“Change is the law of life.”
- John F. Kennedy

Happy Holidays! It’s hard to believe another MCBA holiday party has come and gone. Time sometimes passes swiftly and before you know it, your kids are far older than you ever imagined, you barely recognize that person in the mirror and the Legislature has completely rewritten the statute you’ve spent the last ten years interpreting. Is each of those changes good? Bad? Does it have to be one or the other?

This issue of the Marin Lawyer is the final monthly issue. Starting next year, the Marin Lawyer will be published quarterly: in March, June, September and December. All of the issues will be our magazine-style digital issues.

Long ago, the Marin Lawyer was one of the few ways that MCBA could communicate with its members. These days, many of us probably feel that there are a few too many ways of communicating. The Marin Lawyer is no longer the only way to learn about MCBA events, to be notified of changes to the local rules of court, or to hear who got smashed at the CalCPA Mixer. It can still do all those things (well, two out of three, anyway) but it does not take an entire issue to do them.

Between quarterly issues, MCBA will still communicate with members. You’ll receive via email the same event reminders you’re now getting. Other content will simply shift to email, such as a monthly President’s Message. We’ll also send recaps of events to you not long after they’ve happened rather than save them for the Marin Lawyer. We might even send around articles of particular topical interest when a legal topic is in the news. And all of those things will continue to be available on MCBA’s website.

The goal with the quarterly issues is to bring you particularly useful and interesting articles. Rather than a single guest editor, a team will put together each issue on a theme we hope you’ll find helpful with your practice or stimulating on current legal issues—or both! Unlike with our first few digital issues, we will not recycle articles from the archives. As always, we welcome your input. And we encourage you to share your knowledge and wisdom by writing for the Marin Lawyer.

Speaking of sharing, several folks have done that for this issue. First, a thank you to our guest editor: Mike Chaput. He has rounded up a good mix of articles. Some of you will remember the events that Edmond McGill recounts in his entertaining story of the “Rub-a-dub-dub Marin Yacht Club.” Hint: it involves an escape and a trial (well, two trials, actually).

And litigators take note, especially plaintiff lawyers: Robert Wood details changes wrought by the Trump tax law to the treatment of legal settlements. In many cases, it will mean that plaintiffs have to pay taxes on their legal fees. And did you know that trusts for pets are a thing? Carrie Ann Colton outlines what pet lovers need to consider when setting up a trust. “Trust fund kid” could have a whole new meaning (think “goat”).

Be sure to check out our profile of Judge Verna Adams, who’s celebrating 20 years on the Bench. And learn what 40,000 volunteer hours does for WildCare, a beloved Marin non-profit that makes an enormous difference in helping people and wildlife coexist.

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a joyous New Year. I’ll see you back here in March.