President’s Message

November 2025

REMARKS FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

By: Dean McVay, Esq.

As daylight grows shorter and the air takes on that familiar November crispness, I am reminded of the seasons of our professional lives — times of growth, challenge, and renewal. This month, especially as we approach Thanksgiving, offers us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the many blessings we share as members of this remarkable legal community.

We are privileged to practice law in a place where professionalism is more than an aspiration — it is the daily standard. We stand alongside colleagues who inspire us, challenge us, and support us. We belong to a Bar Association that not only upholds justice but fosters friendship, mentorship, collaboration and service. For all of this, I am deeply grateful.

This season of gratitude also calls us to look forward. One of my key goals this year is to expand our membership — not merely in numbers, but in strength and diversity. By welcoming new attorneys into our fold, we ensure that our Bar remains vibrant, innovative, and well-equipped to support the future of the profession. I encourage each of you to extend a hand: invite a colleague to attend an event, introduce a newer attorney to the association, or simply share what the Bar has meant to you.

This coming year, I want us to open wide the doors of this Association—to welcome young lawyers fresh from the bar exam, seasoned attorneys who may have stepped away, and underrepresented groups who have too often stood on the margins.  Thank you to Board Members Chrstina Bernheim and Linda Guzman, who lead our Young Lawyers Division, who continue to bring new, young lawyers, into our Bar Association Membership.  This is how we build today, and secure tomorrow.  Because the more voices at our table, the richer our collective wisdom becomes.

Looking ahead at the calendar, we will enjoy another MCLE in collaboration with Pride Bar and Inland Counties Legal Services (“ICLS”).  On November 18, 2025, at noon on Zoom, we will jointly present a seminar entitled “State of the Region Report: People Living with HIV in Inland Southern California.”  Led by Levi Colonna-Bevis, ICLS’s Equal Justice Works Fellow, and moderated by Matthew Kugizaki, ICLS’s Pro Bono Director, this presentation will provide an overview of current statistics on People Living with HIV (PLWH) in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, drawing on recent studies and preliminary findings from a community needs assessment conducted with local partners.  The presentation will also feature other experts and advocates specializing in supporting PLWH, highlighting key community challenges, recent state law developments, and innovative regional efforts addressing the needs of those most impacted by HIV.  Participants will gain insight into opportunities to strengthen local support and advocacy, including a 2025 legislative update and the potential impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases on HIV preventative medication access. Attendees will receive one unit of “elimination of bias” MCLE credit.  (For more information on speaker Levi Colonna-Bevis, please visit From Student Fellow to Community Advocate – Equal Justice Works.)

And on December 11, 2025, our Western Bar Association will join the San Bernardino County Bar Association at the Doubletree Ontario to celebrate their 150th anniversary in a spectacular Holiday Celebration.  Be sure to RSVP before the event is sold out!

Our WSBCBA will also be collecting Toys for Tots at our Bar Association Offices/County Law Library in Rancho Cucamonga.  Please drop by with your unwrapped toys and place them in the Toys for Tots collection bins as we continue our annual tradition of giving back to those children and youth in our community who need a little help in making their Christmas season even brighter.

As we gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving, may we also give thanks for the privilege of serving as legal advocates — entrusted with the tools to protect rights, resolve disputes, uplift our community, and yes – to give back. It is a noble calling, and one we do not walk alone.

Thank you for everything you do — for your dedication, your compassion, and your commitment to justice. Our Western San Bernardino County Bar Association is strong because of you.

Wishing each of you a warm and joyful Thanksgiving season filled with peace, gratitude, and community.