Embracing Change, Honoring Legacy
A Farewell Message from the President
I passed the Virginia State Bar in 1988. Back then, most legal research meant spending hours with printed digests, copying cases on a photocopier, handwriting or dictating documents, handing them to a typist, editing them, and having them retyped. If you’ve never used — or even heard of — a Dictaphone, count yourself fortunate. Today, pretty much all attorneys type and edit their own pleadings, and we can do it virtually from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. How things have changed.
As my term as your Bar Association President draws to a close — and as we mark the Fairfax Bar Association’s 50th anniversary — I find myself thinking about all of it: where we started, how far we’ve come, and what it means to have served this organization during such a remarkable moment in its history. Consider this my attempt to pull those threads together.
Where We Were in 1976
The FBA was incorporated in 1976 — the same year the U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial, Jimmy Carter was elected president, Apple and Microsoft were founded, and the Eagles released Hotel California. Viking 1 had just landed on Mars. The supersonic Concorde jet was making its first commercial flights. Nadia Comanăci scored a perfect 10. It was, in other words, a year of firsts — a fitting moment to start something.
What began as a modest local bar association has grown into the largest voluntary bar in Virginia, with roughly 2,200 members spanning private practice, government, corporate counsel, legal aid, the bench, and even law students. That’s not an accident. It’s fifty years of lawyers who showed up, contributed, and cared about something bigger than their own practices.
In those same fifty years, the world has shifted dramatically. The global population has doubled. Women now earn degrees at higher rates than men in many countries — a far cry from 1976, when the “typical” woman was still expected to be home. LGBTQ+ rights have advanced in ways that would have been unimaginable then. Cash is disappearing. And a kid with a smartphone today has more computing power than the computers that were on the Apollo moon rockets. We managed without all of it — but I’d be lying if I said I missed the digests.
How the Practice of Law Changed — And Keeps Changing
The rise of searchable legal databases is probably the single biggest advance I’ve seen in my career. Westlaw, LexisNexis, Casetext — the ability to quickly and accurately search statutes, case law, regulations, and treatises revolutionized what we do. Add remote access and artificial intelligence on top of that, and the productivity gains have been, frankly, exponential.
COVID accelerated things further. Virtual depositions and remote hearings went from being a novelty to a necessity almost overnight — and most of them have stuck around because, well, they work. AI tools now assist with document review, due diligence, and contract drafting. Some can even forecast litigation outcomes based on a judge’s historical decisions. I’m not sure how I feel about that last one, but it’s here.
Of course, none of this comes free or without anxiety. Cybersecurity is now a core professional responsibility, not an IT problem. Data privacy laws — GDPR, HIPAA, and a growing list of state-level frameworks — are things every attorney needs to understand. Many jurisdictions now require lawyers to demonstrate basic tech competency as part of their ethical obligations. That bar is only going to rise. Lawyers who embrace technology will better serve their clients; those who resist risk becoming obsolete.
What Hasn’t Changed
For all the change, some things do stay the same — and the FBA’s history is proof of that. The Public Law Library started as a one-room space in a basement courthouse and has grown into a full public-access facility serving thousands of people, many of whom have never hired a lawyer in their lives. Its value was instantly recognized, and it remains a focal point in the Courthouse. The Fairfax Law Foundation’s pro bono work, support for domestic violence victims, mock trial programs in middle and high schools — none of that came from an algorithm. It came from lawyers choosing, year after year, to give something back.
The trust between an attorney and a client. The collegiality between bench and bar. The senior lawyer who takes the time to mentor someone just starting out. The professional interaction with opposing counsel. Those things are not going to be automated. They are what this Association is actually based on, and with my term ending I will miss my role in promoting those efforts.
What’s Coming — My Best Guess
If you ask me what the next fifty years look like, here’s my honest answer: I don’t fully know, and neither does anyone else. But I’d bet on a few things. AI will continue to reshape how legal services are delivered — not just in research and drafting, but in how clients access help in the first place. Driverless cars will raise liability questions we are not ready for. Medical advances will extend lifespans and create new ethical dilemmas. The monitoring of our personal data and web activity will trigger new privacy concerns. Data centers and infrastructure demands will strain our communities and our courts.
The FBA will need to lead the local legal community through all of it — on the ethical use of AI, on expanding access to justice for an increasingly diverse population, and on mentoring the next generation of attorneys who may never have touched a printed digest in their lives. That’s a worthy challenge, and I have every confidence in this organization’s ability to meet it.
A Final Word
When people say “things were better in the past”, I usually respond: “that depends.” Change is rarely all good or all bad, but it is inevitable and it is often stressful. What matters is whether you can tell the difference between good change, bad change, and whether you stay engaged enough to influence how it affects your life, professionally and personally.
Serving as your President during the FBA’s 50th anniversary year has been one of the genuine honors of my career. This Association has given me far more than I’ve given it — a professional home, remarkable colleagues, and a reminder of why we got into this profession in the first place. The practice of law is an honorable profession, and we should never apologize or fail to defend the position of attorneys in the United States. I leave my role as Bar President grateful, proud, and looking forward to what comes next for all of us.
Embrace change.
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