This issue of the magazine marks a personal milestone. After this issue, I am stepping aside as editor in favor of some "fresh blood." Beginning with the January/February 2006 issue, Helene Friedman and Heather Cline Hoganson will serve as the editors of this magazine.

I have enjoyed my stint as editor. But after three-and-a-half years, and with my wife expecting our second child in January, I recently asked the Bar Council to find a new editor. Fortunately, my distress call was answered by not one, but two enthuasiastic members of our association.

I will let Heather and Helene introduce themselves in their first issue because I have many people to thank before I step down as editor.

I have received terrific guidance and support from the magazine's policy committee, which has included Toso Himel, Joan Stone, Stacy Boulware Eurie, the now-retired Shirley David, Coral Henning, John Bachman and Nicole DeSantis. John, Joan, Nicole and Toso have been willing to write articles in a pinch. Stacy has been frequently called upon to provide me with her judicious counsel. Shirley and Coral, who replaced Shirley as Sacramento County Public Law Librarian last year, brought a wonderful positive energy to the committee.

Thanks to Phil Heller of Sirlin Studios, who took the cover photographs for this magazine.

Carol Prosser, the SCBA's Executive Director, has been a terrific person with whom to work. No matter how late this magazine got distributed, Carol was always supportive. Former SCBA employees Niesha Fort, Robin Ruddy and Wendy Burkhardt and current SCBA employee Michelle Bryant have been instrumental in gathering advertisements.

Last but not least, I need to thank Mary Burroughs. Mary has been the designer of this magazine for the past several years. Essentially, I edited the articles and chose the photos and then handed the whole package to Mary to turn it into a professional-looking magazine. Under Mary's guidance, we have been able to double the number of color pages used in this magazine while cutting our printing costs substantially. Mary has also implemented subtle improvements in the design of this magazine that have made it more readable. Most significantly, Mary has been able to cope with the delays that occur when your writers and editor are all volunteers.

Finally, let me express my gratitude to all of you who wrote articles for this magazine while I was the editor. Just as the strength of the association lies in its members, the strength of this magazine has come from all the talented people who stepped forward to write. Thank you, one and all!