The Atlanta Lawyer June/July 2014 | Page 51

section update Labor & Employment Section By Benjamin I. Fink Berman Fink Van Horn P.C. [email protected] I t is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the summer. When I was asked several years ago to become the Secretary/Treasurer of our Section, I knew the day would come when I would take over as Chair. At the time, it seemed far off, but now it is here and I am excited to continue the great work of those who have come before me. We have a truly collegial board and I have enjoyed serving with the other members the last few years. Given that my practice focuses on non-compete, trade secret and other unfair competition litigation, I am not your traditional labor or employment lawyer. Nevertheless, like my predecessors, I hope I can bring some energy, enthusiasm and leadership to the Section. As many of you may be aware, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This landmark piece of civil rights legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Act forms the foundation for much of the work in which members of our Section are engaged and we spend a lot of time and energy debating, arguing over and litigating the nuances of the statute and the case law that has grown up around it. However, during the remainder of this calendar year, I’d like for all of us to take a step back and think about the historical context that led to the passage of the Act and to celebrate the historic nature of this piece of legislation. To that end, in conjunction with the Labor & Employment Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, we are in the process of planning an event to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the Act. Please keep an eye out for upcoming details about the event. Hopefully, the size and scope of the event will do justice to this momentous occasion. At our Spring Luncheon, we were honored to have The Hon. Alan Baverman speak to a full room at the Capital City Club. The Hon. Alan Baverman’s talk provided a great historical perspective on the freedoms we enjoy in this country, including the right to be free from discrimination, and the central role we, as lawyers, play in ensuring those freedoms. As The Hon. Alan Baverman poignantly observed, “[w]e are still striving to meet and live up to Dwight Eisenhower’s timeless adage: ‘The general limits of you