An Annapolis lawyer will take over Saturday as president of the Maryland State Bar Association, three days after another Anne Arundel County lawyer receives an award for her work.

James P. Nolan, 54, said he has set several goals for his yearlong term as president of the 20,500-member organization.

"My focus is going to be on communications," he said.

Nolan said he wants the organization to improve its relationship with everyone from judges to local lawyer groups to state lawmakers.

"We are looking to become more of a resource for the legislature, as we watch the number of attorneys in the legislature dwindle," he said.

There are 32 lawyer-legislators in the General Assembly, and the number keeps shrinking, according to the bar association.

Nolan is the managing director of the Annapolis firm of Council, Baradel, Kosmerl & Nolan.

Today, Deborah L. Potter, 37, will receive the state bar association's annual Edward F. Shea Jr. Professionalism Award, which recognizes one lawyer under age 38 for contributions to professionalism and public service. She is the first lawyer from the county to receive the award.

Potter, president of the Anne Arundel County Bar Foundation, the local lawyer group's charitable wing, has served on many community and law groups. She is a founder of the county's Court Appointed Special Advocates, which helps children in court. She also mentors new lawyers in the county.

Next year she will be the first woman president of the Terrapin Club, the University of Maryland's athletic fund-raising group. She is in private practice in Annapolis.

Both Nolan and Potter are former presidents of the Anne Arundel County Bar Association.