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A Message From The President

As I conclude my term as President of the Century City Bar Association, I want to thank our members, friends, sponsors, vendors and of course, the lawyers who make up our legal community, for the assistance and support we received this year. I will treasure the collaboration, camaraderie, and friendships I developed with my fellow officers, Scott Vick, Louis Dienes, Jane Shay Wald, and Fay Arfa, forever.

It has been an exciting and transformative year - for the world, for our nation, and for our profession. Of course, some of you may be thinking to yourselves that the last 12 months has presented us with the kind of "excitement" that we would rather do without. Others may be thinking that if the GDP declines, legal output declines, and that is all that need be said or thought. But I offer another perspective: One of my favorite jokes (President Reagan thought so, too; he used it often) is about the little boy who was feared by his parents to be too optimistic for his own good. After his parents took him to a Century City psychiatrist, the little boy was taken into a room piled to the ceiling with nothing but horse manure. Apparently, so the psychiatrist thought, this would cure this little boy once and for all of his unnatural optimism. The plan did not work. Instead of revulsion, the little boy scrambled to the top of the manure pile, dropped to all fours, and began digging. "What do you think you're doing?" the psychiatrist asked. "With all this manure," the little boy replied matter of factly, "there must be a pony in here somewhere."

I think you see where I am going with this. The legal profession has experienced, as has much of our country, moderate to severe economic distress during the last 12 months, and most pundits, including the geniuses in Washington and on CNBC, do not foresee an immediate recovery. But I say this situation presents an opportunity for each of us, whether we work in-house, or at firms, or as individuals. This is a chance to find good - and do good - in the midst of what otherwise looks like misfortune. Just like the little boy in the story, this is the chance to do a little digging. I say to you that if some of us have more time on our hands because our clients are not asking us to do as much, take advantage of it. Instead of focusing on a loss of billable hours, reflect on what many a wise man has said: Time is a gift, and we are only given so much of it. If things are slow in your office or practice, I offer some suggestions. Spend time in reaching out to and learning more about your clients, or your friends, or your family. Take more MCLE classes, and maybe this time, listen a little better. Spend time re-reading and if necessary re-doing that agreement or pleading that you have been putting off. Spend time working on your diet and exercise plan. You will be better off for it, and so will the people in your life. These are just a few examples. Most of us, if we think about it, can do a lot more in life if we only had the time. Now we do.

To Scott Vick, our incoming President, AKA "The Human Bulldozer," I need not wish you luck. With your talent, integrity, creativity, and zeal, your success is already assured. To my friends and associates within and without the Century City Bar Association, I thank you again, I wish you all health and happiness. And as I fade away, MacArthur-style, may I say farewell, and, as I sometimes say, "I'll see you in Court!"

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