This past year and a half has brought about many changes in the way the world conducts nearly every interpersonal activity. And the universe of mediation and arbitration has been no exception. To gain some insights into how professional mediators and arbitrators have been impacted by the shift to virtual sessions, and how they manage lawyers and clients in this new environment, we spoke to three retired judges who now serve as civilian mediators.

It has been my honor and pleasure to get to know a great American artist craftsman, Preston Jackson, during the prior six years in my role as chair of the Freedom Suits Memorial Steering Committee. His avocations and career have been steeped in artistic expression in music, painting sculpture, and more.

[CW: suicide] It may seem unlikely that you will ever experience a moment when someone tells you that he or she doesn’t want to live anymore and is going to end their life. Right then. Yet I have been faced with what I believed to be that situation on two occasions.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) celebrated the 2020-21 and 2021-22 bar years with a delayed annual Law Day celebration on Thurs., Sept. 9 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown St. Louis.

[CW: Suicide] I looked at my phone and noticed I had an inordinate number of missed calls. I immediately called the first number I saw and upon listening to the other person, dropped my phone in disbelief: my best friend had taken their own life.

With the 2021 Summer Olympics, a different spotlight started to shine on the athletes, those that we hold to a very high physical standard and who we likely assume have a very high level of physical well-being. When Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. female gymnast (with 32 World/Olympic medals) withdrew from most events, the conversation started to shift to athletes' mental health. Discussions started happening everywhere about how one may be physically well, but not mentally well. It is impossible to ignore that our mental health affects our physical health and performance.

As I write this column, we are making final preparations for this year’s annual Bench & Bar conference at Camden on the Lake. Our 2020 conference was entirely virtual, but we are back live (with a virtual option) for 2021. As of this writing, we expected to have a full crowd in attendance, including 46 judges. It seems that people are eager to get back together in a fun, relaxed setting.

The culture we work in asks us to make several sacrifices in the name of going for gold. To make matters worse, we internalize this culture in the name of "job security," performing at our best, or fitting in. It can be a little too easy to confuse your definition of success with the one the firm gives you. We quickly learn to give up sleep, nutrition, and leisure. (Read: things that keep us healthy.) The hang up is that health is not an impediment to success. Success is wholly dependent on it.

The 2021 BAMSL Golf Outing at Greenbriar Hills Country Club in Kirkwood, Mo., was a success and "back to normal." This year's event sold out weeks before the event took place on June 14, 2021.

Having a career that interests me has never been an issue for me; picking between two career paths has been the challenge. I find myself bouncing between medicine and law, two careers that fill me with passion.