Thank you to everyone who attended last week’s Stepping Up to the Bar. It was wonderful to see everyone in person and celebrate the holidays together. As we close out 2021, I wanted to share with you all just a few of the incredible accomplishments of the volunteer leaders and staff this past year:
Advocacy
Our Public Positions Advisory Committee issued three statements this year. The first condemned the actions of those who sought to undermine our Constitution and Democracy on January 6. The second condemned criminal acts targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The third denounced personal criticisms of a federal judge.
Legislative Committee Chair Ben Rudin’s resolution was signed into law as SB 501 this year.
The Different Abilities Subcommittee made huge steps in addressing a 46-year-old issue of lack of handicap accessible stalls on floors 2-4 at the Schwartz Courthouse with some small changes this year to address accessibility, and with the bathrooms receiving full funding in 2023 to be completely renovated.
Collaboration
The SDCBA secured 19 signatories from across the state which supported its letter to The State Bar of California seeking an increase in Competency credit hours and 23 signatories in support of increasing the topics covered within those Competency credits.
We signed on to a resolution in support of proposals made by the California Lawyers Association and California Judges Association’s joint California Civility Task Force.
We spearheaded a project to connect State Bar Provisional Licensure Program supervisees with supervisors.
We worked with the State, Appellate, and Federal Courts to provide State of the Court updates throughout the year.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion
We revitalized and relaunched the Diversity Pledge, which has garnered signatures from more than 50 prominent law firms and organizations.
We created the Racial Equity Organizational Assessment Tool.
We hosted four Dialogue on Diversity programs and continued the monthly Exchange on Equity Roundtables.
Events
The pandemic did not slow us down in 2021. There were hundreds of virtual events to attend, including Section programs and bar-wide programs like our Leadership Speaker Series and our 2021 Service Awards. You can catch any of the events you might have missed on our website’s homepage under the Event Video Replays! We were thrilled to reconnect in-person for our Summer Social: Here Comes the Sun, CDI’s Holidays Around the World, and our annual Stepping Up to the Bar.
Innovation
This year we expanded our Lawyer Referral and Information Service to serve the community in Imperial County.
We invested in hybrid conferencing technology so that we can host hybrid meetings in our Bay View Conference room. We will continue to offer hybrid access to CLE programs in our Conference Center.
Leadership
We launched the nomination period for the inaugural 2022 Leadership Academy.
We recognized exemplary leadership within our 26 Sections: The ADR Section received the 2021 Collaboration Certificate for producing four joint programs and events. The Law & Medicine Section received the 2021 Variety of Programming and Events Certificate. The Intellectual Property Section was recognized for its support of the New Lawyer Division in its programming. The Workers Compensation Section was recognized for Innovation with the creation of its “An Evening With ….” Program.
Media
We continued to produce our podcast “Meet & Confer” which I hosted with our Technology and Practice Management Advisor Adriana Linares.
Our Lawyer Referral and Information Service team coordinated opportunities for members to share their law expertise through Spanish-language radio interviews. This year, 57 Spanish-speaking attorney volunteers were involved in the program, and 86 radio interviews were conducted.
SDCBA members and staff were recognized at the San Diego Press Club’s 48th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards for their contributions to San Diego Lawyer magazine.
Poignant Moments
We celebrated re-opening. Our staff returned to the office, and our members returned to our member lounge. We are so happy to offer access to all our services without restriction to you and your clients (masks are still required if not actively eating or drinking).
We welcomed new members to our ranks as brave graduates overcame the hurdle of a virtual Bar Examination.
We remember those whom we lost this year. May their memories forever bring us peace and may we never forget their impact on our community.
Yours,
Renée N.G. Stackhouse
2021 SDCBA President
Reading now: I’m done reading for the year!!!
Listening to: Hillary Clinton’s MasterClass
What are you reading or listening to? Tag us #sdlaw #sdcba