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January 2021 E-Newsletter


2021 Rhode Island Bar Award Nominations

 
There are three Rhode Island Bar Association awards open for nomination in 2021. Nominations for all the awards are due no later than March 19, 2021. The three awards open for nominations are listed below. Please click each link for more information. A more detailed email will be sent out later this month.
 
 
 
 

Public Service Corner

Thank you, and happy New Year to all our generous volunteer attorneys who accepted a remarkable 41 pro bono cases during the “12 Days of Pro Bono” holiday appeal. With your assistance, we well exceeded last year’s December total of 25 placed cases. Your assistance made a major difference and gave hope to so many of our low-income clients waiting for help, especially during this season.
 
If you are not already a member of one of our pro bono programs and are looking for volunteer opportunities for the New Year, please contact Elisa King or John Ellis at 401-421-7758 or eking@ribar.com, jellis@ribar.com. We need you!
 

Why not join the Lawyer Referral Service in 2021? The Lawyer Referral Service is inexpensive and the perfect vehicle to promote your practice while you help expand the public’s access to legal representation. Participation in the Legal Information & Referral Service for the Elderly and reduced rate component programs is encouraged but the choice is yours. Further details are available by calling 401-421-7799 or emailing cpoland@ribar.com. For those of you who are already members, please consider the Limited Scope panel options that are now available to you.
 

 


 

4 Wellness Tips to Jump-Start the New Year

Set Attainable Goals: When making resolutions for the new year, be sure to make your goals realistic rather than drastic. Choosing a concrete, achievable goal gives you the opportunity to plan exactly how you are going to accomplish and stick to your goal over the course of the year.
 
Try One New Healthy Food Each Week: Completely overhauling your diet all at once can be a recipe for disaster. Instead, try to incorporate one new healthy food into your diet per week. This can change up your food and nutrient intakes and hopefully add new and healthy recipes to your routine.
 
Drink More Water: When the body is dehydrated, it doesn’t run efficiently. Drinking water has plenty of benefits including increasing energy, flushing out toxins, improving skin complexion, and boosting immunity. If you don’t like plain water, try infusing it with lemon or drinking flavored sparkling water.
 
Create Your Own Mantra: Our mind is a powerful tool and sometimes we get stuck thinking about negative thoughts that bring us down. In an effort to be your own cheerleader, find some mantras to use and say to yourself when you’re feeling down. For example, “Be a warrior, not a worrier,” “It’s a beautiful day to be alive,” or “Don’t ruin a good day today by thinking about a bad day yesterday.”
 

 

Technology Tip

 
What’s that sound you hear? It’s not jingle bells or the clatter on your roof -- it’s another email or phone notification . . . Did you know that every time you click on a notification on a computer or mobile device, you’re off-task for 18 minutes? It’s impossible to be focused and efficient that way. But, there’s a real simple solution: turn off the notifications! Urgency addition never helped anyone. And, those emails, text messages, and updates will all be available when you decide to log back in. Retake control over your technology, and become more present in your personal and business life.
 
This tech tip is brought to you by the Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Consultant, Jared Correia, of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting. If you need help with billing, client relations, data management, financial management, marketing, office technology, time management, disaster prevention & recovery, or any other area related to managing your practice, Red Cave Law Firm Consulting will provide Rhode Island Bar Association members with unlimited virtual consulting services (email, telephone, chat, video) FREE OF CHARGE. To get started, visit the Bar’s LPM page here, or just email Jared directly at jared@redcavelegal.com.
 
 

 

 

CLE Corner

There are so many great CLE programs being offered virtually this January!
Here are just a few:
 
 
Mindfulness for the Busy Lawyer Part 1
12:30 – 1:30 p.m., 1.0 ethics
Live Webinar Only
 
Technology in Your Practice: Risks and Responsibilities 
12:30 - 1:30 p.m., 1.0 ethics
Live Webinar Only
 
I Think, Therefore I Am: How Implicit Biases Manifest in the Legal Profession
2:00 – 3:00 p.m., 1.0 credit
Live Webinar Only
 
Don’t forget to check out the CLE Calendar for all of our program offerings.
 
 

During the month of January, every CLE registration is a chance to win!

For every seminar you attend, your name will be entered into a raffle to win an Aduro U-Stream Desktop Ring Light. The more seminars you attend, the greater your chances are to win! The winner will be chosen on Friday, January 29th!
 
 
 
Congratulations to our December CLE raffle winner Ryan C. Hurley, Esq.! Attorney Hurley is the lucky winner of the Logitech Headset with Noise-Canceling Microphone. Any Bar member who registered and attended a CLE seminar in December was entered to win the prize. Don't miss out on the January raffle, register for a CLE seminar today!
 

 

Law Day 2021: American Society and the Rule of Law

Rhode Island Law Day is scheduled for Friday, April 30, 2021. The classroom program topic will be American Society and the Rule of Law. The rule of law is a set of principles, or ideals, for ensuring an orderly and just society. Many countries throughout the world strive to uphold the rule of law where no one is above the law, everyone is treated equally under the law, everyone is held accountable to the same laws, there are clear and fair processes for enforcing laws, there is an independent judiciary, and human rights are guaranteed for all. The 2021 Law Day theme, reminds all of us that we the people share the responsibility to promote the rule of law, defend liberty, and pursue justice.
 
There is still time to volunteer to participate if you have not done so already! Bar members interested in volunteering for Rhode Island Law Day and the Bar’s other Law Related Education (LRE) programs are asked to contact Erin Cute by telephone: (401) 421-5740 or email: ecute@ribar.com.
 

 

House of Delegates Letters of Interest

Involvement in the activities of our Bar Association is a richly rewarding experience. One way to become familiar with Bar Association activities is by serving as a member of the House of Delegates. For those interested in becoming a member of the Bar’s Executive Committee and an eventual Bar officer, House of Delegates’ membership is a necessary first step. To learn more about Rhode Island Bar Association governance, please go to the Bar’s website.
 
The Nominating Committee will meet soon to prepare a slate of officers and members of the 2020-2021 Rhode Island Bar Association House of Delegates. The term of office is July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022. If you have not already done so, to be considered for appointment to the House of Delegates, please send a letter of interest no later than March 5, 2021. For more information, click here. The Nominating Committee welcomes letters of interest from candidates of diverse backgrounds in regard to race, color, religion, country of ancestral origin, handicap, age, sex, or sexual orientation.
 
PLEASE NOTE: Current members of the Bar’s House of Delegates who wish to be considered for reappointment must also send a letter of interest by this date.
 

 

 

Foundation Scholarships

 
The Bar Foundation intends to award two scholarships of $25,000 each to Rhode Island residents who enroll as first-year students in an American Bar Association accredited law school for the academic year beginning September 2021. The scholarship is for the first year of law school only and non-renewable. Each Scholarship award is made on the basis of demonstrated financial need, superior academic performance, community and public service, and demonstrated contacts with and commitment to the State of Rhode Island. The Scholarship Committee seeks applications from candidates without regard to race, color, religion, country of ancestral origin, handicap, age, sex, or sexual orientation.
 
The Rhode Island Bar Foundation Scholarship application deadline is March 31, 2021. More information and application forms are available on the Rhode Island Bar Association website: ribar.com in the Rhode Island Bar Foundation section.
 

 

 
The Bar is going paperless! As a reminder, the Rhode Island Bar Journal is now being distributed to members in a digital format via email, as well as our monthly CLE seminar brochures. Make sure you are following us on all our social media accounts so you never miss an update! 
 
 
Twitter: @RIBarAssoc 
 
Instagram: @RIBarAssociation 
 
LinkedIn: RI Bar Association 
 

 

2021 Annual Meeting 

Save the date! The 2021 Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 22nd through June 24th and will again be conducted virtually, but the format and platform will be much different than the 2020 virtual Annual Meeting series. More details regarding the format of the meeting will be disseminated to members in the coming weeks.
 

Ada Sawyer Centennial Celebration

The event, organized by the Bar Association’s Ada Sawyer Centennial Planning Committee and supported by the RI Women’s Bar Association and the Roger Williams University School of Law, has been rescheduled for October 14, 2021 at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet. More information will be disseminated to members 
in early 2021.
 

 

Fastcase & Casemaker Merger

    
 
We are excited to announce that, effective January 1, Fastcase and Casemaker have joined forces in a merger that will provide the best, most complete member benefit service to our members. 
 
According to a statement from the two companies, after many years of a shared mission to democratize the law, Fastcase and Casemaker have signed a definitive merger agreement. Although both companies have merged, the new combined company has the same commitment to bar associations and their memberships. 
 
The new company is working to integrate Fastcase’s market-leading research software, analytics, and data visualization tools, with Casemaker’s industry-leading editorial and digesting tools, which are expected to roll out during calendar year 2021. The combined service adds strength to strength and the comprehensive Fastcase and Casemaker family of products is getting better all the time.
 
During the next few months and for the foreseeable future, as the two companies make changes on the back end to support program development, both teams will stay consistent. Our members can continue to reach out to the Casemaker support team the way you always have. 
 
Please click here to access FAQ provided by the two companies to help answer any questions you may have.