Opening Statement. Discovering How We Will Thrive

• Author: Beth L. Kaufman
• Pages: 4-5

Opening Statement

Published in Litigation, Volume 48, Number 1, Fall 2021. © 2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be

copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. 4

BETH L. KAUFMAN

The author is a partner with Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Gerber LLP, New York City, and chair of the

Litigation Section.

I am delighted to share with you my

first Opening Statement as chair of our

Litigation Section. I come to this posi-

tion with more than 30 years of experi-

ence in all aspects of the Section. Among

many other positions, I have been a com-

mittee chair for several different com-

mittees, a cochair of the Section Annual

Conference and a cochair of two ABA

Annual Meetings, a member of Council,

an officer of the Section, and a cochair of

the Section’s first Rules Roadshow, which

educated judges and lawyers about the

2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure. My involvement with the

Section has benefited me as a lawyer, and

I hope it has benefited the Section.

It is particularly appropriate that my

first column as chair is for the Fall is-

sue of L, the theme of which is

“Discovering.” Do you feel, as I do, that we

have been discovering ourselves, our pro

-

fession, and our new way of working since

March 2020? That we have discovered

never-before-known strengths in our-

selves and among our family members

and friends, in our professional colleagues,

and even in the court systems in which

we practice?

Our discoveries have been largely en-

riching. We have tried cases, taken depo-

sitions, mediated disputes, and prepared

witnesses (perhaps even more efficiently?)

by... videoconference. We tried—some-

times successfully and sometimes not—to

foster collaboration and collegiality with

our colleagues by.. . videoconference.

We have celebrated victories, shared life

events, shared our concerns, said hello to

new colleagues and goodbye to longtime

colleagues, over... videoconference. As

litigators, we have always been nimble;

during the pandemic, that nimbleness has

allowed us to continue to do our utmost

for our clients and, as a Section, our ut-

most for our members and our profession.

(We, of course, could not do much for our

members and our profession without our

superb staff, who, during the pandemic,

redefined what nimble means.)

There still is much to discover as

we return to the in-person practice of

law. Our profession, and how we litiga-

tors practice within it, is changing in

significant and often substantial ways.

Along with Managing Directors John

Isbister, Helen Kim, and Amy Stewart, I

am pleased that the Litigation Section is

poised to continue to help its members

thrive amid such change.

Our new Task Force on the Changing

Legal Profession (CLP) is examining the

vast array of issues and challenges facing

litigators—everything from the deregula-

tion of the profession to litigation finance,

to how we practice law, to cybersecurity.

The Section has been a leader in assisting

its members, attorneys and judges alike,

in how to be effective in virtual court set-

tings, and we will continue that through

the CLP Task Force. Watch for the CLP

Task Force programming at the Section

Annual Conference and virtually through-

out the bar year.

The new Task Force on Racial and

Economic Justice (REJ) will educate our

members, provide training and other re-

sources, and establish liaison relation-

ships with impact litigation providers

through which our members can find pro

DISCOVERING HOW

WE WILL THRIVE

Whatever the

changes, and however

comprehensive they

may be, we will assist

our members so they

may continue to

thrive.