Message from the Chair

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Author: By Erich Shiners
• Publication year: 2020
• Citation: Vol. 34 No. 1

Message From the Chair

By Erich Shiners

Erich Shiners is a Board Member at the California Public Employment Relations Board, where he participates in deciding appeals, formulating regulations, and overseeing agency operations. Before his appointment to the Board, he represented public agency and nonprofit employers in labor and employment matters. He can be reached at e_shiners@u.pacific.edu.

Happy New Year! Turning the calendar to the next year provides an opportunity to reflect on the past year and set goals for the upcoming year. Like many of you, I accomplished some of the goals I set for 2019 and missed others. But even if I didn't succeed the first time (or the second, or the third . . .), I still keep the goals on my list for the next year, as it's important to keep striving to better ourselves so we can make life better for others. (January is also when most new laws take effect, so be sure to check out the New Employment Laws for 2020 feature article in this issue!)

The Section's Executive Committee is also looking back on the past year and planning for the next. As I write this (in early November), we have just completed our annual long-range planning retreat. At the retreat, the Committee brainstorms over ways we can enhance what we already do well, how we can improve on things we don't do so well, and what new things we want to try. Now that the Sections have successfully transitioned from the State Bar to the California Lawyers Association (not without a few growing pains, of course), the Committee is refocusing on efforts we began before the transition. Some of these efforts are business-related, such as more robust marketing and sponsorships. But several are aimed at moving beyond the Section's roots in providing educational programming for attorneys in areas where our work can benefit all Californians.

For example, the Section provides grants to organizations that educate practitioners or the general public about labor and employment law, or that promote diversity among attorneys in our practice area.¹ Through these grants, we are able to help educate attorneys, employers, workers, and others who would not normally participate in a Section event, about important rights and duties under the law. Many of the organizations we fund through our grants provide services and education to segments of the population that are underserved by the legal profession, such as garment workers and small business owners. Thus, the grant program allows the Section...