Nicholas A. Shannin is the President of Orange County Bar Association. Each month, he writes a newsletter. His January 2015 newsletter is below:
“Two Thousand Fifteen
The New Year holds great promise
Let us seize the chance!
Resolutions of Interconnectivity
“Nothing changes on New Year’s Day” croons Bono from one of U2’s earliest hits. But even within those lyrics lie the promise of something new, proclaiming “I, I will begin again.” So it is and so it shall always be – we resolve to shed something of the old and embark on something new, letting the turn of the calendar page be our inspiration to shed our skin and find the new stuff, and go dancing in.
A different singer once crowed, “A change would do you good.” And, of course, she’s right. Perhaps your resolution is physical in nature – as it is for many of us, we’d all like to be more active, find the inspiration to make a morning run part of our 2015 plan. If you want incentive, how about this: You can sign up right now for the Inaugural OCBA Law Day 5k! It’s on May 2 in lovely (and convenient) Baldwin Park. Supporting our Legal Aid Society and our OCBA Foundation will be a great way to connect with your fellow bar members and put into action those resolved running sessions you might have committed to with the New Year! The Shannin Law firm is already a sponsor – and you can be, too. Go on to the OCBA website for details, or email Jerry Hanbery at jhanbery@invitationhomes.com for sponsorship information!
Maybe your resolution is for more culture? You’re in the right club! Opportunities abound for you OCBA members when the season’s change brings us to the Winter Wine and Cheese Social on January 28 at the Winter Park Farmer’s Market. As with the 5k, your tickets and information are all on the website: www.orangecountybar.org. But wait, there’s more!
The Orlando Shakespeare Theater is arranging an OCBA theater night and an Orlando Shakes Mock Trial! Whence this publication has reached thy hands, the details for each shall be writ verily on the OCBA page of web, addressed as noted above. If further information seekest thou, to Dame Suzanne Gilbert should you inquire: suzanne.gilbert@hklaw.com.
The winds of change shouldn’t stop these resolutions where soul meets body. Instead, the bar itself resolved, at the beginning of this bar year, to change from a 20th-century, okay computer set-up of the online directory to a 21st-century digital one ready to go into the great wide cyber-open. Meaning: No more passwords, and no more promises of connectivity that can only be seen by a few. The interconnectivity preached here provides as a benefit of bar membership that everyone can get your information right away, including our non-lawyer community who may want to hire your or your firm. The roll-out is expected to occur soon after you get this issue of The Briefs, so watch this space and be open to using “MyOrlandoLawyer.com” – your fastest way to find your referral sources, and the fastest way for them to find you. What comes around goes around, which in the world of referrals and business is all good!
Resolutions are all about one word, and that one word can bring you around: Changes. Time might change us, but we can’t change time. (We can, however, charge for time, but that’s a different story altogether!) The bar and its members should use this time to take a look at itself and then make that change! We all want a perfect body, we want a perfect soul – but we mortals are less than perfect. So instead, take the grace of the new year to strive toward simply being better, not perfect. If we get outside, if we broaden our minds, and if we connect with each other and our community, well, what a wonderful world this would be!
Happy New Year, everyone,
Nick Shannin, Esq.
Nicholas A. Shannin, Esq., Board Certified Appellate Attorney at Shannin Law Firm, P.A., practices appellate and governmental law and serves as a Certified Circuit, Appellate, and Federal Mediator. He has been a member of the OCBA since 1994.
Orange County Bar Association The Briefs, January 15, Vol. 83, No. 1. All rights reserved.