After a very challenging 2020, it’s great to see 2021. Happy New Year!

While I know that many folks make official New Years resolutions, I have never been much of a New Years resolutions type of guy. We need to constantly change as lawyers or we risk irrelevancy – and the same can also be said for our personal lives. From my perspective, a specific date is not needed for us to change or to try something new – as the folks at Nike say “Just Do It!

That said, here’s 3 things that I think we can all do better as lawyers as we begin 2021:

  • Wellness, Wellness and More Wellness: As I’ve written about before wellness is our best investment – and to say that the pandemic has underscored the importance of staying healthy is a huge understatement. Continue to put your health first and think about what more you can do to improve your mental and physical wellness.

I have recently changed up my workout routine as I have pivoted from jogging 3 days a week to getting outside early in the morning every day for an 1-1.5 hour “power walk” and increasing it to 2+ hours per day on the weekends. Doing so has improved my mental wellness as it ensures that I get out of my WFH environment every day (even in the cold Western Suburbs of Chicago) and it is less taxing on my body when compared to jogging.

  • Technology, Technology, Technology & Trust: As we learned during 2020 with the pandemic, technology is playing a bigger and more impactful role in our lives. I believe that technology is a lawyer’s best friend and we all need to continue to put technology to work for us and our clients in 2021. Also be sure to partner with technology providers that you can truly trust with your valuable data – especially given the critical importance of data privacy and cybersecurity-related considerations.
  • Make Others Better via Greater Knowledge Sharing: Many legal teams unfortunately remain very stuck in their silos. Leading technology tools like Microsoft Teams enables legal departments and law firms to share information seamlessly, to “crowdsource” problem solving and to get out of our silos. Look for more opportunities on your legal team to help your teammates, help your clients and to demonstrate your leadership by constantly sharing relevant information, best practices and lessons learned. Knowledge is power and the more key information that we can share, the better.

I’m also planning to write more blogs posts in 2021 on various topics at the intersection of law, business and technology – and perhaps a few regarding my favorite sport of baseball as I view baseball as a “microcosm” of life.

Let’s be sure to get off to a “Fast Start” in 2021 and please stay safe and healthy!

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Photo of Dennis Garcia Dennis Garcia

Dennis Garcia is an Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation based in Chicago. He practices at the intersection of law, technology and business. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dennis worked as an in-house counsel for Accenture and IBM.

Dennis received his B.A. in Political…

Dennis Garcia is an Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation based in Chicago. He practices at the intersection of law, technology and business. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dennis worked as an in-house counsel for Accenture and IBM.

Dennis received his B.A. in Political Science from Binghamton University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut and Illinois (House Counsel). Dennis is a Fellow of Information Privacy, a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Please follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisCGarcia and on his It’s AI All the Time Blog.