DALLAS, Aug. 28 LAWFUEL – Legal News Network — William N. (Bill) LaForge, a shareholder in the Washington D.C. Office of Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C., was installed as president of the Federal Bar Association last week at the organization’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaForge is a long time member of the Federal Bar Association and he served previously as president- elect, national vice president, treasurer, secretary, deputy
secretary, section coordinator, membership committee chair and government
relations committee chair. LaForge succeeds former president Robyn J.
Spalter.
“This is an honor for me and I’m excited to lead this great
organization and serve the exceptional members who are dedicated to federal law,” said LaForge. “I’m looking forward to the next year as I plan to focus on a more streamlined governing process and explore new avenues to
increase our membership and expand on the services we provide to our
members,” said LaForge.
The Federal Bar Association has existed for more than 80 years and
serves the private and government lawyers and judges involved in federal
practice, giving its 16,000 members a chance to meet at regional and
national conferences, become active in informed discussion of substantive
law issues, assume leadership positions at the local and national level,
and network with other professionals in various fields of federal law. It
is the only nationwide bar association exclusively dedicated to federal
practitioners and jurisprudence.
LaForge’s career in law, government, public policy and government
relations extends over 30 years at local, state and federal levels. He has extensive experience in the processes of government, and currently
represents a wide array of clients with interests before the Congress and
executive branch agencies. On Capitol Hill, he was chief counsel of the
U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and culminated his
government career as chief legislative counsel and chief of staff to U.S.
Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, currently the chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
For 25 years, LaForge has been an adjunct professor in the School of
Business at George Washington University, where he has taught courses in
commercial law, public policy and government. This fall, he will travel to Sofia, Bulgaria, for two weeks as a visiting law professor at the
University of National and World Economy. He was chosen for this assignment out of 147 applicants by the Center for International Legal Studies to be part of an inaugural group of American attorneys teaching in former Eastern bloc countries.
LaForge is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and State Bar of
Mississippi, and he is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court (No. Dist., MS) and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is also a member of the American League of Lobbyists, and a CLE faculty member for the DC Bar. He has served as a trustee of the Delta State University and the Pi Kappa Alpha educational foundations, and he is past national president of both
the Delta State University Alumni Association and the Pi Kappa Alpha
Fraternity.
LaForge earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, received an LL.M. in international law from Georgetown University, and studied international law at Cambridge University. He received
fellowships to study government and public policy in the European Union and at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. An avid runner and a triathlete, he has completed 60 marathons, including 24 Boston Marathons, and he has logged more than 60,000 miles of running.
Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. is among the largest business law firms
in Texas. With more than 300 attorneys, the Firm provides regional,
national and international clients access to a broad range of business
legal services representing more than 30 practice areas. Winstead has
office in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and The
Woodlands, Texas; and Washington D.C. For detailed information about
Winstead, visit http://www.winstead.com .
