Ladies and Gentlemen,

I first want to wish you all a happy New Year and thank Thomas Jarrard for all his work as the Chair of the Washington State Veterans Bar Association. Unlike other long-established minority bar associations, launching the relatively-new WSVBA has taken an enormous amount of effort from past Chairs and Steering Committee members. Knowing first-hand the dedication Thomas has shown to the legal and veteran communities, I feel fortunate to try and fill those boots by serving that same community.

As Thomas already gave a brief biographical background, I'll limit my introduction to my plans for the next two years as the WSVBA's Chair.

Organization: As other, more-pressing matters had earlier taken the lion's share of the Steering Committee's time, the WSVBA has yet to finalize official bylaws. In the early part of my tenure, I plan to circulate a set of draft bylaws to the organization for comment. After comments are received, the Steering Committee will discuss and approve the final bylaws. Issues that will be addressed in those bylaws include elections, official roles, organizational processes, and more defined “left and right lateral limits” for WSVBA's community engagement.

Membership: As with each generation, the Washington legal community is welcoming more and more veterans from U.S.'s most recent overseas engagements, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The WSVBA wants to be the primary conduit for addressing the needs of those veteran attorneys in finding a community upon entering the workforce. On the other hand, many seasoned veteran attorneys in Seattle have yet to engage (or even be exposed to) the WSVBA.

I hope to rectify any shortcomings we have in finding and engaging those veteran attorneys in a number of ways. First, I'd ask each current member to take inventory of their colleagues that might be interested in serving the veteran community. By sending them to our website, https://www.wsvba.org/wsvba-membership, we can add them to our listserv and get them connected. Next, I plan to release an introduction to our organization in NWLawyer, inviting all members of the legal community to engage with the WSVBA. If you have other ideas, please feel free to reach out.

Engagement: From the Attorney General's Office of Military and Veteran Legal Assistance to pro bono clinics, opportunities to serve Washington's veteran community are numerous. As part of refining the organization, we would like to make sure that all WSVBA members are aware of those programs. We also would like to firmly establish annual events in Western and Eastern Washington so WSVBA members can meet and support one another. Expect more announcements concerning both of these soon. If you would like to assist in planning or setting up these events, please reach out.

In the coming quarter, we have these events planned:

• UW Law's Military Law Association Mixer: January 17, 2019, 5:00–7:00 p.m., at Big Time Brewery, 4133 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105.

As Chair of this fine organization, I intend to make myself available to each and every member of the WSVBA. No matter what the concern, idea, or issue, I am available 24/7 to try and help. Like the military communities we came from, veterans thrive when we are connected and accountable to one another. As such, please do not hesitate for a moment to reach out to me with anything.

            Thank you all for your support and I look forward to meeting each of you in the future,

            Respectfully Signed,

Caesar Kalinowski IV

Chair, Washington State Veterans Bar Association (WSVBA), www.wsvba.org

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
920 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3300 | Seattle, WA 98104-1610
Tel: (206) 757-8232
Email: [email protected]

United States Marine Corps, 2004–2014