State Bar of Arizona’s Post

Proud to have participated in a thought-provoking discussion with the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) on the importance of estate planning for economic justice yesterday. We went beyond traditional wealth management, focusing on how estate planning can be a game-changer for underrepresented and disenfranchised communities. The NBLSA students truly impressed me with their insightful questions. Their passion was palpable, fueling a dynamic conversation. #estateplanning #marylandestateplanning #floridaestateplanning #marylandestateplanningattorney #floridaestateplanningattorney #marylandprobateattorney #floridaprobatelawyer #probateplanning #estateplanningattorney #legalprofession #dayinalifeofalawyer #lawyerdiaries #diaryofalawyer #lawyerlife #lawyerlifestyle #NBLSA57 #JuneteenthCelebration #EconomicJustice #lawstudents #lawstudentslife

Victoria T. Heyer lived most of her life in Louisiana, although she was born in Charleston, South Carolina, but has lived in Louisiana for almost twenty years. She is an alumna of Ponchatoula High School and graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in Anthropology and History. In today's post, learn more about Victoria's practice in the areas of successions and estate planning, business and commercial law and litigation, and family and domestic law. https://lnkd.in/eRZ8-eD6

The 2024 Honorable William D. Missouri Civility Award goes to Business Law Section Council member, Peter M. Reyes, Jr. of the Minnesota Court of Appeals! 🏆 This award honors those who show exceptional civility and professionalism. Congrats for exemplifying these incredible values! 👏 Learn More: https://ow.ly/MGU350SNz1E #BusinessLaw #LegalExcellence #CivilityInLaw

Happy 50th anniversary to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the federal agency that funds my former employer, Philadelphia Legal Assistance and civil legal aid agencies in every county in the United States! Pleased to see the Biden administration embracing legal aid. Given that we do not have an established judicially guaranteed individual right to legal representation in civil cases (the Civil Gideon – named for the Supreme Court case that enshrined the right to a lawyer in criminal cases – movement is trying to change this), that’s where LSC comes in to fill the gap. Thanks to LSC-funded agencies across the country, legal aid professionals have helped low-income folks in cases involving family law, consumer protection, housing, and of course, taxes, among other areas. Since 1981, LSC has faced some political opposition – with severe and still-reverberating defunding in the 1980s and significant funding restrictions since the 1990s. But in recent years, broad pushback, against yet another political threat to its existence in 2017, helped boost funding to its highest ever real dollar amount today. Nevertheless, there still is a significant shortfall as the vast majority of the legal needs of the poor are unmet. It is incumbent upon legal professionals to meet those needs so we can have a more just society.

Please give this article a read as it is applicable generally to the importance of affinity groups for firm engagement and associate growth.

Mr. Eisner asserts "The law has often proved a tool of dispossession, and in the antebellum South, it was frequently a tool of white supremacy. But refusing to admit Black testimony created the same problems that other witness competency restrictions created: publicly known eye-witness accounts could not be admitted as sworn testimony. It was harder for courts to arrive at the truth, or, perhaps more importantly, it was harder for courts to convincingly present themselves to the public as arriving at the truth. The admission of free Black witnesses into court sometimes served the immediate interests of the white elite and sometimes it did not, but it always alleviated the friction created by having two public narratives, one widely known in the community but legally inadmissible, and another, narrower narrative, presentable at court. The legitimacy of the law, partly resting on its self-presentation as truth-seeking, benefitted from the minimization of this tension. The exceptions to the general bar against Black testimony in cases involving whites demonstrate the diversity of legal trends in the antebellum South. Competing pressures to administer a well-functioning legal system and to maintain racial hierarchy exerted force on the white elite. Southern elites, even before the great convulsion of the Civil War, sometimes divided on how best to administer a white supremacist legal regime."

THE KING IN HIS COURT: CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS AT THE CENTER - PDF: https://lnkd.in/gDSmW6Fq Roberts’s own history may instruct the nation in what lies ahead. In boarding school, college, judicial clerkships, the Justice Department, the White House, Hogan Lovells, and even his own confirmation hearing, Roberts has deftly danced away from controversy, almost always preserving his own conception of dignity and typically emerging as a dispassionate arbiter of justice. This is the image and the mindset that he has groomed for a lifetime. For better or for worse, it is highly unlikely that he will change now. With his place in the history books now assured, he seems to have set his sights upon what those records will say. On today’s divided and highly scrutinized Court, there is little opportunity for him to carve out a legacy equivalent to that of the Marshall Court, his purported model. Nevertheless, he appears to be set on getting as close as he can to this ideal.  Advocates before the Court seeking Roberts’s vote would seem wise to focus their arguments on a middle ground solution, one that upholds precedent, affirms the dignity of the Court and the judicial system overall, and does not result in sweeping changes. For Justices in conference seeking to sway Roberts’s opinion, analyzing a case along these same lines would appear to be prudent. Avoiding hard-line opinions or language attacking opposing viewpoints is vital, as Roberts seems to have little appetite for such histrionics. For the Chief Justice, the right decision appears to be the outcome that casts his Court in the best possible light.  In his confirmation hearing, Roberts famously compared Justices to umpires, impartial and unemotional.504 An old baseball adage states that an umpire does well when nobody knows who the umpire is, calmly making the right call and staying out of the limelight.505 In this sense, Roberts’s umpire analogy is perfect for the type of Chief Justice that Roberts seeks to be, far more akin to the staid demeanor of Friendly than the judicial combustibility of Rehnquist, quietly issuing opinions that avoid the political frenzy as much as possible.506 Neither side may be satisfied by narrowly tailored opinions that refuse to go an inch further than necessary to dispose of the case, but for Roberts, this seems to be the best avenue for gaining some modicum of consensus on the Court and ultimately preventing blemishes on the Court’s legacy. 

Check out this excellent, quick read by Jordan Freeman, Esq., Chair of Young Lawyers Division - Philadelphia Bar Association on the benefits of collaboration with lawyers of different generations: - “To be the best lawyers for our clients, we must be the best version of ourselves.” - “Mentorship can be the key to unlocking the potential of young associates, while also enlightening to seasoned attorneys who have their quibbles with the next generation of attorneys.” - “We are all in this together. The profession and purpose is bigger than us individually.” #collaboration #lawyers #mentoring

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Spotlighting Our Firm’s Very Own History-Maker: Alia Adkins-Derrick   What is your most notable professional accomplishment/triumph? Serving as the Course Director of the Texas Bar’s 2023 Civil Appellate Practice’s 101 CLE Course. Turns out, I was the first ever Black American, man or women, to ever serve in that role. It’s an honor that still amazes me to this day! I’m so glad that I answered the call of rock star Appellate Attorney Dylan Drummond who believed in my ability to lead.   What is your most rewarding professional achievement?  Making a difference. When I founded Adkins Lawyers, PLLC back in 2015, I did so with one goal in mind: make a difference for firm clients and personnel. For our clients, we do so by providing big firm legal expertise, smart solutions, and a strong legal defense without the big firm price tag. For our firm personnel, we do so by championing a diverse workplace where integrity, mutual respect, and results matter. Nine years in and we have not lost that commitment. It's what makes Adkins Lawyers a great place to work and an even greater firm for clients to partner with. #lawyers  #legal #diversity #integrity #work #TXlaw #TXlawyer #DiversityinLaw #BlackHistoryMonth