PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
APRIL 2020

I hope this message finds you and your families well, and coping with our unprecedented new reality. Each of us has unique challenges we must face and overcome. I wish all of you strength and serenity as you navigate these difficult times.

At MCBA, we have been very busy since the “Shelter in Place” orders took effect. While we currently are unable to come together as a group and experience the camaraderie and community that we value, we are working on virtual options to keep you, our members, engaged and informed. In this month’s President’s Message, I would like to share with you some of the ways we are continuing to connect. As always, you can visit our website at www.marinbar.org to learn about and register for our current programs, virtual meetings and events.

Our sections are hosting programs to help you adjust to the challenges of our new working environment. Our first webinar was hosted by the Real Property Section on March 26. Forty one online attendees learned how COVID-19 issues affect their real estate and business practices.

Our newly formed Litigation Section is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 8 at 10:30 titled: “Tips for Conducting a Successful Remote Deposition”. The program will walk participants through the the basics of setting up and conducting virtual depositions, including the use of documents and other evidence. If you are a litigator, conducting depositions virtually is a valuable tool to enable you to move your cases towards resolution.

Through our Pro Bono Committee, and to assist our community, we are hosting a “call in phone bank” where members of the public can pose questions to a volunteer lawyer about SBA financing loans, CARES Act issues, and commercial and residential leases. The training to participate in this pro bono program will take place on April 9 at noon.

In addition to educating our members with valuable programming, MCBA serves an important social component in keeping us connected and engaged with our friends and colleagues. To that end, on April 10 at 4:30, we will be hosting our first “Quarantini Happy Hour”. Please join in via Zoom and socialize with your colleagues while sharing your shelter at home stories and your good humor!

The Labor and Employment Section is exploring topics to host a webinar on vital employment issues soon. Please check our website for updates on this section’s activities.

To better reach other members in your practice areas, we have created several List Serves through Group Vine. When you receive your invite to join, I encourage you to do so in order to facilitate group conversations within your practice area.

Also in the works is a virtual Town Hall presentation with Presiding Judge Andrew Sweet to update our members on the status of court operations and what we may expect once the court reopens. I will interview Judge Sweet and allow time for members to ask their own questions.

Looking down the line to the eventual reopening of the Court, currently scheduled for June 1, we plan to put in place a new ADR program to assist the Court with resolving cases that have been on hold during the closure. We hope to put together a panel of volunteer mediators and trained counsel to conduct several robust “settlement days” in order to minimize the inevitable backlog that will occur once the Court reopens. Please email me directly if you would like to be a part of this upcoming project.

These are challenging and unprecedented times. Many of us are struggling with trying to work at home, educate and otherwise occupy our children, and maintain our health and well being. It isn’t easy. This new reality will be with us for at least the rest of this month, and probably longer. At MCBA, we hope to be a resource for information, ideas and collegiality. We will get through this, and we will do it better together.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay connected.

Susan Feder
MCBA President, 2020