This is my final column as president of this great bar association. It has been the honor of my life to serve, and I am grateful to our staff, current executive committee and board of directors, our committee chairs, past-presidents and the many members of this bar association and leaders of our affinity bar associations who I have had a chance to work with and gotten to know over the past few years. My life has been enriched immeasurably in a way that I will never be able to repay. Congratulations to our newly elected officers and directors, including our new president, Brian Cohen!

We have and continue to work very hard to become more diverse and inclusive, increasing our engagement with and hopefully instilling a sense of belonging in our membership and those of the community that we serve. To that end, we have developed and continue to enjoy collaborative relationships with our affinity bars throughout the Hudson Valley. We have done this by having monthly zoom calls with the leaders of many of those organizations to discuss each other’s events with an eye towards collaboration, rather than competition. And we have collaborated on a number of events, including our Meet the Judges Event at Pace, which was co-hosted by the WBBA and HVHBA, as well as our Multi-Bar Summer Social and Holiday party which were as always well-attended.

Our Diversity Committee has been in full swing, putting on three CLEs examining the impact of New York’s Equal Rights Amendment on Disability Law, Gender and Reproductive Health Care and LGBT Law. Our Diversity Committee is also continuing its high school internship program, matching high school students from under-represented communities with area law firms; and a program providing a pathway to law school for interested college students, in partnership with the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, Westchester Black Bar Association, the Franklin Williams Commission, the Hudson Valley Hispanic Bar Association, the LGBT Bar and Pace Women’s Justice Center.

We have continued our work in identifying talented members and providing them with pathways to leadership. Our mentoring circles program continues to grow, and we have instituted a requirement that all committees and sections have two co-chairs and a secretary, with an eye towards educating the secretary such that they can eventually ascend to being a co-chair of the committee. We have also partnered with the Westchester County Bar Foundation to offer scholarships to high schools from underrepresented communities, who might not otherwise be able to participate in our Mock Trial Program. I am proud to share that the majority of the members our nominating committee are women. And having existed for well over 100 years without ever having a woman of color as President, you have elected the Honorable Karen Beltran as president-elect of this Bar Association.

As you have heard from me throughout the year, focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility is not focusing on giving handouts to the unqualified. It is broadening our horizons as an organization who can only grow by attracting talented members that come from diverse backgrounds and have different perspectives. As a county bar association, we have an obligation to include in our membership and provide programming for all members of the communities we serve, and it is a New York State mandate as well, as we are all required to attend continuing legal education programming focusing on diversity.

We must continue to foster an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility as part of our ongoing commitment to our profession and community. I am confident that our future leaders will continue this path, and as a member of our nominating committee for the next few years, I will do what I can to ensure that we nominate leaders with this mindset.

This is especially important because DEI programs are under attack by the current administration. On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173. This order, the enforcement of which has already been preliminary enjoined by the U.S. District Court for the State of Maryland, provides in part that:

Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.

These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities. Yet in case after tragic case, the American people have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of illegal, pernicious discrimination that has prioritized how people were born instead of what they were capable of doing.

Section 4(b) of E.O. 14173 directs the United States Attorney General to submit a report to the President’s Assistant for Domestic Policy containing recommendations for enforcing Federal civil-rights laws and taking other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI. The President has decreed that such a report containing a proposed strategic enforcement plan identifying: 
(1)    Key sectors of concern within each agency’s jurisdiction;
(2)    The most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners in each sector of concern;
 (3)    A plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences. As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars;
(4)    Other strategies to encourage the private sector to end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences and comply with all Federal civil-rights laws;
(5)    Litigation that would be potentially appropriate for Federal lawsuits, intervention, or statements of interest; and
(6)    Potential regulatory action and sub-regulatory guidance.

My understanding is that while enforcement against private employers and bar associations has been temporarily enjoined, there is nothing to limit the United States Attorney General from compiling lists of private companies and bar associations engaged in the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion (which would be everyone in New York as it is an important part of State law). The injunction and the lawsuit in which the motion was made and granted underscore the importance of lawyers and judges, who must continue to act as a check on attempts by the Executive Branch of our federal government from unconstitutionally expanding its powers at the cost of our legislative and judicial branches.

I look forward to participating in the WCBA’s efforts in these areas and I hope you will join me in doing the same.