I was in Las Vegas at the end of last week, attending the Winter Leadership meeting of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section at the Bellagio.  In between caucusing with my co-chairs of this summer’s ABA Annual meeting in Chicago, we took care of the business of meeting with the Section’s committee leaders who are going to be presenting the 15 CLE programs we’re offering in Chicago and working through the details necessary to put on riveting and informative sessions.    Beyond the enjoyment  I get out of collaborating with talented volunteers to do something that contributes to the advancement of the legal profession, I like catching up with more than 200 lawyer friends from all over the country to swap notes on who’s doing what, and partaking of the CLE programs that are also part of each Leadership meeting.  This time, as part of our emphasis on children’s rights, we heard from Andre Agassi, who spoke about the work the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education is doing to provide outstanding charter school educations to children at risk.  I played tennis competitively in high school, and remember Agassi’s thrilling come from behind win in the 1999 French Open finals after being down two sets-love.  It was great to know that Agassi is using his sports celebrity to make a difference that really matters.  Game-set-match, Andre!  I also had a chance to hear about the work the National Association of Women Lawyers’ Foundation is doing in research on the effectiveness of women’s initiatives in law firms.  Stay tuned for more news on how to make this critical tool a power base to better support the retention and advancement of women attorneys.  It’s more than just spa days . . .

As for Las Vegas itself, well, let’s just say it’s not really my kind of town.  But the people watching is terrific, the restaurants are great, and I learned about betting on sports when I accompanied my good friend Carmelite from New Orleans to the Bellagio’s sports book Friday night where she bet on her beloved Saints to take out my 49ers in the playoffs.   I was in the airport bar watching the end of the game before having to board my flight with only two minutes left, and was therefore reduced to learning about the game-winning TD from a twitter feed of the game, a nere minute before Southwest made us “shut down all electronic devices.”  Yowza — go 49ers!