5 minute read
Incoming President’s Message
Sarinia M. Feinman, Esq.
Montgomery Bar Association 2022 President I am truly honored to lead the greatest Bar Association in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as we continue to navigate through these ever-changing, constantly fluid, and uncertain times.
As the MBA celebrates its 137th year of service to the legal community, we certainly cannot ignore all that we have navigated over the last two years. With all of the changes we have had to endure and find ways to pivot in our practice areas, in the courts, with our clients, and in our households, there is one thing we have learned for sure and that is that we need to take care of ourselves first and foremost. We must take the time to focus on our own wellness; otherwise, we will not be of any value to our clients, our colleagues, our partners/spouses and other family members, our friends, and most importantly to ourselves.
Life in the legal arena is challenging enough in “normal” times. Today’s unpredictable environment brings those challenges to a whole new level. Surviving and thriving will require a level of attention to our own self-care, as well as to our connections to each other, as never before. As a result of the pandemic, it has forced all of us to realize that we really need to take care of ourselves and our colleagues. We must focus on all aspects of wellness – social, emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, and occupational. Through the formation of the Ad-Hoc Wellness Committee, which will be led by our 2021 Leadership Academy Class, who focused their year-long project on this topic, the goal will be to aid the entire membership in achieving this much-needed self-care. Each Section of the MBA is being asked to be deliberate in their efforts towards wellness, and to highlight four of the six areas of wellness throughout the year, so that they are planning something once per quarter. The Committees are being asked to also be deliberate in making sure that they plan to highlight at least two of the six areas of wellness throughout this year. The goal is to start here, and eventually be in a position where it is part of the makeup of the MBA to have regular and routine implementations of wellness throughout the Committees, Sections, and Leadership.
This all kicked off on January 20th before the Board of Directors meeting, where Nancy Walsh provided MBA Leadership with a Gratitude Workshop, which explored the practical and psychological benefits of intentional gratitude and provided leadership with tips for implementing habits that will help keep our leaders, their offices, and the MBA team happy, positive, and well.
While Zoom and other virtual platforms have been useful alternatives to allow for the practice of law and access to justice for litigants, it is certainly no substitute for the four “C’s”, which are at the true core of the MBA – (1) Connections; (2) Collaborations; (3) Comradery; and (4) Collegiality. This is what we strive to get back to in 2022!
And while it seems as though the only thing that is certain is uncertainty, that in and of itself can be wonderful when faced with it, as it can also be a time to reinvent. It can be a time to return to old events, such as the time-honored Dinner Dance, which will be held on April 29th at Green Valley Country Club. It can also be a time
congratulates Sarinia M. Feinman
for being elected as the 137th President of the Montgomery Bar Association for 2022.
for something new like a family-friendly event on May 5th at the Elmwood Park Zoo. It too can be a time to reimagine an event that occurred in the past, such as LawyerPalooza and celebrating it on its 5th anniversary this October. And lest we forget – our Bench Bar Conference at the beautiful Skytop Lodge in the Poconos from September 9th - 11th.
Around the nation, in Pennsylvania, and here in our own county, there is an enormous need for a strong and trusted voice in support of judicial independence, the rule of law, and equal access to justice, and the MBA must continue to not only support and foster the principles of justice but strive to lead the way and serve as an example and inspiration to the community at large. In order for the MBA to fulfill this fundamental role, we must not only seek to retain and engage our incredible and valued members, but also continue to attract the best and brightest of our next generation of lawyers, and the only way we can do that is by appearing in person in a safe way that works for everyone and making accommodations as needed to make our members comfortable and at ease. We have begun to offer a “hybrid within the hybrid” option where members may elect to sit in the library for a meeting or CLE and be in a room where nobody will be unmasked and no food will be served, along with those that choose to remain in the CLE room, unmasking to eat, while some may choose to remain on Zoom. This means that we are getting there, and in no time, we will be back to normal, or at least a new normal, utilizing all that we have learned over the last two years to be the most productive and efficient for our members.
2022 is destined to be both a memorable and important year, as we get back to our time-honored traditions that we have all missed so greatly, participate in many new ventures and events, focus on the wellness of ourselves and our colleagues, and start having some fun again – we all deserve it!
