President's Message

I am honored and feel privileged to be the 28th president of D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. As a first-generation American and daughter of Caribbean parents, I immediately identified with David Augustus Straker on reading his biography and wish to preserve his legacy. I also feel that we all have an obligation to support those that are newly entering the legal profession, our community, and our pre-existing brothers and sisters in the law. This obligation is represented by the three sides of the Straker Bar logo, which align with Straker Bar’s commitment to the students, the community, and the membership. 

As part of this commitment, we are starting a “Shoulders of Giants” series. This series originates from the quote “If I can see further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants.” Through this series, we will build on and preserve the history and knowledge of our “giants” in the law through a series of events that connect seasoned legal professionals in our membership with newer members of the bar in our membership, so that we can all learn from each other and grow stronger as a professional body.

We will still hold the annual Corporate Counsel Breakfast and annual Trailblazer Awards Dinner. Further, as part of the commitment to the students, we will continue the Law Student Reception, our Bar Passage Program, MLK Drum Major for Justice Oral Advocacy Competition, and our four scholarships. As part of our commitment to the community, we will be hosting expungement clinics in partnership with community organizations, an expungement drive to ask legal professionals to provide representation for expungement hearings, and an estates clinic to connect members of the community with estate planning attorneys to ensure their estate plan is in order. We are also establishing a public interest fund to provide stipends for law student members of the bar association, who accept unpaid summer internships in the public sector. I look forward to serving all of you this bar year.

Yours in service,
Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood, Esq.
President
2018-2019