Law Practice - May/June 2013

MARKETING MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY FINANCE
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By Pamela McDevitt

Promoting the Professional
Development of Others

P ROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS a never- ending process of improving and refining, and it should always be actively pursued in addition to your daily practice. When I consider how I have developed on my career path, I realize that the people I have met and with whom I have spent time have profoundly influenced me in ways I could never have foreseen. Specifically, I was one of the many people in the Law Practice Management Section (LPM) who benefited from having known Professor Gary Munneke, who passed away quite suddenly this past Thanksgiving. We met several years ago when I worked for the New York State Bar Association, and he encouraged me to apply for the ABA position that I now hold.

Without his support and wise counsel throughout my career, I cannot imagine where I would be today—other than, perhaps, in some lesser position. I could always go to Gary for thoughtful suggestions and creative input to answer my many questions and clarify baffling situations. His extensive knowledge of any number of legal topics made him a very popular first choice for a host of committees and boards. Some might say he spread himself too thin because of all of the projects in which he involved himself. In reality, however, he thrived on being involved in the professional development of others, and that activity generally produced positive results.

Among numerous other examples, Gary used his considerable influence as one of LPM’s past chairs to jump-start our publishing program and, to that end, he contributed tirelessly by authoring more than 30 publications. The lawyers he helped in doing so are beyond calculation.