As 2020 draws to a close, we will look back on the year as we do at the end of each year and reflect on its highs and lows. But 2020 has become its own hashtag- worthy term standing for so much more than just 365 days. It was a presidential election year in which more Americans voted than ever before. It was the year of COVID-19, which brought entire industries to their knees, and nearly decimated others while putting the whole globe in a state of panic and fear. It was a year of reckoning with racial injustices the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s.
Yet, what I want to know is: what will be the thread pulled from 2020 that defines the decade ahead of us? What has fundamentally changed and will shape our new reality? With rumblings of a vaccine making their way into our radio shows, newspaper articles, and our daily conversations, I’m hearing chatter of, “Will we just go back to the way things were?” Will we all settle back into the same routines that kept 2019 chugging along? Will life just continue to be busier and busier with more emails, text messages, slack messages, phone calls, and social media posts. Or, have we fundamentally changed? I certainly don’t have the answers, but those are the questions I’m pondering and the ones we are talking about here at Jayaram Law as we settle into the holidays and reflect on the year. 2020 saw unprecedented growth at our firm for which we are tremendously proud. We were able to hire lots of new team members like the talented you’ll read about in her interview on page 21. Clients trusted us with new challenges and bigger questions pushing us to learn about evolving areas like platform immunity under Section 230 under the U.S. Code (read more about it on page 18) and recent developments in the areas of Cannabis (read about Trademarks and Cannabis on page 15). We hope you’ll enjoy meeting founders Alexi and Brendan Coffey of Steward, the digital home for plant care, on page 32 and join us in congratulating Alexi on being named to Forbes’ 2021 list of 30 Under 30. This is a tremendous honor, and we assure you Alexi is worthy of it and much more!
Of course, the year wasn’t without its challenges. We haven’t seen each other in months. Those of us who live alone have had to work solo and suffer through loneliness sequestered away from family. Others have kids running around and have to watch our precious work minutes usurped by homeschool, cleaning, and meal prep. I’ve turned to this quote a lot this year: we’re all weathering the same storm, we’re just on different boats. Hopefully the new year will see this storm begin to subside. If so, as we dock our boats and climb onto steadier ground, as we regroup with our peers from different boats; what will we tell each other about our time at sea? What will those first hugs feel like? How will we relish seeing one-another’s smiles again?
Our very warmest wishes for the holiday season and the new year.
Wendy Heilbut
wendy@jayaramlaw.com