CBA Nov.-Dec. 2020

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021 with a Focus on Happiness By Jeffrey Moskowitz, YLS Chair

CBA YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION Chair Jeffrey Moskowitz J. Moskowitz Law LLC

Thanksgiving is here, and I think that it is a perfect allegory. The purpose of Thanks- giving is to celebrate what we are grateful for. Many people believe that happy people are grateful, but in fact, it is grateful people who are happy. When we look back on 2020, instead of looking at the negative, let’s focus on the positives. On the CBA front, we created the Racial Justice Coalition (RJC), which has swelled to over 30 participant organiza- tions. The RJC continues to grow and gain momentum. Its influence will effectuate real change in our communities – a dif- ference that will make the world a better place. Learn more about the RJC on the CBA’s website under Young Lawyers Sec- tion. Someone much smarter than I am once told me that you could not control everything that happens to you, but you can always control how you react. Your perception is yours alone, and you can decide how to interpret your world. Focus on the positive and build on it. Success breeds success, and positive outlooks bring positive outcomes. I want to wish you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. I believe that 2021 will be a great year for us all! Thank you to everyone at the CBA for all of the great work you do. It can be challenging to stay motivated in a time when we all feel isolated. Our membership has done incredible things despite the difficult times. Our resilience, innovation, and persistence have been inspiring. Thank you.

First Vice-Chair Tracy Brammeier Clifford Law Offices, P.C.

Second Vice-Chair Chastidy Burns

Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender

Member Service Manager Marty Gould Romanucci & Blandin LLC Public Service Manager Kenneth Matuszewski Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP Project Officer John Risvold The Collins Law Firm PC Project Officer Daniel Berkowitz Office of the Illinois Attorney General Secretary/Treasurer Gavin Phelps Attorney at Law Co-Editor in Chief YLS Journal Kaitlin King Hart David Carson LLP Co-Editor in Chief YLS Journal Alexander Passo Latimer LeVay Fyock LLC

T he final stretch, we have almost sur- vived 2020, congratulations! Many of you probably like to use the year- end as a time to assess and contemplate your successes and your failures. Success is something that many of us struggle to define. Once we are out in the real world and no longer have a report card, it becomes especially difficult to determine how we are doing. How much money do you have to make to be successful? How many trials do you have to win? Howmany years on Super Lawyers ? Our society’s metrics for success are skewed, and it is unfortunate. The only meaningful metric for success is your happiness. In 2008, the country Bhutan decided that they no longer cared about Gross Domestic Product, but instead, the government’s goal would be to grow their Gross National Happiness. I think they were on to something, and I propose we all try to increase our Gross Personal Happiness. This sounds great in theory, but how do we grow our own personal happiness?

The Young Lawyers Section will be giving back this holiday season with a coat drive and our annual Dear Santa Letters project.

YLS Director Lindsay Wunrow

Visit www.chicagobar.org to learn how you can help.

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