Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024 - 32

A STRONGER FOUNDATION
As the D.C. Bar assessed how technology will disrupt
and transform law and legal practice, Bar leaders also
looked inward to determine how they can further
strengthen the organization as it continues to grow and
develop.
A three-year effort to modernize the Bar's founding documents
culminated in January 2024 with the adoption
of the revised D.C. Court of Appeals Rules Governing the
District of Columbia Bar. Approval of the amendments
marked the first time that the Rules have been comprehensively
reviewed and updated since the Court of
Appeals established the Bar more than 50 years ago.
With the revised Rules and updated Bylaws, " the Bar
stands on an even stronger foundation to better serve
its members, " says D.C. Bar President Charles Lowery
Jr. These governing documents will " clearly define our
organization's functions, facilitate ease of administration
of the Bar's policies and procedures, and conform to
industry best practices for effective governance. "
D.C. Bar leadership also revised the D.C. Bar Membership
Manual to clarify how the Bar handles license-related
communications with members, updated the Bar's
procurement and contracting policy to align it more
closely with cur rent organizational needs and best practices,
and developed new charters for 12 committees to
reflect their work and governance more accurately.
Using the latest technology, the D.C. Bar
also continued to simplify services, including
transitioning to a new event management
system for an improved registration
process, user-friendly interfaces, robust reporting
capabilities, and overall smoother
experience for participants and organizers.
The IT Department actively collaborated
with Regulation Counsel to implement a
revamped case management system for
the Clients' Security Fund and the Attorney/Client
Arbitration Board, providing
enhanced efficiency and communication
Attorneys took advantage of more in-person programming at the Bar's headquarters.
throughout the case management process and better
online experience for Regulation Counsel staff, attorneys,
and clients.
EXPERIENCE, ACCESS, AND VALUE
With more than 118,000 members, the Bar continues to
look for ways to innovate, improve member experience,
and increase member value. In fiscal year 2023-2024,
the Member Services Department streamlined the Bar's
admittance process, making it easier and faster for new
members to receive their Bar numbers and access member
benefits.
The department also introduced an online reinstatement
process that expedites members' ability to submit
and receive decisions on reinstatement requests compared
to previous forms. A more seamless firm billing
program translated to 22 new firms enrolled in the past
fiscal year. Overall, the firm billing program facilitated
renewals for thousands of members affiliated with 146
law firms.
The Member Services Department responded to more
than 27,300 email inquiries, handling 90 percent of
them with a single response and earning a 94.6 percent
satisfaction rate. Staff received 22,700 calls with a less
than 3 percent abandon call rate.
To make it easier for members to access all their benefits
in one place, the department added a My Member
Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024

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