From the President We often see that tough times bring out the best in people, and I believe we are definitely seeing that happening now with the members of the BBA. As I write this message, we remain in the midst of mounting challenges and considerable uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is affecting each of us, professionally and personally, in so many ways. Even so, it is clear that the members of our profession, notably the members of the Birmingham Bar Association, are rising to the occasion, doubling down on our mission as Andrew S. Nix lawyers to serve our clients. Over the past several weeks, I have witnessed countless members of the BBA tackle complicated new legal issues resulting from the pandemic on behalf of their clients, work tirelessly (and often on a volunteer basis) to assist those in our community who have been hit the hardest, and contribute time and effort to the adaptation of how we do our jobs every day — all the while dealing with their own challenges and uncertainty about what lies ahead. Over the past several weeks, topics and terms such as “PPP loans,” “essential services” and “social distancing” — terms that were not part of our vocabulary when 2020 began — have become subjects of frequent discussion and legal advice. Zoom meetings have become the new standard for “seeing” each other to handle matters from the courtroom to the boardroom (and also to catch up with friends and family for a “Zoom cocktail hour”). This has all developed very rapidly, and, although most of us are fortunate to have the ability to stay virtually connected, professionally and socially, we all are feeling some sense of separation, isolation
08
Andrew with President-Elect Lanier Brown at an ABA conference. and anxiety as we navigate through this experience. The importance of affiliation with the BBA has been spotlighted as issues facing our members and our profession as a whole have come to the forefront in connection with COVID-19. We have heard from many of our members offering suggestions for how the BBA might be able to help other members or our community, and we have worked very hard to pursue each suggestion as an opportunity for the BBA to be a valuable resource.
PROVIDING BENEFITS
As I have discussed since the beginning of the year, my primary goal for 2020 is to ensure that the BBA provides benefits, tangible and intangible, for all of our members, consistent with our theme for
the year, “Our Vision is Value for You.” Although I definitely did not anticipate COVID-19 when I was charting my 2020 goals last year, the pandemic has given us an opportunity to provide value to our members in the most difficult of times. At the onset of the pandemic in March, we began implementing a number of virtual initiatives designed to support and connect with all of our members and to help you all support and connect with each other: ► We have maintained and will continue to maintain steady communication to provide you with the latest judicial orders, statewide directives, important notices and other information and, consistent with our ongoing focus on attorney wellness, timely wellness messages. ► We have rolled out a series of free
BIRMINGHAM BAR BULLETIN
