Arlington Bar Journal Early Spring 2008 Edt.

DAV ID BE L L RE T I R E S AS CO U RT CL E R K B Y J O H N A . B O R S A R I , E D I T O R Special points of interest: • Legacy of Ken Smith • Bell Interview, Part 2 • Meta Data I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : David Bell Retirement 1 Legacy of Ken Smith 5 New Members 7 Member News 7 In the Stacks 8 President’s Message 9 Executive Director 10 I. P. 12 Dave Bell Interview 14 GDC Calendar 21 Meta Data 22 Ken Smith 26 Bar Foundation 27 JO U R N A L O F T H E AR L I N G T O N CO U N T Y B A R AS S O C I AT I O N Volume 23, Number 2 Early Spring 2008 David A. Bell, Clerk of the Arlington County Circuit Court arrived for his new job as a deputy clerk under the late clerk, Bruce Green, on February 1, 1971 and didn’t leave the clerk’s office until December 2007, thirty-six years later. When he started work there were four deputy clerks, two older gentlemen, Mr. Bell and another young lawyer named Henry Hudson. During the intervening 37 years, David got married, raised three kids was elected clerk of the court four times. His tenure as clerk was celebrated at this retirement banquet on November 30, 2007 where hundreds of people were in attendance, including that other young deputy clerk, Henry E. Hudson ( who is now a federal judge of the U. S. District Court, for the Eastern District of VA , former U. S Attorney and former head of the U. S. Marshall Service). The dinner was held at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel and included many distinguished speakers and presentations of gifts and a photographic slide show of David’s life prepared by his daughter, Jennifer. David Bell was born and raised in Pennsylvania and graduated from his beloved Penn State University in 1970. After graduation he worked as an intern for congressman Joe Vigorito of Pennsylvania and was urged by his future father-in-law to apply for an open job in the Arlington County clerk’s office. As Mr. Bell remembers, Mr. Green asked him if he had any problem moving boxes and files, to which David responded, “Well two summers ago I had worked at a steel mill. Does that answer your question?” He was hired, and as they say, the rest is history. For more about David you should see the interview he gave the Journal which was published in two parts- the first part appears in the last