The Palo Alto Area Bar Association developed out of a need for community. The meetings started out small, as lunches between fellow practitioners and neighbors. It was the early 1930s, before the concept of “power lunches” and the proliferation of books on networking. Commutes wound through orchards and along marshlands. Luncheon debates of the day probably concerned the nation’s entrance into World War II, the establishment of the FBI and Social Security. Early members might have criticized or lauded the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Through the advent of manual transmission, the establishment of Hewlett Packard, and as orchards made way for roads, office parks and neighborhoods, Palo Alto and its environs blossomed into a cosmopolitan leader. No matter how the world changed, though, the one constant our members could rely upon was each other.

PAABA has managed to thrive in an environment of constant change because we stay focused on our goals: to help members meet each other, learn about the ever-evolving legal profession and support the community. Our location in the heart of so much innovation and technology allowed us access to the knowledge and tools to operate more efficiently and effectively to help the people for which it was intended. We take the best of our generation’s modernization and, in this instance, have redesigned our website to include features that invite participation and promote involvement.

We hope you find our upgrades useful, return often and get involved! Please let us know what you might miss about the old site and how the new one has improved. As always, we continue to evolve!

Soyeun D. Choi, President, Palo Alto Area Bar Association
August 2011