Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 7

FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Born of the AIDS crisis, the standby guardianship
law affords parents a streamlined petition procedure to provide for future custody of their
children without relinquishing their current
parental rights. It remains an invaluable and compassionate tool that has helped thousands of
parents dealing with other types of terminal
illness or periods of incapacity.
The lesson for me from Diane's case is that
tragedy often paves the way for progress, and
that even when things seem most dire, there is
always hope. I have no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic, while devastating and tragic, will
lead to new scientific developments and other
"silver linings."
* * *
This is my final column as D.C. Bar president.
It has been an incredible privilege and honor
to serve in this role and to get to know many
of the multifaceted, skilled, and dedicated
members of our Bar. I take away a new appreciation and admiration for the caliber of our
Bar, and for the inspired leadership of D.C. Court
of Appeals Chief Judge Anna BlackburneRigsby, D.C. Bar CEO Bob Spagnoletti, and Pro
Bono Center Executive Director Becky Troth;
their executive teams; and the D.C. Bar staff
who have made it their mission to help us
better serve our clients and improve access
to justice. I am grateful for the support of my
firm and for my pro bono team at Crowell
& Moring - Tiana, Ginna, and Anita - for
carrying more than their fair share of the load
this year. To my friends and family, you have
provided a shoulder to lean on, a laugh when
I needed one, and understanding. You are
the best!
Through this column, I have shared maybe
more than I should have - my penchant for
handwritten notes, my obsession with George
Bailey and other unsung heroes, my commitment to domestic violence survivors, and my
passion for pro bono. I have yet one more confession to make. I am a hoarder . . . of words.
Beginning in middle school, I would copy quotations, poems, or even paragraphs in books
that struck a chord and stick them in a paper
folder. Over the years, that folder morphed into
a Word document, and then an Outlook folder.
I periodically visit the folder and always feel
enriched and inspired afterwards.
Before I leave you with some of my favorites from
that folder, I want to say a few more words about
hope for you, my colleagues in the D.C. Bar.

I hope you have found or will find a career path
that is challenging and rewarding, and that you
will achieve a fulfilling balance in your professional and personal life.
I hope you will have the opportunity to become
involved in D.C. Bar leadership activities and
come to know dedicated colleagues in our
voluntary bars, Communities, on the Board of
Governors, and among the D.C. Bar staff.
I hope that we can work together to ensure that
individuals, regardless of position, power, or
wealth, have access to justice.
I hope that you and your family find the strength,
courage, and optimism to weather the impact
of the recent public health crisis and are stronger
for it.
And, finally, I hope that you will become a hoarder
of words. Here are few to get you started.
"Hope itself is like a star - not to be seen in the
sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered
in the night of adversity." - Charles Haddon
Spurgeon

"Walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll
never walk alone." - Shah Rukh Khan
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest
aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look
up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try
to follow them." - Louisa May Alcott
"We must accept finite disappointment, but
never lose infinite hope." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"You are full of unshaped dreams ... You are
laden with beginnings ... There is hope in you."
- Lola Ridge

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are
here in order to enable the world to live more
amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of
hope and achievement. You are here to enrich
the world, and you impoverish yourself if you
forget the errand." - Woodrow Wilson
And finally, the poem "Hope Is the Thing With
Feathers" by Emily Dickinson:
"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I've heard it in the chilliest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

NOTES
1 "Why Emotionally Charged Events Are So
Memorable," Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
ScienceDaily (October 7, 2007), sciencedaily.com/
releases/2007/10/071004121045.htm.
"Both extensive psychological research and
personal experiences confirm that events that
happen during heightened states of emotion such
as fear, anger and joy are far more memorable
than less dramatic occurrences. Scientists have
now identified the likely biological basis for this:
a hormone released during emotional arousal
'primes' nerve cells to remember events by
increasing their chemical sensitivity at sites where
nerves rewire to form new memory circuits."
2 Standby Guardianship, D.C. Code § 16-4801, et seq.
(June 25, 2002, D.C. Law 14-152, § 2, 49 DCR 4248).

JUNE 2020

*

WASHINGTON LAWYER

7


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071004121045.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071004121045.htm

Washington Lawyer - June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - June 2020

YOUR VOICE
FROM OUR PRESIDENT
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
BAR BUSINESS: BUDGET REPORT
MEET GEOFFREY M. KLINEBERG: 49TH PRESIDENT OF THE D.C. BAR
MOVING THE NEEDLE ON LAW FIRM DIVERSITY
THE 2020 JOHN PAYTON LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
JAMES SANDMAN GOES BACK TO SCHOOL
LAW & SERVICE: OAG CONNECTS TO THE COMMUNITY
ON FURTHER REVIEW
THE LEARNING CURVE
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
WORTH READING
ATTORNEY BRIEFS
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARIES
THE PRO BONO EFFECT
SPECIAL SECTION: UNFINISHED FIGHT
LAST WORD
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - Cover1
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - Cover2
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 1
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 2
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 3
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 4
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - YOUR VOICE
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 7
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 9
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - BAR BUSINESS: BUDGET REPORT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - MEET GEOFFREY M. KLINEBERG: 49TH PRESIDENT OF THE D.C. BAR
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 13
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 14
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 15
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 16
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 17
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - MOVING THE NEEDLE ON LAW FIRM DIVERSITY
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 19
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 20
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 21
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 22
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 23
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - THE 2020 JOHN PAYTON LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 25
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 26
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 27
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - JAMES SANDMAN GOES BACK TO SCHOOL
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 29
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 30
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 31
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - LAW & SERVICE: OAG CONNECTS TO THE COMMUNITY
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 33
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - ON FURTHER REVIEW
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 35
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - THE LEARNING CURVE
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 37
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 39
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 40
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 41
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - WORTH READING
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - ATTORNEY BRIEFS
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - DISCIPLINARY SUMMARIES
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 45
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - THE PRO BONO EFFECT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 47
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 48
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 49
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - SPECIAL SECTION: UNFINISHED FIGHT
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - 51
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - LAST WORD
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - Cover3
Washington Lawyer - June 2020 - Cover4
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