Every year, the SDCBA and the Association of Corporate Counsel coordinate the Diversity Fellowship Program to help increase the number of diverse attorneys practicing in San Diego County and to assist law firms and corporate legal departments in their efforts to recruit competent, diverse law students for summer internships. The program is close to our hearts at the SDCBA, as our Committee on Diversity and Inclusion works to ensure Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion throughout the San Diego legal community.
Applications for the 2021 Diversity Fellowship Program opened December 1 and close on February 10, 2021 at 9 a.m. Interested fellows, click here to learn more. We also are recruiting employers! If you are a law firm, corporate legal department, or public agency interested in participating in the Program, please reach out to Bhashini Weerasinghe, the SDCBA’s DFP Director, at bw@bhashinilaw.com to get started.
Last week, we enjoyed a number of timely events, including our 2nd Annual Law Practice Tech Conference for Solo and Small Firms, Truly, Madly, Solo. The two-day conference was packed with key insights you can use to level-up your practice. If you weren’t able to join us live, stay tuned for on-demand access to a CLE bundle of the event coming shortly to the SDCBA CLE Center™. Remember — you can buy a CLE Annual Pass for $100 and get all SDCBA CLE Center programs at no charge through the end of December 2021!
We also connected you to the courts during our State of the Courts Address. Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne from the San Diego Superior Court and Chief Judge Larry Burns from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California offered updates on court operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, how our state and federal trial courts are addressing these issues now, and their plans moving forward. Watch a recording of the event here. And our Annual Appellate Holiday Program featuring a year-in-review, and a conversation between Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown and Chief Judge Sydney Thomas, is here.
Last Friday evening, we installed our 2021 Board of Directors at our annual Stepping Up to the Bar . . . 2020 Style. Presiding Judge Alksne joined us to administer the Directors’ Oath to the incoming Board and Judge Olga Álvarez administered the Presidential oath to 2021 SDCBA President Renée N.G. Stackhouse. Watch a recording of the event here.
Join us this week for some holiday fun and our final two CLEs of 2020!
- December 14, 5:30 p.m. – Mingle & Jingle: Ugly Holiday Sweater & Cookie Recipe Party (presented by the New Lawyer Division)
- December 15, 12:00 p.m. – 2020 Year in Review: Key Intellectual Property Cases and Insight (presented by the Intellectual Property Law Section)
- December 17, 12:00 p.m. – Tax Issues in Bankruptcy: Nuts and Bolts for All Practitioners (Part 1 of 2), (presented by the Taxation Law Section, offers 1.0 hour CLE credit and 1.0 hour Tax Specialization credit)
The SDBCA will be closed on December 24 and 25, and on December 31 and January 1.
Our programming will resume again in January, with a January 8 Coffee & Conversation Roundtable: What Works Well in Employment Mediation from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. and a January 11 Monthly Exchange on Equity Roundtablefrom 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
From our SDCBA family to yours, we wish you a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season. Johanna Schiavoni
2020 SDCBA President