By: Erin K. Taylor, 2022-23 President
My Fellow Bar Members,
You are due an update. First, I want to thank all of you for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the challenges presented by this unprecedented bifurcation. I also want to thank our members who have provided numerous pro bono hours assisting us with every step of this process. MCB and MBF leadership are diligently working to ensure that the interests of our members are considered as we develop the plans for our future. What makes this process less daunting is the fact that our foundation is strong because our foundation is YOU, our members. Below, I’m including the message the Executive Committee delivered to your inboxes because I know that during our busy days we tend to skip over emails that immediately give us the ‘TL;DR’ (too long; didn’t read) vibes. But this message is too important to ignore, and I want to make sure you all receive this update via all means possible. Again, thank you again for your incredible commitment to our MCB community.
At the Annual Meeting on May 26, 2022, the members of the Mecklenburg County Bar (MCB) voted in favor of bifurcating our current organization into two separate entities – a mandatory judicial district bar that still reports to the NC State Bar and a voluntary bar association. As discussed at the Annual Meeting, the MCB’s ability to bifurcate is contingent on a number of factors, first and foremost being the sale of the Bar & Foundation Center. To that end, we want to provide the full Bar with an update on both the building sale and the plan for bifurcation.
The Bar & Foundation Center went under contract in late August 2022. Since that time, the landscape for commercial real estate and commercial lending has changed, leading to a more protracted due diligence period than originally anticipated. While we remain optimistic that the sale will close in the coming months, there are too many unknowns for us to say with any certainty if and when that will happen. As a consequence, we are hindered in our ability to identify the best options for our new location. Finalizing the location of our new headquarters—and identifying the occupancy costs associated with the new location—must occur before bifurcation to ensure the viability of both the judicial district bar and the new bar association.
Given the current status of the sale of the building, among other considerations, the MCB Board of Directors voted at its January 26, 2023 meeting to implement bifurcation on or after July 1, 2024. We understand this news may come as a disappointment to some, and perhaps many. We believe, however, that this decision is necessary to ensure that an undertaking of this magnitude is carried out thoughtfully, thoroughly and in the best interest of our members and staff
We are pleased to report that a great deal of work has already gone into the bifurcation process. MCB leadership has spent much of this year crafting the vision, mission, and strategic focus for the new voluntary bar association. Our next steps will be to finalize the governance and dues structures for both organizations. We look forward to sharing the details of the exciting new future for the Mecklenburg County legal community in the coming months
If you would like to speak with someone about this topic, we invite you to email any member of the MCB Executive Committee or Board or MCB Executive Director Leah Campbell (lcampbell@meckbar.org).
Sincerely,
The MCB Executive Committee
Erin Taylor Cary Davis Lani Quarmby Courtney Ballard
President President-Elect Vice President Secretary
Tania Archer Fred DeVore Micheal Littlejohn
Treasurer Past President Member-at-Large