Anyone involved in the Litigation Section knows that our events are known for both their educational and social aspects, and probably the most well-known events are our monthly breakfast meetings, held for many years at the Ansley Golf Club. This year obviously presented  significant  difficulties  in  our  ability  to  meet,  but  I  am pleased to report that the 2020-2021 Bar year has been a resounding success.  We  resumed  meeting  last  September  by  Zoom  and  have held  all  nine  meetings  this  year  remotely.  Our  members  have enthusiastically embraced this new format and our attendance has generally equaled or exceeded our in-person meetings.

Our meetings this year covered common matters that arise in modern litigation, with additional material specific to the pandemic era. We began the year with a panel discussion of “Litigation in the Age of COVID-19” that included Chief Justice Harold Melton (Supreme Court of Georgia), followed in October, November, and December by  panel  discussions  of  pandemic-related  employment  
litigation issues, force majeure matters, and business interruption insurance. Returning to more traditional topics, from January through April our  programs  featured  distinguished  litigators  discussing  high- exposure  litigation,  taking  and  defending  30(b)(6)  depositions, lawyers’ standard of care in the digital age, and ADR considerations during the pandemic. Our final meeting of the year in May included a panel discussion of appellate advocacy.

On May 1 our sections met at Gilliam Park in Kirkwood to volunteer with  Trees  Atlanta,  clearing  non-native  bushes  and  other  plants throughout the park. Looking toward next year, we are excited to meet again in person once we can safely do so. We will also hold our annual Half-day CLE on May 26 via Zoom. This year’s topic will cover  "Ethics,  Trial  Practice,  and  Professionalism  in  Specialized Areas  of  Litigation."  Registration  is  available  on  the  Atlanta  Bar web site. We are also tentatively planning to hold our annual Bench &  Bar  Reception,  which  usually  occurs  in  May,  this  September. This year’s honoree for the Logan E. Bleckley Award will be Chief Justice  Melton.  The  2019-2020  recipient,  Judge  Richard  Story  of the  Northern  District  of  Georgia,  was  honored  at  our  
September breakfast meeting.

I want to personally thank this year’s Section board members, who worked  hard  to  make  the  year  a  success:  Immediate  Past  Chair Louis  Cohan  (Cohan  Law  Group,  LLC),  Vice-chair/Chair-elect Lillian  Caudle  (Mercedes-Benz  USA,  LLC),  Secretary  E.  Tyron Brown  (Hawkin  Parnell  &  Young,  LLP),  Treasurer  Amy  Cheng (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP), and Members-at-Large Elizabeth  Adler  (King  &  Spalding),  Terrence  Croft  (CroftADR/ JAMS),  Charles  Dalziel  (Dalziel  Law  Firm),  Hon.  Susan  Edlein (State Court of Fulton County), Hillary Lukacs (Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP), Wade Malone (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough 
LLP),  Mari  Myer  (The  Myer  Law  Firm),  Kevin  Patrick  (Kevin Patrick Law, LLC), and James Sherman (Stanley, Esrey & Buckley, LLP). And I especially want to express my appreciation to all of our members who continued to be dedicated to the Section this year. We
hope to see you all soon.