Upcoming Section Meetings

2020-21 BUSINESS LAW SECTION REPORT
Russ Ferguson, Chair and M. Aaron Lay, Vice Chair

Despite a year almost entirely consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Business Law Section has worked hard to provide value to our members.  While networking opportunities were harder to provide than educational opportunities, we put significant effort into both with successful results.

After initially delaying programming, thinking that the pandemic was going to come to an end quicker than it did, the Section held its Business Meeting on September 2, 2020.  While the Business Meeting traditionally occurred at the end of the fiscal year, we moved it earlier in the year this year to get input from members on future programming.

For educational programming, the Section offered three CLEs.  We attempted to partner with other sections as much as possible, though some CLEs were specifically applicable to the Business Law section and thus stood alone.  For all of these events, we ensured that the CLEs were provided entirely free to our members as included with their dues, bringing more value to Section membership.  The Section put on the following CLE programs:

• Tips and Trends for Effective Arbitration was presented virtually and was complimentary to our members.  This event was well-attended and effective, even though it was given in the early days of virtual CLEs.
• Workation: An Anti-Burnout Solution You’ve Already Paid For, Healthy Balance for Lawyers, was presented by our own co-chair, Aaron Lay, and qualified for a mental health and substance abuse CLE hour, which are often hard to find.  We provided this CLE free to our members.
• Government Investigations and Financial Institutions: A Guide to BSA/AML and Protecting Your Client’s Interests was presented in conjunction with the Criminal Justice Section, and gave our members additional CLE credit on a complimentary basis included with their dues.

Although the Section desperately wanted to hold in-person networking events (and eventually did), that was a particular a challenge this year with no in-person meetings.  Nonetheless, we tried to mix up our virtual events to accommodate “zoom fatigue” and make them as valuable as possible.  To that end, we held the following events:

• Virtual Trivia.  We all got together over the lunch hour for virtual trivia with prizes.  We co-hosted this event with the tax section for cross-networking, after hearing feedback from our members last year that networking with tax attorneys and tax professionals would be helpful.
• Virtual Happy Hour.  We held a virtual happy hour by zoom.  All attendees received a gift card in the mail prior to the event so they got a free drink on the Section.
• In-Person Happy Hour.  After finally being able to do in-person events, the Section held an in-person happy hour at Town Brewing (owned by members of our Bar) on June 24th.

Because it was a difficult year for everyone—and because the Section saved a significant amount of money by doing events virtually—the Section sent its members $10 gift cards to Starbucks at the end of the year as a “thank you” to our membership and an additional way to return value to our members.

Lastly, as a nod to the challenges of this year, the Section also made a contribution to the Bar Foundation’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Mecklenburg County Bar Out-Of-State/District Membership Form for MCB Sections and MCB Young Lawyers Division