Barbara Berger Opotowski last month marked 10 years as executive director of the New York City Bar Association.
In October 1997, she left her position as president of New York's Better Business Bureau to become the executive leader of the City Bar.
Among the highlights of her tenure, according to the NYC Bar Association, are:
• The establishment of the Ruth Bader Ginsberg Distinguished Lecture on Women and the Law in 2000;
• The creation as a regular feature of the NYC Bar Association's calendar of a wide variety of career development, quality of life and diversity leadership panels;
• The overseeing of a growth in membership from 21,000 to 23,000 and a growth in annual association income from $10 million to $15 million;
• The rallying of more than 800 volunteer attorneys to help affected families deal with legal issues following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"What is most interesting is that despite significant growth and many new or enhanced programs, the core of the New York City Bar remains constant," Ms. Opotowsky said recently. "Our commitment to our founding values of upholding the rule of law and being an advocate for justice informs all that we do and is as true today as it was in the days of Tammany Hall."