It’s that time of year when it feels like you notice the sun setting earlier every single day. That time of year brings us to the first Monday in October—the day I am writing this—but after last month’s president’s message, I’ll give the subject of the Supreme Court a rest. Except to ask whether you saw that the Court added Section 230 cases to its docket? Social media regulation could be in for dramatic change—or not. We probably won’t know until next June.

This month, I would like to turn closer to home because it is a busy time of year for MCBA and we have lots of news. First, I am honored to announce the slate of candidates for next year’s MCBA officers and new directors:

2023 Officers

President: Ahtossa Fullerton, Wasacz, Hilley & Fullerton LLP
President-elect: Scott Buell, Buell Law and Mediation
Treasurer: Kris Cirby, Cirby Family Law
Secretary: Thomas McInerney, Ogletree Deakins LLP
Past President: Robert Rosborough, Monty White LLP
Five-Year Past President: Mary McLain, McLain Mediation

2023 Directors (Serving 2023 – 2025)

Robyn Christo, Epstein Holtzapple Christo LLP
Morgan Daly, Law Office of Morgan Daly
Shanti Eagle, Farella Braun + Martel
Lucie Hollingsworth, Legal Aid of Marin
Elisha Yang, Hanson Bridgett

I have made each officer’s and director’s name a live link to their bio; I encourage everyone to use those links to get to know more about each of us. Thank you to all the candidates for offering to contribute their time, expertise, and wisdom to help keep MCBA vibrant and helpful to our members. We will vote on the slate at our next general membership meeting.

Speaking of which, our next meeting constitutes the return of our annual in-person judges’ luncheon after two years of holding it remotely. Come gather with the Marin Bench and your fellow members on October 19th at 11:30 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel. Presiding Judge James Chou will keep us up-to-date on the latest news from the Marin Court, from judicial assignments to court funding to the status of electronic filing. This event is nearly sold out so don’t wait to get your ticket.

Our big event in November is our annual Bay Area MCLE Conference. In partnership with other Bay Area bar associations, our conference program committee has developed another outstanding selection of sessions. Taking place over Zoom from Tuesday, November 15th through Thursday, November 17th, we are offering 15 sessions for the remarkable early-bird price of $125 for members of any partnering bar association. Best of all, you can earn all but one of your required specialty credits in one conference, including the new implicit bias requirement. (The missing one? You’ll earn three out of the four required ethics credits.)

The conference features sessions both topical and practical. For the topical:

• We have an outstanding panel on legal issues arising from climate change;
• We welcome back fan-favorite Professor Rory Little and Professor Radhika Rao to discuss the implications of Dobbs;
• The president of Brady United will speak on gun control;
• We’ll examine the role of artificial intelligence in judging and lawyering;
• We’ll learn about the role of redlining in California history;
• And I’m particularly excited to welcome Caitlin Handron, who was a research scientist at Stanford’s SPARQ program before joining Ropes & Gray’s highly innovative Insights Lab, where she translates psychological theory and cultural research into practical action and will speak to us about how neuroscience can help us address implicit bias.

For the practical:

• Lara Bazelon (who writes terrific articles for The Atlantic) will speak on work life balance;
• You can learn about the new rules on client trust accounts (did you even know there are new rules—almost—on client trust accounts?);
• Hear what Bay Area judges say you don’t know about hearsay;
• Get advice on how trusts and estates lawyers can avoid malpractice;
• And learn what to do to avoid (or fix) pesky title problems.

And of course, there’s more: see the full schedule here. Sign up before the end of the month for the early-bird price. I would like to thank the committee for putting together such a great conference: Mee Mee Wong, Sherry Diamond, and Tiela Chalmers (all executive directors of Bay Area bar associations), incoming MCBA president Ahtossa Fullerton, the current MCBA president—that would be me, and Alex Vahdat, Morgan Daly, and Nestor Schnasse. Putting on the conference is a lot of work and we are grateful to the committee for such interesting programs—and for making it so easy to get our specialty credits!

Finally, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s not too early to mark your calendars for MCBA’s annual holiday party. On Thursday, December 15th, our in-person holiday party will return at the Loch Lomond Yacht Club.

Fortunately, we’re not quite at the holidays yet and we have lots happening before then. I wish everyone a good and nuclear-free October.