Larkin ’03 ([email protected]). Meanwhile, join all if us at Severn School in thanking Scott and welcoming him to his new role.
Kara Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools, et al. (4th Cir. July 2011)
In a case involving cyber-bullying, a student sued the school district for limiting her First Amendment free speech rights by suspending her for creating a hate website against another student at school. The Fourth Circuit determined that the speech created actual or reasonably foreseeable “substantial disorder and disruption” at school; therefore, this was not the “speech” a school is required to tolerate and did not merit First Amendment protection.
Did the Fourth Circuit get the case right?
Click here for the full opinion.
Last weekend for the fourth year in a row my brother, Ben Strutt and a close friend all collectively ran 26.2 miles for the Cool Kids Campaign at the Baltimore Running Festival. This non-profit’s mission is to help kids with terminal cancer live happier. None of the money that the Cool Kids Campaign raises goes to research. All of the money go towards helping kids with cancer have a higher quality of life. In essence, they want to put smiles on these tragic kids’ faces. Selfishly, running in the Baltimore Marathon Relay has been a great bonding experience for my brother, Ben Strutt and this year Ben’s girlfriend Amy. More importantly, we have raised, through generous donations, $16,000 to give these kids a higher quality of life. Please consider donating to this great charity.
You know the type. An over 35 year old lawyer strutts into a meeting, whips out their IPad and proudly doesn’t contribute anything to the meeting because they are too busy searching the Internet for clothes or the football score. They proudly tell anyone who will listen how “tech savvy” they have become. I hate you if that is you. You know who you are.
You are like a new “yachtsmen” who knows nothing about boating but you just bought your fancy, new expensive boat and by default you are now Captain Crunch of the High Seas. I hate you.
You are the old conservative couple who complain about how your state’s debilitating taxes are “starving you to death” en route from beach house 1 to Beach House 2. I hate you.
You are Mark Foley. You are Eliot Spitzer. You are Anthony Weiner.
But you ain’t a legal techie.
Owning a scanner and an IPad does not make you a legal techie.
What makes someone a legal techie?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwkAro3q9js