PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
Scott B . Smith 2022-23 PBCBA President
As I sit down to type this President ’ s Message , it is Tuesday , November 22 , 2022 , and just a couple of days away from the , wonderful Thanksgiving holiday . Carla has been texting and e-mailing me , and rightfully so , that this message is due ! With a full and even bloated schedule last week both at the firm and at home I never quite found the time to sit down and get this Bulletin ’ s message typed and completed . It wasn ’ t so much procrastination on my part , but rather just the time-crunch that I think most of us are experiencing as we now roar out of the different and challenging times presented by the pandemic . As I sit here , I do a have a bit of writer ’ s block and / or writer ’ s cramp and , I must admit , struggling to think of an appropriate and meaningful President ’ s Message as I sort of scramble to get this e-mailed to Carla and Derek today so that the distribution of the Palm Beach County Bar Association ’ s great Bulletin doesn ’ t get delayed due to my typing tardiness .
Molly , the kids and I just got to Massachusetts for the holiday and to take advantage of their week-long break from school ( BTW , I don ’ t remember us “ elders ” getting a week off for Thanksgiving !). I have told all of them that this monthly important obligation and duty of mine as the current President of the PBCBA is owed . They all sigh and seem somewhat sympathetic to my writer ’ s predicament . I ask all them , “ What should I write about ?” I implore their wise ( Molly ) and young ( Sandy , Tucker , Charlie , Harrison and Terrion ) minds to give me some advice , help , and inspiration so that I can offer you ( our wonderful PBCBA members ) some insightful words of wisdom or , at least , something of relative value . They all seem to shrug their heads and offer not a ton of help as we further talk about this plight of mine , but truthfully and honestly , it is at that moment that I am here with my family gearing up for America ’ s annual bountiful and eating holiday , I realize that giving thanks may be the best message of all for me to share in this 900-word President ’ s Message . It only seems fitting and just to acknowledge and reflect upon how blessed we all often are and how much we have to be grateful and thankful for .
First , please allow me to say and write here that I am personally very grateful and give great thanks for the family that I have been blessed with . Sure , there are times that our multiple teenagers can test our patience and bewilder our common sense , but 99.99 % of the time their presence in our lives is truly and always will be a blessing . Molly and I , Molly much more so than me , know that the timely birth of a healthy child is nothing that can be taken for granted and how fortunate we all are when we are blessed with the greatest gift of all , that of a healthy child . It cannot be said frequently enough and strongly enough that family is our greatest blessing .
So as to make this message even more relevant to its inclusion in our Bulletin , I want to give thanks to this great country we are blessed to live in and for our nation ’ s commitment to life , liberty , freedom , equality , the pursuit of happiness , and equal justice for all . My late grandmother , Margaret “ Pearl ” Smith , loved this country with every fiber in her body . As a young boy , I never quite understood why she loved America as much as she did . At that time as a young person , freedom and liberty were something that I just assumed were enjoyed by everyone across our planet Earth . It was as I got older , and hopefully wiser , that I learned and matured to better understand why my grandmother loved the opportunity provided us as much as she did . As a mother of 8 and a grandmother of dozens more , she loved and cherished the unparalleled freedom and opportunities that were provided to her offspring even though she and my grandfather were of modest means from Yonkers , N . Y . We all have so much to be grateful and thankful for that we get to call the United States of America our shared nation and home .
I want to give thanks to our legal system and the justice it provides . It has also provided an opportunity for me to work every day as a professional trial lawyer . For that , I am forever grateful but , more importantly , I am thankful for our legal system for the “ leveling of the playing field ” it provides . I am often heard saying or speaking about how one of the greatest aspects of our legal system is how the truth always rises to the surface throughout the course of the process . As a litigator , I take great pleasure in knowing that I am part of an overall truth-seeking system . Our law firm ’ s mission statement is “ Fighting for equal justice for the injured ” and it means so much to me that I am blessed to be a part of a system and process that allows for that to happen .
Last , but certainly not least , I am very grateful for our PBCBA and all of our extraordinary members . As I have said before and will forever continue to say , we are the best dadgum voluntary bar association in the land ! I am sure that all of you have so much more to be grateful and thankful for as well and I encourage all of you to rejoice in it . As we begin our journey through this year ’ s holiday season , I hope and pray that you and all of your families continue to remain blessed , healthy , joyous and prosperous . I look forward to seeing everyone at our Annual Holiday Party , if not sooner ! Happy Holidays !!
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 3