Message from the President, February 2021

GBA Members,

Happy New Year! Welcome to the spring 2021 session of the Greensboro Bar Association. We have a lot of opportunities planned already, and I will outline them below.

I want to start by expressing my appreciation to those of you who took the time to fill out our mid-year survey. We have reviewed your responses and are responding to your requests. Overall, there was a request for more CLE opportunities and more opportunities to connect socially. In response, the GBA board has planned the following events so please mark your calendars:

• Diversity Training led by the Equity Paradigm, Foundations in Racial Equity,
  February 3 from 12:00-2:00 PM. In this interactive workshop, we will develop shared language and analysis around structural racism and its historical construction while reflecting deeply on the way it manifests in our individual experiences, organizational dynamics, and systemic outcomes.  We hope that solo practitioners and small firms will take advantage of this opportunity. We are extending the opportunity for you to register up to 5 members of your staff or office to participate in the training with you. Registration is required. You can register here:
• Virtual Trivia, presented by Sporacle Virtual Trivia, February 11 from 5:30-7:30 PM. Grab your GBA friends and challenge them to a trivia battle! Registration is required. You can register here:
• GBA Annual CLE, February 18 starting at 1:10 PM.  Need to meet your CLE requirements? We’ve got you covered. Come join us for an afternoon of CLE and get 4 hours of CLE credit, including a substance abuse credit. Registration and payment is required. You can register here:
• Nailed It Greensboro Event, March 3 at 5:30 PM. Do you want to get in touch with your crafty side? Join us as we partner with Nailed It Greensboro to create signs for your home or office. The event will be virtual, and participants will be required to pay for and pick up their take home DIY project ahead of the event. Registration is limited to 30 people. You can register here:

In addition to CLE and social events, the majority of you expressed a preference for lunch meetings over dinner meetings.  In response, all of our membership meetings in spring 2021 will start at 12:30 PM. We will not have dinner meetings.

Finally, regarding the survey questions related to COVID, we have reviewed those responses and we appreciate your feedback. In response, Grant Sigmon, Chair of the Coronavirus Response Committee, and I met with the Leadership Team, consisting of Judge Craig, Judge Vincent, Avery Crump, John Nieman, and Lisa Johnson-Tonkins, to discuss the survey results. We have also partnered with Judge Vincent to co-author an article in this month’s newsletter to address some of the concerns raised. You may access that article by clicking here. Judge Vincent will be speaking at our February membership meeting to talk about some of these issues and answer questions from the membership. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the Leadership Team as we navigate this pandemic together.

As the COVID cases continue to rise in North Carolina, my thoughts are with all of those battling the virus and all of you as we continue to try to adapt to the new realities of practicing law in a pandemic. The GBA is here for you.

We encourage that you reach out to us if there is anything that we can do to help you during this time. Stay safe everyone, and we hope to connect with you virtually at one of our upcoming events.

Lisa Arthur