Keith Soressi | Executive Director, Connecticut Bar Association
Keith Soressi
Keith Soressi couldn't pass up the opportunity to become executive director of the Connecticut Bar Association — getting back into a state association and closer to family in a place with “unsurpassed” beauty.
Soressi began work at the CBA Feb. 26. The organization, with 10,000 members, is nearly double the size of the Nassau County (N.Y.) Bar Association, where he was executive director for 5 ½ years. Before that, he was associate executive director of the New York State Bar Association.
He oversees day-to-day operations at CBA, including 19 staff, while helping advance the president's and association's initiatives. While he has practiced in a law-firm setting, most of his career has been with bar associations.
What issue is most concerning to CT lawyers?
Ensuring everyone has equal access to justice while navigating the ever-changing world of offering legal services. It is imperative for attorneys to acquire tools to adjust to new methods of offering legal services and adapt to clients' expectations around delivery of these services.
Attorneys are also faced with a larger issue of the need and commitment to diversity and inclusion and addressing the issue of implicit bias. The CBA is at the forefront of this issue with Karen DeMeola as president. Karen is a speaker on implicit bias and has educated the legal community on this topic and ways to overcome it.
What do you hope to accomplish at CBA?
I hope the CBA continues to be the informational hub for attorneys, to efficiently respond to members' ever-changing needs.
What's the biggest challenge you face in your new role?
At the moment, get to know Connecticut's legal community. The legal profession is very similar in most states, but each community has its own personality.
Is there competition among state and local bar associations?
There should never be competition. We have the same goals of assisting and improving the profession and access to justice. We should and can always work in tandem.
Tell us something about you many people don't know.
My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch.
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