H C B A P R E S I D E N T’ S M E S S A G E M a t t h e w H a l l – B r a d l e y A r a n t B o u l t C u m m i n g s L L P
2026 – a historic Year with Boundless Opportunity
i wish you a year with boundless opportunity for growth and happiness, and that we can mark this historic year not just because of the time that has passed since the declaration of independence, but also for the opportunities that still exist today.
As the calendar turns to January, we often think of hope, opportunity, resolutions, pirate invasions, and depending on your practice area, possibly Sisyphus and another year of rolling the boulder of billable hours up the hill. Regardless, it is a new year and a fresh start.
But 2026 is a little different. Our nation will be celebrating its historic 250th birthday this summer. We have certainly come a long way from 1776 and the original 13 colonies. But we have seen incredible growth and development over just the last fifty years since the bicentennial in 1976. In those fifty years, we have seen over a 50 % growth in the US population, a technology boom where we carry all the information in
the world in a device that fits in our pocket, and we have cars that drive themselves.
For me, personally, this country and its flag will always represent the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the concept of the American dream— the land of opportunity. And as the country approaches the celebration of a quarter of a millennium in existence, I still believe that there exists a world of opportunity in front of us. For example, the HCBA has several wonderful opportunities for us to gather and grow in the first half
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