The Atlanta Lawyer June/July 2020 Vol. 19, No. 1 | Page 4

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Message From the President - Surf 's Up Sometimes the best lessons in life are the ones you were not expecting. CRAIG CLELAND Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC [email protected] I hope this finds you and those who are dear to you well. One of best things about being a member of the Atlanta Bar Association is, well, associating. Spending time with judges, lawyers, law professors, and law students enriches our work and our lives. It grounds us in something bigger than ourselves: the broad horizons of the law, which, however imperfectly, affords our society a measure of justice and stability lacking elsewhere. Yet we can’t get together in person, and we miss it. Once again the Atlanta Bar members— that’s you—are on the cutting edge. More of you are attending Section events by Zoom, Hangout, etc. than pre-COVID. A new Section—Privacy and Cybersecurity Law— is forming. Easy-to-grab and excellent virtual CLE continues apace. Keyed to associates and summer associates, our recent Access Atlanta Bar: Summer Series event—a great panel of Atlanta judges— drew a big crowd on Zoom, followed by An Insider’s Guide to the City. Our stellar mentoring program, SideBar, is evolving. So you’re improvising, adapting, pivoting. It is inspiring to see so many Atlanta lawyers surfing the unconventional waves of our times. It is inspiring to see so many Atlanta lawyers surfing the unconventional waves of our times. Cutting back to get to the surf line, popping up when a wave throws us, grabbing the board’s nose with all ten, closing out when a wave takes us nowhere, cresting waves and shooting through air, counting the seconds of a groundswell, even wiping out and paddling out to the line-up. Sure, there’s Zen in going it alone. But we and our City and the law are better served when we’re in it together. So join us. Surf ’s up. Changing gears a moment, given the recent killings, including Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, would you please consider joining me in the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge? You can find the syllabus on the ABA’s website or others. Each day for fifteen or so minutes, you read, listen, or take in a short assignment. The Challenge isn’t about agreeing. It’s actually about something harder: seeing another human being. Stay well. Craig Cleland Atlanta Bar Association President 4 June/July 2020