1. All Politics ARE Local, Part 2: “Six Degrees of Separation”
Ken Goldsmith
Senior Legislative Counsel
American Bar Association
Leah Johnson
Assistant Executive Director
The South Carolina
National Conference of Bar Presidents
21st Century Lawyer Series
April 19, 2017

2. RELATIONSHIPS (It’s really just 3-4 degrees, nationally)
How, as a bar leader, can you promote public policy that furthers the interests of justice, promotes the legal profession, and establishes the rule of law?
RELATIONSHIPS (It’s really just 3-4 degrees, nationally)

3. Family, friends, colleagues, and bar members
Current Connections
Family, friends, colleagues, and bar members
Sister Organizations
Shared Stakeholders
Coalitions
Experienced bar staff
Governmental Affairs
Media Relations

4. Current Connections
Your Delegates, Representatives, Senators, Governors, Council Members, Executive, etc.
They are neighbors
They represent you
They need your help
LinkedIn Check

5. Create New Connections: Who?
Key Players
Assembly Leadership
Key Committees
Key Subcommittees
Both Chambers
Chair and Ranking Member
Senior Members
Key Staff

6. Creating New Ones: How? Personal meetings
Creating opportunities: events, conferences, luncheons, recognition, media, sites
Leveraging Others’: Hearings, roundtables, town halls, fundraisers, press and special events
Telephone calls, , websites, faxes, social media
Feedback and follow-through

7. Creating New Ones: How? Advocacy Relationships are formed around
Presence
Shared Purpose or Goals
Eliminate or Mitigate Reasons for Reluctance
Conflicts among friends or purpose?
Damaged reputation?
Quality of work or follow through?
You inherit and further the bar’s reputation

8. Putting It to Work Call your friends and your lobbyist
Organize your allies and assess any opposition
Develop or activate a grassroots network
Deliver your message to legislators, both directly and indirectly
Utilize media to reinforce the message

9. Allies and Opponents
Coalitions enhance influence; strange bedfellows attract even more attention
Understand or learn the political strengths of allies and potential opponents
Can the legislation be crafted to enhance more allies and avoid powerful opponents?
In politics, no permanent friends, no permanent enemies

10. Grassroots and Grass-tops
Constituent support counts; stronger/broader constituent support counts even more
Relationships matter, often for reaching the legislator, if not making the sale
Lawyers are influential and connected, but so are clients and vendors
Be systematic in developing and maintaining a grassroots relationship database

11. FIVE things to do, today
Check LinkedIn, your “Rolodex,” and other networks for connections
See what kind of relationship the bar has with lawyer-legislators and key leaders and committees
Compare these, looking for gaps -=- Gaps are where to focus your cultivation efforts while maintaining existing connections
Check your priorities against existing bar policy -=- will something need to be approved or can you interpret existing policy to say what needs to be said on a contemporary issue?
Know your bar lobbyist and advocacy/grassroots capacity

12. What did we miss? What is YOUR best guidance for colleagues?
Questions or comments?
Thank you!!

13. Photo Credits Gerard Butler, 300, Warner Brothers (2006)
Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, China Film Co- Production Corporation, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia (2000)
Dorothy & Friends, Wizard of Oz, MGM (1939)
Citizen Kane, RKO Radio Productions, Mercury Productions (1941)
Yoda, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Lucasfilm (1980)