E D I T O R ’ S M E S S A G E D i n e e n P a s h o u k o s W a s y l i k – D P W L e g a l
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Diversity Lifetime Achievement Awards , Judge E . J . Salcines and Delano Stewart ( page 12 , with additional pictures from the ceremony on page 35 ). The Community Service Committee shares the heartwarming story of how it pivoted its Elves for Elders annual event to virtual , and ended up assisting more elderly wards of the state than ever ( page 32 ).
A year out , we ’ ve learned many important lessons about working and communicating remotely . The Young Lawyers Division reviews the advantages and drawbacks of working remotely , and offers tips for better managing some of the challenges ( page 10 ), while the Solo and Small Firm Section provides additional helpful perspective on the topic ( page 53 ). The Diversity and Inclusion Committee gives important pointers on handling the increased volume of email that has followed the decline of in-person meetings ( page 34 ).
Pandemic or not , the law and our approach to enforcing it has continued to develop . Changes to Florida state court appellate jurisdiction has been in the works for a while , and went into effect January 1st ( page 26 ). The rise in scam trademark registrations , not the pandemic , moved Congress to enact the Trademark Modernization Act ( page 38 ). And this issue is filled with articles that give important tips on a variety of topics , from financial affidavits in family law cases ( page 28 ) to advising employers on their employees ’ social media use ( page 41 ) to using deposition transcripts at trial ( page 58 ). A year out , more and more of our articles have nary a mention of COVID or Zoom . And that , too , is a sign of progress .
To become lawyers , we had to demonstrate perseverance , and that important trait has been on full display in the past year . Even when it has been enormously hard , we have gotten through with professionalism and grace . As Maya Angelou said , “ You can ' t really know where you are going until you know where you have been .” I hope you , too , will take a moment to take stock of where you were “ when the world shut down ,” if only to see how far we have come . n
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