From the President: Gratitude for Years of Service

by Scott Bonder
President, DeKalb Bar Association

Fifteen years ago the Twin Towers stood in New York City, NASADAQ hit an all-time high, Vladimir Putin became President of Russia, Elian Gonzalez was all over the news, and Jack Fishman took over the treasurer position for the DeKalb Bar Association. Many of our members were fledgling lawyers and a handful were in high school when Jack quietly starting laboring on behalf of the DeKalb Bar. Just recently Jack stepped down for personal reasons and he has my heartfelt gratitude.

For those of you who do not Jack personally, you should know that his has been a lifetime of service. This is a picture of Jack long before most of us knew him (and some of us were born):

After the Army, Jack spent 1971 through most of 1997 working for the federal government. He was a special agent for the IRS, fought organized crimes with a Drug Enforcement Task Force and was with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. In late 1997, a scant three years before becoming treasurer of the DeKalb Bar, Jack moved to solo practice defending tax controversies, allegations of money laundering, and other financial issues.

For the DeKalb Bar, Jack has been the voice of reason and caution on financial matters. His labors likely went unnoticed by the general membership, but were deeply appreciated by the Board and officers. Indeed, a bit of a secret about the DeKalb Bar is that the lion’s share of work done by all Board members and officers combined is shouldered by the treasurer.

Please join me in thanking Jack for his time and dedication to our DeKalb Bar Association. Times such as those shown below will be more abundant for Jack now that he can simply enjoy our membership meetings and has passed along his laboring oar. Thank you Jack.