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July 08, 2020 Column

Chair’s Column

By Christian F. Binnig

Whoever said “time flies when you’re having fun” forgot to mention that it often flies even when you’re not having fun. It’s hard for me to believe that this is my last Chair’s column for Infrastructure before I turn the Chair’s reins over to my able successor, Cathy McCarthy. I look forward to the Section’s continued advancement under Cathy’s leadership, and I hope you do as well.

I’ve always subscribed to the sentiments behind the lyrics of a popular World War II–era song, “Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative, Latch on to the Affirmative, Don’t Mess with Mr. In-Between.” But I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the challenges presented by, and the continuing disruptive impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic on all of our personal and professional lives. In terms of the impacts on our Section, in early March, as the virus spread throughout the United States, our Section leadership made the difficult decision to cancel the Spring 2020 Meeting of our Section’s Council Group, which had been scheduled to occur March 19–21. Thanks to the efforts of our ABA Section Director and other ABA staff members, we were able to cancel this meeting without any out-of-pocket costs. After we hosted in late February our first—and very well-attended—Section “mixer” with law students at the George Washington University Law School, the virus forced us to suspend our plans to host similar law student mixers at several other law schools throughout the country. The economic effects of the virus and associated government orders restricting economic activity likely will have a negative financial impact on both our Section and on the entire ABA, although, as I write this, it is too early to say with precision what the extent of that impact might be. And these disruptions pale in comparison to the disruptive impact the virus has had on many of you personally.

But there are some silver linings. The virus has given our profession the opportunity to assist clients of all stripes with new forms of problem-solving involving unprecedented circumstances and unknowns. It has challenged us to help clients devise the best ways to promote social health and safety while protecting and advancing their legal rights and their economic and social objectives. That is exactly what we as lawyers have been trained to do, and we do it well. Seeing my professional colleagues respond to the challenges created by the virus is among the highlights of my years of legal practice, and their efforts make me proud to be a member of our profession.

As you read this column, you likely are aware that, in early May, the ABA decided to transform its 2020 Annual Meeting from an in-person meeting to a virtual meeting. One of the benefits of this move to a virtual meeting platform is that the ABA will make available to all ABA members, at no cost, a wealth of legal content of potential interest and value to you, as well as numerous virtual networking opportunities. As part of the Annual Meeting, our Section plans to hold two virtual sessions on Thursday, July 30, one for our Section’s annual business meeting and one for a Section reception/happy hour. We will post the details for accessing these sessions on our Section’s webpage on the ABA website. I cordially invite you to attend.

I also encourage you to visit our Section webpage and to follow us on Twitter (@AmericanBarIRIS) as we continue to move online more content for our Section members. We recently posted on our IRIS web page our first Section podcast, entitled “Net Neutrality—Take Four!,” and we plan to add additional Section podcasts in the future. If you would like to contribute or have any suggestions for developing content for our Section via a podcast or via our other publication platforms, or if there are other ways we can improve your experience as a Section member, please let us know. We want and value your feedback.

I’ll close by wishing you all good health, safety, and prosperity in the coming weeks and months. It has been a privilege and honor to serve as your Section Chair. The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the vital importance of infrastructure industries to the health and welfare of all people, both in this country and abroad. Without a strong and vibrant energy, transportation, and broadband communications infrastructure, our swift and efficient national shift to online platforms for economic and personal activity and our maintenance of critical manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in response to the virus would not have been possible. Given the important role our members play in serving the needs of these industries, I’m confident our Section has a bright future ahead of it.

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