At the beginning of March, MCBA was busy preparing for our upcoming events: Our March membership meeting on cannabis regulation, our annual celebration with Legal Aid of Marin of your extensive pro bono contributions, a wonderful lifetime achievement dinner for Gary Ragghianti, and of course all of our regular section meetings.

Shortly before sheltering in place was announced, MCBA’s board recognized that large, in-person events carried significant health risks and canceled or postponed the nearest events. As we now approach three months with official shelter-in-place orders still in effect, we still do not know when sizable in-person gatherings will be allowed.

In order to continue to be of service to our members and our community, MCBA immediately pivoted from in-person meetings and events to hosting webinars. We held our first webinar on March 26th on how COVID-19 was affecting real property law. Since then, we have hosted more than 15 webinars and virtual events covering everything from Marin court updates to training on SBA Loans and the CARES Act, the impact of COVID-19 on several areas of the law, wellness with yoga, and numerous aspects of practice development, from maximizing your LinkedIn profile to practicing remotely, including taking a deposition or conducting a mediation.

While sheltering in place orders are in effect, we have been offering our virtual meetings and events free to our members in order to support our members and help everyone adapt as easily as possible to these extraordinary new circumstances. We are staying in close contact with the Marin courts and disseminating critical information to you as it comes in. We also maintain a central place for Local News & Information Regarding COVID-19 on our website. And we have made email listservs available for each of our sections and MCBA as a whole to help you stay in touch with your colleagues.

MCBA staff has quickly adapted to working remotely and the MBCA Board continues to meet via Zoom. We are here for our members and community and appreciate your continued support of MCBA and its mission. With how we live and work rapidly evolving in the face of great uncertainty, staying in touch presents new challenges. Local bar associations like MCBA are more important than ever for supporting your practice and the community. Our upcoming events calendar changes frequently as we add new webinars. Stay informed by subscribing to our email list, visiting MCBA’s website, or following us on one of our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

We look forward to seeing you in person again. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy.