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Workplaces have changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses must find tools to support their workers, and lawyers must find tools to support themselves.

I begin my term as Chair in unprecedented times. The pandemic has increased the value we at the CCCA can provide to our members. I am proud of how we have handled the crisis so far, redesigning existing services and creating new ones.

“Ethical fading” was not a common phrase until early 2020, when COVID-19 became an international pandemic and remote working became the new norm. Ethical fading occurs when those employees, who were continually reminded of their moral, ethical and cultural behaviours in the office, begin to forget. It is a term that all risk-mitigation groups with remote employees should have top of mind.

Despite how incredibly stressful this pandemic has been, it’s been a powerful example of how transformative mindfulness can be, especially on training and sustaining our mental wellbeing.

When people ask me why I left private practice, I usually blame my husband. I explain that when we married, he was already a partner at the firm where I was an associate. It made sense that I would be the one to leave. The truth is a bit more complicated. I left because I felt that I was not good enough to stay.

One emerging area with great potential for in-house counsel is in the development and implementation of an environmental-social-governance (ESG) framework to drive sustainability efforts within their organizations. Not only is this a good fit for our ever-expanding role given our skills and functions, but it also provides a refreshing opportunity for us to make a deep and lasting impact in our organizations.

Unconscious bias had suddenly manifested itself in my professional life. Without even introducing myself, how had my appearance conveyed that my role was merely that of a messenger and coffee fetcher? How did I transition from the role of a lawyer-to-be to a state of defensiveness in a span of seconds? And more importantly for female, racialized lawyers like myself, would defensiveness and self-justification be an inherent part of my job?

Put simply, directors must inform themselves of the risk that climate change poses to the organization and how that risk is being managed by the management team. In-house counsel will be impacted due to their usual active role in the strategic risk management and risk mitigation at the enterprise level.

What happens to grounds gained for diversity when an organization faces downsizing due to COVID-19? If the priorities baked into the collective bargaining agreement are not aligned with the organizational values supporting diversity, it puts that progress at risk.

A million thoughts swirl in my mind. So much has changed in a mere four months, since the coronavirus began sweeping across the world, upending the stability and excitement of daily life while devastating the global economy. It seems the whole world is on stand-by and the future is uncertain.