One of the great privileges of serving as President of the Westchester County Bar Association is getting to see, up close, the many ways our legal community is stronger than the sum of its parts. We are a profession that thrives on advocacy, but our greatest successes often come not from arguing against each other, but from working with each other. That truth feels more urgent now than ever. In a world that seems increasingly divided,  collaboration is not optional—it is essential. And as lawyers, we are uniquely equipped to model respectful engagement across differences. Here in Westchester, we have the talent, the relationships, and the shared values to serve as a model for others – and to set the standard for what collaboration in the legal profession can look like.

The seed of an idea

The inspiration for the Multi-Bar Summit came from a conversation I had with  Angela DiBiasi, Co-Chair of the WCBA’s Diversity Committee, who reached out to me about collaborating with the Justice Brandeis Law Society on a program to combat antisemitism.

As a proud Jew, whose community is under siege and experiencing levels of antisemitism not witnessed in generations, I cannot fully express how meaningful it is when someone outside our community steps up and stands in solidarity with us. Angela’s outreach deeply moved me, and I am profoundly grateful for it. That initial conversation sparked the broader vision that became the Multi-Bar Summit.

From there, I reached out to the leaders of several of our local affinity bar associations – the Justice Brandeis Law Society, the Westchester Black Bar Association, the Hudson Valley Hispanic Bar Association, the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, the Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County, and the Society of Irish American Lawyers in Westchester County—with a proposal for the Multi-Bar Summit, inviting them to join forces and build stronger partnerships that would have a lasting impact.

The idea was not to replace the wonderful individual programs each group already offers, but to see what can happen if we pool our talent, resources, and perspectives. I received an enthusiastic response from each of the associations about participating, and we are now moving forward together to turn this vision into reality.  Building on that enthusiasm, I am proud to announce here for the first time: the Multi-Bar Summit, a multi-day in-person event that will take place sometime in the January–March 2026 timeframe (dates and location to be determined).

From spark to summit

This will be a collaborative series of programs hosted jointly by the WCBA and our partner bar associations, each one tackling an issue that matters to our profession and our community— from confronting all forms of hate and advancing civil rights, to promoting diversity in the profession, fostering allyship across communities, celebrating our shared histories of advocacy and resilience, and equipping attorneys with practical tools to be more effective allies.

The summit will not be a single event. It will be a season of purposeful connection, bringing together lawyers from different backgrounds, practice areas, and lived experiences to learn from one another, challenge assumptions, and find common ground.

Why this matters now

We get a taste of this spirit every year at the Multi-Bar Summer Social, a tradition that took place this past June and, as always, was a great success. For one evening, members of our local bar associations mingle, reconnect, and build new relationships, and you can feel the energy of what happens when we all come together.

But one night a year is not enough. It is easy, in law and in life, to stay in our own lanes, to attend the programs that already speak to our interests, to socialize with the people we already know. Growth rarely happens in comfort zones. And meaningful change almost never does.

The Multi-Bar Summit is designed to build on that Summer Social spirit —to push us, gently but intentionally, toward conversations that can deepen understanding and strengthen relationships across divides. True progress comes from listening to different perspectives and engaging with one another respectfully. What matters is that we show up ready to listen, learn, and engage.

A call to our members

When I gave my remarks at our Gala, I talked about how showing up can lead to unexpected and meaningful opportunities. This summit is one of those opportunities for every one of us.

I am asking you to be part of it. Come to a program hosted by a bar association you have never attended before. Sit next to someone you do not already know. Ask a question that helps you understand a different point of view.

The bridges we build inside our legal community can ripple outward, influencing how we serve clients, how we engage with the public, and how we model leadership in a divided world.

I hope you will join us for the Multi-Bar Summit this winter. Together, we can prove that collaboration is not just possible in challenging times, it is powerful. Over the next few months, I and the WCBA will keep you posted on the specifics, including the dates and location, the topics we will be tackling, and the speakers who will help bring these important conversations to life.

Let us show, together, that when Westchester’s legal community stands united, there is no limit to the progress we can make—for our profession, and for the communities we serve.