Turning Toward Each Other in a Time of Change

BY KENNON WOOTEN

It seems safe to assume that 2020 is not what any of us expected it to be. Of course, life rarely plays out as expected, no matter how many plans we make. John Lennon said it best in Beautiful Boy, a song for his son: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” So true. But understanding that life is inherently unpredictable does not always make it easy to roll with the punches, particularly when they come at a rapid rate, from multiple directions.

We are enduring a pandemic, staring uncertainty in the face. We do not know what the longterm consequences will be for our health, our economy, or our education system. Concurrently, we are grappling with the realities of persistent racism, including hateful conduct directed at Asian Americans blamed for the pandemic, as well as resistance to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Although we are all in this together, we are at various points on the path and sometimes struggle to understand how other people’s experiences and perspectives can be so different from our own. This struggle is understandable. The negative emotions and divisiveness stemming from the struggle are also understandable. That said, no matter what our differences may be, it may help us to be kinder to each other if we remember that everyone is going through something and, as Rep. John Lewis remarked throughout his life, we are all humans and all part of the human family.

The Austin Bar’s Board and Austin Young Lawyers Association’s Board began this bar year by issuing a joint resolution, unanimously approved, that reflects a goal to “lay down the burdens of hate and divisiveness, respect the dignity and worth of every human being, and move forward in our progress toward a more unified bar and an equitable, just society that is at peace with itself.” [1] We welcome input from, and involvement of, anyone who wants to help us achieve this goal, including through participation in the Austin Bar’s newly formed Equity Committee; [2] attendance at the equity summit that the Austin Bar will host before the end of this bar year; and participation in the anti-racist/implicit-bias training the Austin Bar will offer before or during the equity summit.

Because the stressors we are experiencing can make it difficult to maintain hope and to muster the energy we need to tackle everyday work (much less transformative work), the Austin Bar’s commitment to well-being is also continuing in full force this year. If you are struggling to cope with stressors in your life, help is available. The Austin Bar’s website contains a lawyer-well-being page with links to many free resources, including Texas Lawyers Assistance Program resources. In addition, the Austin Bar’s Lawyer Well-Being Committee is engaged in efforts to educate, support, and connect our legal community to achieve more balanced, mindful, and joyful lives and practices. This year’s committee co-chairs are Diana Reinhart, who is both an attorney and a licensed marriage and family therapist, and attorney Danielle Ahlrich. Like all other Austin Bar committees, the Lawyer Well-Being Committee is open to all Austin Bar members.

While change is certainly underfoot and the Austin Bar is striving to adapt accordingly, we are also striving to maintain normalcy amid change. To that end, we are (1) continuing to offer Austin Lawyer and many hours of CLE free of charge to our members; (2) forging ahead with the Bench Bar Conference (via Zoom) on Sept. 25, 2020; (3) fostering the good work of all of the other Austin Bar committees that are not mentioned in this article; (4) facilitating the provision of pro bono legal services to people in need in our community; and (5) proceeding with renovations to Hilgers House that will make it a viable meeting space for our members.

As Austin Bar president, I am committed to creating an inclusive, collaborative environment for everyone who wants to be involved. I believe that, in this tumultuous time, we need to turn toward each other instead of away. Please know that the Austin Bar is here for you—as you are. If you want to visit or provide input, please contact me anytime at president@austinbar.org. AL

[1.] Austin Bar and AYLA Resolution (July 24, 2020), available at https:// www.austinbar.org/2020/07/austinbar-association-and-austin-younglawyers-association-resolution/ (last visited Aug. 9, 2020).

[2.] For information about this committee, see the cover story in the July/August 2020 issue of Austin Lawyer.