One Year Later

Remember about 365 Blursdays ago?  Or, 12 Blursembers and Blursuarys, if you are keeping track by months instead.

It certainly has been a blur of stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, easing of restrictions, tightening of restrictions, easing of stay at home orders, tightening of lockdowns, ever changing restrictions on the restrictions …

Huh?  Never mind, just lather, rinse and repeat, over and over again.

What’s the best that will come of all this? 

Our future leaders will have to do better in terms of preparing for and guiding us through another such crisis, to better serve our elderly, our youth, our ill and our economy.  And, in the coming months and years, we will require bold, intelligent and decisive leadership to stave off further disaster.  No more TNT styles of leadership please (Trump ‘N Trudeau).

A friend of mine in our recent video locktails get-together predicted a coming boom in creativity, culture and social change, much like the Roaring Twenties a century ago.  Love that optimism.  Of course it’s coming, this is just the deep dark before the coming dawn.

In the world of law, the past year has brought long needed modernization to our criminal justice system.  I think back to the thousands of hours over the years that my clients and I have spent driving to, and waiting in, courthouses across southern Ontario for a short and simple appearance – an adjournment of a date, meetings with a Judge, withdrawal of charges, the signing of a peace bond or a guilty plea and sentencing that have already discussed and agreed upon. 

Now, we are permitted to conduct a lot of our court related business by email, telephone or video from our offices or homes. Brilliant, efficient and long overdue. 

As for trials by video, the jury is still out on this one, as they say.  As I’ve written in a previous article, there are many pros and cons being cited by lawyers and judges on the merits of trial by video as opposed to the traditional “in person” scenario.  Trial by video is likely here to stay, at least for certain kinds of cases and when all the parties agree.

On a personal level, what were the highlights and revelations that emerged in this past dark year? 

For me, the unexpected extra time with family and our university aged children, outdoor happy hours, golf and tennis with good friends, multiple daily dog walks, and some great books, tv series and documentaries have all kept me engaged, laughing and sane.   

If there has been a personal lesson learned, this is it: a deeper recognition of what is truly important to me, and a much better developed understanding of what I want to spend my time on, and what I don’t and won’t.

How about you?  Go on, be determined.  Look at your calendar and mark today as the first day of the rest of your life.  (And, for the record, it’s Blursday, of course).