Navigating Change in Wyoming’s Legal Profession – 2026 ALPS Bar Leaders Retreat

Episode Notes

Transcript

Alison Gee [00:00:00 – 00:00:29]

I think these are exciting but challenging times, right? We are short on attorneys, but we have a lot of young people who’ve come into our bar and are succeeding in their practice. And so I think we’re in just this shift of change between the old guard and the new guard. And I’m somewhere in the middle, and I hope that I can facilitate bringing it forward into, you know, what the future holds with technology while also holding on to the value of the lessons learned.

Marc Raco [00:00:31 – 00:01:00]

Welcome to another in our series of outstanding conversations at the Alps Insurance Retreat for Bar Leaders on location in Missoula, Montana. I’m Marc Raco, and I’m very glad you’re here because we have an incredible conversation ahead with Alison Gee. She’s not only a practicing attorney in the state of Wyoming, but she is indeed the incoming president at this time for the State Bar of Wyoming.

Alison Gee [00:01:01 – 00:01:01]

That’s right.

Marc Raco [00:01:01 – 00:01:11]

And I think the list of topics we’re going to cover is about as big as that great state. Alison, thank you so much for joining me. It’s great to meet you.

Alison Gee [00:01:11 – 00:01:13]

Yeah, thank you so much. Glad to be here.

Marc Raco [00:01:14 – 00:01:50]

So Alison, let’s start here. You are the president-elect for the Wyoming State Bar, as well as a practicing attorney. Looking at the year ahead and the things that you’re going to encounter, I mean, you’ve served on the Wyoming State Bar for 6 years, I believe. believe, in other capacities, approximately. Now, as the incoming president, what’s on your mind as you look ahead and understand what’s on the minds of your members to make sure that they are in a good place in the year and years ahead?

Alison Gee [00:01:50 – 00:02:20]

Sure. Thank you. So we have a really stable bar organization in Wyoming, and our base services are well provided for our members. The concerns we struggle with are rural practice challenges, including some counties in Wyoming who have 2 or less attorneys practicing in them these days. And additionally, some of the challenges that our judiciary has faced with pressure from our legislature on funding and also trying to elect judges.

Marc Raco [00:02:20 – 00:02:37]

With 2 or fewer attorneys, I mean, that really sticks out to me. I mean, all you need is one of them to pass away or be disabled or for some reason no longer practice. Or lose public trust in some way, and you’re down to one.

Alison Gee [00:02:38 – 00:02:54]

Yeah, and it’s even more constrained than you would think because included in those numbers are the county attorney, who’s often elected. We have public defenders. And so to have a functioning legal system, you need a lot more attorneys than what we have through most parts of Wyoming.

Marc Raco [00:02:55 – 00:03:39]

So, Alison, you know, it seems to me like this is a real challenge for likely solo attorneys if there’s that few in a county. There’s just such headwinds around right now. Political headwinds, technology innovation like AI, just so, you know, new changes in the way litigation is done and just everything’s changing so quickly. Tell me what you’re thinking about, what your members are thinking about, how they can properly serve their clients and keep up with demand, grow their practice and be successful and still take on all of those additional things they have to pay attention to when How much resources can there even be in a county where there’s only 2 attorneys?

Alison Gee [00:03:39 – 00:04:15]

Yeah, it is difficult. And so our members, I think, rely on a lot of online resources. The State Bar partners with many different vendors who provide both training and resources. Additionally, a lot of our attorneys attend meetings remotely. And so, for example, I represent several clients who are 100 miles away from me. And I attend most of the meetings remotely. So we just have had to learn how to become more adept with the technology. Our court system has moved to online filing, which has been a real challenge for some of our older attorneys.

Alison Gee [00:04:16 – 00:04:23]

But we’ve tried to provide training and resources to help those who want to stay in the game, you know, be able to keep going.

Marc Raco [00:04:24 – 00:04:37]

How do you motivate attorneys, particularly ones in smaller areas, with fewer attorneys? How do you motivate them to take the time to even take on the resources you’re making available?

Alison Gee [00:04:37 – 00:04:50]

Yeah, I, we at our Wyoming State Bar Convention, we put on a really great convention and it’s a, it’s about the only place that you can all get together and see your colleagues in Wyoming because of how far apart we are in miles.

Marc Raco [00:04:50 – 00:04:52]

That must be a big deal for everyone.

Alison Gee [00:04:52 – 00:05:11]

It is. And so it’s a great time to catch up with old friends, meet new Attorneys, and also that’s where we really showcase a lot of the how do you with technology and provide those resources. So that’s the best way to reach people. Attorneys are so overwhelmed with email these days.

Marc Raco [00:05:11 – 00:05:41]

Given everything going on and all the challenges, even though there’s something around, you’re providing incredible resources to educate, inspire, and just. maybe put people at ease even just by filling in the blanks. What are you finding the sense of, I don’t know, professional satisfaction and well-being in Wyoming amongst your members? And what are the factors in that particular status?

Alison Gee [00:05:41 – 00:06:33]

Yeah, so we certainly have some concerns with attorney well-being in Wyoming. I think compared to a lot of state bars, we have a much more collegial bar because it’s if you see an attorney, you’ll see them again in your career. And so, it’s best practice to be kind to each other, which is unique, I would say. But we do have a lot of addiction issues that, in Wyoming, Wyoming citizens face, and that’s not unique, and Wyoming attorneys are not immune to that. So, we actually have a part-time individual who helps us through our YLAP program, Wyoming program, and they do counseling and provide resources for substance abuse, and it’s specific to attorneys, and it’s run by an attorney, which has been so helpful to our members who are struggling.

Marc Raco [00:06:33 – 00:06:53]

So, because of this collegial atmosphere in Wyoming and these support systems, you’re looking maybe different than other state bars. This is comparatively more of a family in a way of really people looking out for each other because you just have to.

Alison Gee [00:06:54 – 00:07:17]

Yeah, it is. It’s just such a smaller group of people. We have, I think, about 3,600 members, but half of that are actually members living in Wyoming. So most bars are much larger than we are. And, you know, in Gillette, I think we have probably 35 or in my county, about 40 attorneys. And it’s so, you know, everyone.

Marc Raco [00:07:17 – 00:07:31]

So, so really, when you think about professional direction, career outlook, how are you thinking about that as you come into this, this presidency? And what have you experienced over the last few years? What’s the look ahead for attorneys in Wyoming?

Alison Gee [00:07:31 – 00:08:02]

Yeah, so when you look at comparable markets, we’re definitely at a lower pay level than the surrounding states. But I would tell you, I think the quality of life for our attorneys in Wyoming is better. We, you know, to the extent you have a work-life balance as an attorney, I think we do pretty well for most of us in Wyoming. And so I think what you would find is our attorneys have more time to go fishing and hiking and watch their kids play sports, though they may make less money in the long run.

Marc Raco [00:08:03 – 00:08:13]

Would you say that in a state like Wyoming, that’s also part of the networking and the client acquisition process is that participation in the community.

Alison Gee [00:08:13 – 00:08:26]

Absolutely. And many of our attorneys serve in their communities through nonprofits and on boards and in city council. And, you know, those are really fulfilling roles in participating in your community.

Marc Raco [00:08:27 – 00:08:46]

We’ve touched on the community of the legal profession within Wyoming a bit. But, you know, with only 2 attorneys, let’s say, in some areas, for example, I imagine the workload, even if they’re taking time for that work-life balance. I mean, it must be tough.

Alison Gee [00:08:47 – 00:09:14]

It, it can be overwhelming. Yeah. And so young attorneys, I think, really struggle with the taking on more than they can handle. And, uh, I’m more seasoned, uh, and you really learn to figure out what you can handle and try and tailor your workload. I think that’s harder in some of the public agencies like public defender. Where I live, there’s a very shortage of public defenders, so that would be a challenge.

Marc Raco [00:09:14 – 00:09:30]

Interesting. So what does that mean in terms of operational realities? Does that mean that some operational things are not attended to as much, or does it mean that, for example, more innovation has to come in to fill in those gaps to make operations possible?

Alison Gee [00:09:31 – 00:09:53]

Yeah. So for example, with the public defender crisis that we’ve had, we’ve Through the State Bar, we contacted attorneys throughout the state of Wyoming to attend remotely to represent defendants. And while it’s not optimal, at least they’re getting their constitutional rights covered. So there’s a lot of teamwork and creativity to solve and fill some of these gaps for sure.

Marc Raco [00:09:53 – 00:10:33]

Now, in terms of access to justice, which is part of what you’re saying, how are you thinking about, and how are the attorneys within Wyoming thinking, and the bar itself thinking about different technologies, including the realities of AI these days, is its own complex topic because of the challenges, the ethical considerations, but also the possibilities that it offers to expand the amount of work that can get done, accelerate operations, and so So what’s the take on that? What are they thinking about?

Alison Gee [00:10:33 – 00:10:56]

You know, I think that’s a really great conversation. I don’t know that we’ve had those discussions, and that’s probably happening in the back office of the law firms across the state. I do see more attorneys in Wyoming leveraging AI. I use it in my practice pretty often. There are limitations, and you just have to be so careful in how you use it, but it can be a useful tool for sure.

Marc Raco [00:10:56 – 00:11:13]

Now, I realize that the conversations are not happening as much, except maybe in some of the back offices. But I imagine the bar is thinking about ways that it can educate attorneys about ways that AI, for example, can be used that may just not come to mind yet.

Alison Gee [00:11:14 – 00:11:14]

Absolutely.

Marc Raco [00:11:14 – 00:11:48]

Ways that you can, you know, particularly some types of law, for example, that are more transactional, if you will, as opposed to dependent on case law and where AI may be able to use be used where attorneys can still find it fiscally productive to take smaller cases where normally they may not have had the bandwidth to do that. And that’s, that’s an access to justice opportunity, but it’s also a practice expansion opportunity. But they may not realize the ways that that could be used and are missing out on it. So how is the bar thinking about that?

Alison Gee [00:11:48 – 00:12:20]

Yeah, and again, we have CLE that’s provided online and We provide on a variety of topics, and especially in the area of AI. In our last couple of bar conferences, we have made AI a central component of the CLE that we provided. So we’re really trying to reach out. A lot of it is just, like you said, opening attorneys’ eyes to the possibilities. The nuts and bolts is a little harder because our practices are so varied, but it is helpful just to show people how to be safe and where to start.

Marc Raco [00:12:20 – 00:12:36]

Talk more about that. So you mentioned practices are varied. I imagine in every state practices are varied. How might that be different in Wyoming, or is that more a function of fewer attorneys? And so within an area of practice, there may be fewer representing that practice. Is that the issue?

Alison Gee [00:12:36 – 00:13:08]

Yeah, so in a rural practice, which almost all of Wyoming would be considered a rural practice, our clients often think of us as their attorney for everything. And so I often find myself explaining to people, I don’t do domestic, I don’t do bankruptcy, I have to tell them more what I don’t do than what I actually practice because it is so broad. Yeah. Which is fun. Every day I’m solving new challenges. I joke that I’m a law ninja. You bring me a problem and I’ll figure it out, right?

Marc Raco [00:13:08 – 00:13:13]

That’s right. You’re a ninja. Instead of throwing throwing stars or whatever, you’re throwing truth bombs.

Alison Gee [00:13:13 – 00:13:14]

That’s right. Yeah.

Marc Raco [00:13:14 – 00:13:15]

And insights.

Alison Gee [00:13:15 – 00:13:17]

Whether they want them or not, right?

Marc Raco [00:13:17 – 00:13:18]

Well, that’s what a lawyer has to do.

Alison Gee [00:13:18 – 00:13:19]

Yeah, that’s right.

Marc Raco [00:13:19 – 00:13:20]

not always welcome advice, right?

Alison Gee [00:13:20 – 00:13:21]

That’s right.

Marc Raco [00:13:21 – 00:14:04]

Um, since we’re talking about ninjas, let’s, let’s, let’s talk about risk. Let, let’s go into risk management a little bit for attorneys, uh, not just the risk management that they deploy to clients, but in terms of their own practices. Uh, you know, we obviously, we right now are, are at the Alps Insurance Retreat for bar leaders. So that they’re about managing risk, right? So how are you thinking about, particularly as an attorney yourself, but also, you know, in your incoming position, upcoming position as bar president, the types of risks that need to be managed these days for the attorneys in Wyoming?

Alison Gee [00:14:04 – 00:14:58]

Absolutely. And I do think a lot of that has to do with training on cybersecurity, safety online, safety with AI, understanding the technology, but also it’s the basics. And we’re really fortunate Wyoming, our Bar Counsel office has done a lot of work to provide resources on here’s best practices and how to run your practice. Here’s the basics of how to keep your clients happy, how to make sure the office is running properly. And a lot of it really, I have found, is just good communication. If you stay on top of communicating with your clients, they’re much less likely to grieve you, right? Which is what ALPS cares about, or they’re less likely to sue you. And so So while we’re worried about all this technology, I find a lot of it really revolves around relationships, if you can focus on them.

Marc Raco [00:14:59 – 00:16:12]

Sure. And, you know, the other thing too is I’ve heard it said that the vast majority of things that an attorney does, reading is one of the number one things. And just the sheer volume of information has to be read. And one of the ways AIs can be deployed most productively for attorneys without it perhaps resulting in hallucination information, you know, is, is just processing reading and other things that it can be used for. How are— go back to the cybersecurity thing for a moment, because this is an area I think that not just attorneys but professionals in general often don’t take seriously enough or can’t appreciate that it really can affect them, is likely to affect them, probably has affected them. They don’t even realize it. And when it affects them, it affects their clients, and they’re ethically responsible for that, if not like civilly responsible for that. So what are the issues as an attorney that you’re thinking about, and as an incoming bar president, where are the areas of cybersecurity that you’re thinking about, and knowing that the bar has to do an even better job of inspiring action and responsibility in this area?

Alison Gee [00:16:12 – 00:17:26]

Yeah, so what I would recommend is, for a law firm, is to look at moving away, and you may laugh at this, but moving away from a server setup to having an online system. And I’ve been around long enough that when I was first introduced to the idea of having all of your information on the cloud, that was very concerning to us, to the clients. But as time has gone on, I think that the professionals who run the back office on the software systems that house all of your files and the software management for your firm do a much better job than your IT guy who’s local, who’s just checking in on your server from time to time. The controls that they’re able to have in place on those bigger systems, I think, are a much better choice for most law firms. I think the real challenge is how do you convince those practitioners who are ready to retire, don’t want to make a change, right, to bring on those protections? Because while they probably feel like their server is safe because that’s what they’ve used for their whole practice, as you know, the bad guys out there are evolving and changing all the time.

Marc Raco [00:17:27 – 00:17:55]

Well, let’s talk about that succession planning. So if you’re an attorney, unless you’re literally willing to walk away and say, I know I’ve been doing it for 30 years, but I’m just going to pack it up. I’m not going to sell my practice. I’m not going to, you know, I’m not going to worry. I’m just going to finish my cases and I’m done. That’s an option. Obviously, there’s a lot of opportunities to sell practices. It’s probably smarter to sell a practice that you can demonstrate is secure.

Marc Raco [00:17:57 – 00:18:02]

That would be an investment in your own succession, walking away with more value that you’ve built over time.

Alison Gee [00:18:02 – 00:18:58]

Right. Absolutely. And the other piece of it is, as I work with other law firms, is to help them understand that in order to bring on the next generation, they’re going to expect to have a certain level of engagement in the way that the firm is set up, right? They’re looking for a platform that has the information there, the ability to enter their billable time, save the documents. One other component that Another attorney in my firm that I’ve spoke with, we talked a lot about is how do you save communications? When I started law practice 20 years ago, we sent letters and we scanned them in or we saved them to the file, made a copy, right? We’re all transacting everything on email these days. Are we archiving those emails, especially the important ones that we may need to refer back to? Right. And so that’s a best practice that a lot of attorneys don’t think about, but might save you in a pinch.

Marc Raco [00:18:58 – 00:19:20]

How do you take someone that’s— let’s say they’ve been practicing, you know, for 30 or 40 years. They may have some years in them left, but they’re looking at the last chapter of their professional career. Most likely they’ve been doing it a different way a lot of years. How do you motivate someone like that to listen to you?

Alison Gee [00:19:21 – 00:19:44]

So I’ve navigated those waters quite a bit. And what I would tell you is I think that it’s by giving them the choice of trying to stay with the system they’re on or to adopt the new technology. And some of them are willing to come on board and you teach them how to use it. And some of them, you just need to let them keep doing what they’ve done. And it kind of depends on where they’re at in their career.

Marc Raco [00:19:46 – 00:20:16]

Let’s finish up by talking about practice needs and future investment in technology and whatever the practice needs for best operations. Aside from cybersecurity considerations and, say, education areas of AI and so forth, what would you say attorneys, particularly in Wyoming, need to be thinking about for the next chapter of their career? Again, with all the considerations of the many things swirling about us at this moment.

Alison Gee [00:20:16 – 00:20:44]

You know, I actually think one of our biggest concerns is trying to interest our young people in becoming lawyers. We don’t have much of a pipeline in Wyoming, and so we need to interest our junior high, high school kids in how our government works, why law is important, what lawyers do, because we need to get more people to law school so that we actually will have a pipeline of lawyers to carry forward justice in the next generation.

Marc Raco [00:20:45 – 00:21:09]

Why do you think this is a challenge? Is being a lawyer not as much of an interest to a younger generation? Is, is this an educational issue for our young people, or is this a change in the nature of that generation that means that the legal field has to change in some ways to be more attractive to that generation?

Alison Gee [00:21:09 – 00:21:49]

I think it’s all of those things. And, you know, I think part of it is that this generation doesn’t want to work a lot of hours. Right? They maybe don’t want to own somebody else’s problems. They’d like to leave it at work. I also think if you’re not from a family of lawyers, it’s maybe not a career that would interest you if you haven’t been exposed to it. The— initially, when you, you know, the debt out of law school is not attractive. And then when you come out of law school, you often don’t make much money. So, all of those things are challenges that I think can be overcome by passion for the good work that you get to do do as an attorney.

Alison Gee [00:21:50 – 00:22:11]

I get to be involved in so many amazing things in my practice, in helping businesses and hospitals and schools and, you know, little old ladies who just want to make sure their estate plan is done. And the value that comes from getting to help people is a true reward in what we do.

Marc Raco [00:22:12 – 00:22:58]

That’s a really interesting thing you brought up, particularly when you mentioned the old lady getting her estate planning, because it made Think about a dynamic. You know, my mother-in-law will see the same doctor even if he’s terrible, because that’s the doctor she’s had a long time. And she grew up in a time when the doctor in town was—I don’t know—the god, the king, whatever. You know, they were—you just trusted them. They were great. And I think a lot of times your trusted attorney has been that person. Through many years for people as well. I don’t think the newer generation attorneys are not— they— I don’t know that they’re— we come from a— that’s an age where you don’t like what you see.

Marc Raco [00:22:58 – 00:23:22]

You scroll to the next thing as quick as you can until you get something that’s meaningful to you. How do you even begin to attract the next generation to a legal field that historically has been about earning your stripes, and then you command respect from there as long as you don’t mess up. I mean, I’m really generalizing, but—

Alison Gee [00:23:23 – 00:23:23]

Sure.

Marc Raco [00:23:24 – 00:23:29]

We’re talking about a whole different universe of expectation.

Alison Gee [00:23:29 – 00:23:56]

Yeah, I think you’re right. And it is a challenge. And I think our law schools are even challenged in attracting the right students, right? And so that’s why I think, from what I understand of this generation below me, and maybe 2 below me at this point, that they care about doing something that matters. And that’s truly something you can still do in this profession. And the other thing is you can live in a small town and make a good living.

Marc Raco [00:23:57 – 00:23:58]

There you go.

Alison Gee [00:23:58 – 00:24:07]

Right? And so, there’s great quality of life, and you can make a good living, and you can be involved in things that are intellectually challenging and fun.

Marc Raco [00:24:08 – 00:24:31]

So, here’s a This is an odd question, but given the opportunity that AI and related technologies can offer, if you’re not ethically challenged by the use of it and you see the possibilities and integrate them into your practice, that may change the work hard part of things a bit.

Alison Gee [00:24:31 – 00:24:31]

Sure.

Marc Raco [00:24:32 – 00:25:06]

Yet a lot of institutions are starting resist educating the next generation of possible attorneys. They don’t want to, they wanna stay away from the AI in some respects. So how do you, I, I’m not assuming you have the answer to this, but you’ll have, if you’re not thinking about it now, there’ll come a point when I imagine you have to think about this in your role as president. How do you mitigate that, those two realities, coexisting realities?

Alison Gee [00:25:06 – 00:26:04]

Yeah, you know, I think it’s interesting. So I have a background in teaching, and I think it’s important for students when they’re learning to learn how to think, to learn how to solve problems, and just, and sometimes just be in the struggle. And that’s something that you lose if you just jump to AI. And so while I find AI to be really helpful in my practice, I think if you led with it without understanding the background of what you’re doing, you miss a lot. And so I do think there’s value in making students struggle and learn in that phase. And then when they’re ready to practice, I think hopefully at that point they’ll have some experience and be able to incorporate the AI into what their personal knowledge is. So I think there’s a balance to it, and it’s maybe okay if they understand the AI technology, but aren’t necessarily leveraging it until a little later.

Marc Raco [00:26:05 – 00:27:01]

So for your members and future members of the State Bar who are looking for the guidance of keeping their industry alive, and, you know, because the thing is, you know, let’s say you’re an attorney in Wyoming, there’ll be a need for attorneys in Wyoming no matter how many of them there are. The question is, is The fewer attorneys there are, the more challenging it becomes in a way because there’s more people trying to have you handle their case and your operation becomes more challenging to handle. And that’s, I would imagine. So there isn’t, I would think there would be an interest in the next generation, you know, keeping the field alive. How can the bar help there be a successful continuation of this story going forward with the next generation having an interest and being excited about this profession. You recognize the problem. What’s the plan?

Alison Gee [00:27:01 – 00:27:29]

Right. And so, I, you know, if it’s AI, great, we’ll continue to provide that training. I think also guardrails are helpful, right? We don’t want our folks to go into court and get yelled at by the judge because they didn’t get rid of the hallucinations. And, and that’s a real struggle. Yeah. Unless you’re using, uh, Westlaw or Lexis, something that’s got guardrails on the case law. AI is very difficult to do legal research with. So—

Marc Raco [00:27:29 – 00:28:08]

I see that. You know, I think about how I use AI in my own role, and a lot of times I use it more like, could I have thought this through? I sure could. I have the capability. But the truth is, for me, using the AI to think it through saved me such enormous time and And based on what I get, I can make sort of the final determination of what, from that data, what’s useful, right? Am I using as much critical thinking? I would say probably I’m not. But my rationalization to myself at least is I could not possibly accomplish the scope of my job if I did not have this tool at this point.

Alison Gee [00:28:09 – 00:28:09]

Sure.

Marc Raco [00:28:09 – 00:28:22]

The expectations of me are high enough where the only way I can achieve is that way. How do you fight the realities or the expectations at least of what the perception of reality is?

Alison Gee [00:28:23 – 00:29:36]

Yeah, I think that, I think AI is a great place to, a lot of times what I’ll do is like, give me an example of this thing that I’m looking for, right? Because in my varied practice, sometimes I have to draft something I’ve never had to draft before, right? So AI, give me an example of what you think this would look like. And then I go back and rewrite the draft. But I have to make sure that I’m catching all the nuances, right, about what is the law in this area. Is is it supported by case law? If there’s case law cited, have I checked it all? And those are the things that if you’re newer in your practice, you may or may not pick up on. So that’s why you know a lot of the young attorneys coming out of law school are opening their own practices in Wyoming, and it’s brave, it’s commendable, but there’s a lot of struggle that I worry that they haven’t. Recognized yet. And so, uh, I would encourage them to keep in touch with the State Bar, look at the resources we have available, go to our conventions, you know, network with mentors who are— maybe they, the older attorneys, could learn from the younger and vice versa, because I think that there’s some knowledge you just gain by being in the trenches.

Marc Raco [00:29:37 – 00:29:37]

Yeah.

Alison Gee [00:29:37 – 00:29:38]

That they wouldn’t have yet.

Marc Raco [00:29:38 – 00:30:10]

Sure. You know, we talked a little bit about risk mitigation, touched on that. So here we are again with Alps Insurance Retreat for Bar Leaders. How has Alps Insurance been, let’s say, a useful partner to you? What is your perception either as an attorney or in terms of the bar itself where Alps has actually you perceive it as a productive collaborator.

Alison Gee [00:30:10 – 00:31:04]

Absolutely. So I have been so impressed with the ALPS Group in both as an attorney applying for insurance and reviewing the coverage that we have. I’ve seen attorneys who have had to make claims on their policies, and they’ve been treated with respect and well represented in those matters. ALPS participates in our semiannual retreat that we do with bar leadership for the state of Wyoming in guiding our strategic planning And they do that for many states, and I find that to be such a great resource for us to have that facilitated with someone who’s involved in conversations with other bars throughout the you know United States to give those perspectives. So I just see them as a partner in what we do. I also find a lot of the resources that they have available on their website could be useful to attorneys who are setting up new practices. They have a lot of great tools and information.

Marc Raco [00:31:05 – 00:31:26]

So that’s really interesting. All right. Thank you. All right. So I guess final word, as you enter the presidency, as you stand now and kind of look over the vista of, I guess, the legal profession as a whole, but also Wyoming, if you had one message to kind of deliver, what’s on your mind?

Alison Gee [00:31:26 – 00:31:53]

Yeah, I think these are exciting but challenging times, right? We are short on attorneys. But we have a lot of young people who’ve come into our bar and are succeeding in their practice. And so I think we’re in just this shift of change between the old guard and the new guard, and I’m somewhere in the middle, and I hope that I can facilitate bringing it forward into, you know, what the future holds with technology while also holding on to the value of the lessons learned.

Marc Raco [00:31:54 – 00:31:58]

Great. And if someone wants to check into the Wyoming State Bar, where do they go?

Alison Gee [00:31:58 – 00:32:04]

Yeah, the Wyoming State Bar has a great website and I suggest they check it out. There’s a lot of great information on there.

Marc Raco [00:32:06 – 00:32:18]

Great. All right, well, Alison Gee, practicing attorney, as well as the incoming president of the State Bar of the great state of Wyoming, thank you very much.

Alison Gee [00:32:18 – 00:32:20]

Yeah, thanks so much. I enjoyed it.

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