Last week, MCBA held its first in-person general membership luncheon since the pandemic began and it was fitting for such an auspicious occasion that our intrepid Supreme Court expert observer, Professor Rory Little, returned for a week from sabbatical on the East Coast for his 14th appearance with MCBA. We were able to accommodate an excellent turnout and still keep tables widely spaced and with fewer members at each table in recognition that while our requirement to be fully vaccinated reduces everyone’s risk, the COVID virus continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

For the near future, part of the job of running MCBA and indeed, any organization, is still constantly assessing risk and our members’ desires when planning each and every event and doing our best to be able to adjust when needed. Perhaps no member knows this better than Gary Ragghianti, who graciously endured so many shifting plans he might have started to wonder whether he would see his Lifetime Achievement Award in his lifetime. I am very happy to report that on behalf of MCBA, Mee Mee Wong and I were able to give Gary his award in person in front of over 200 guests at an outdoor dinner at the lovely Deer Park Villa last month.

I would like to thank Mee Mee and Denise Belli, our Membership and Events Administrator, for making these events so successful. Under ordinary circumstances, the events are a lot of work. Now imagine how much work it is to plan the same event over and over, with constant uncertainty whether it is actually going to take place. The pandemic is affecting us in so many ways and one of them is that it may take a lot more work to achieve the same end result. Mee Mee and Denise deserve enormous credit for what they accomplish.

I hope these in-person events are a trend. In fact, we have another in-person event coming up on July 28th at Farm House Local in Larkspur. MCBA’s Barristers are sponsoring a purely social “all-section” mixer. Any member of any section is encouraged to take a brief summer break to visit with colleagues and friends over great food and drink. I hope to see you there.

As most of you know, MCBA “goes dark” in August, meaning we have no events, as many of you fit in a summer vacation or get back into the swing of seeing children off to school—or both. When we return, I can’t say what mix of in-person events and Zoom we’ll have. Will B.A.2.75 be displacing B.A.5? Will it matter? We just don’t know. Change and uncertainty is always with us but now more so than ever.

Which brings me back to Professor Little and the Supreme Court. We’ll be bringing you a recap of the event in the September quarterly issue of the Marin Lawyer. As much insight as Professor Little brought to the Court’s term, it feels like there is more uncertainty than I ever recall about the law in the face of the radical change the Court is bringing about. I expected to write about the Court—and Dobbs especially—in this message. I certainly have plenty to say about how the Court is approaching the law but if you’ve been reading a lot of media, I’m not sure you haven’t already considered everything I’d say. I would like to leave you, instead, with a question: what do we do? I mean that literally. Rather than lament the Court’s hypocrisy and many other flaws, what is the best way to bring about change? What role can you or I have? Consider that and be ready to share when we return.