The term “the new normal” has become ubiquitous in our lives, referring to how we perceive the world and how we act in it. As businesses struggle to navigate the new normal – whether social or regulatory – attorneys can serve as their anchor and guide.
The pandemic raised numerous challenges for attorneys, especially to look for creative ways to allow our clients to serve the community as best possible. We all heard the phrases “unprecedented time” and “new normal” on an hourly basis. At Burch & Cracchiolo, our goal was to provide trustworthy guidance and information to assist our clients in making the best decisions during a very fluid period. We met with political leaders to discuss temporary code revisions and waivers, negotiated financial adjustments including deferrals and achieved positive results by having complete candor with those that we met with seeking temporary relief from what would otherwise have been significant financial hurdles. Our clients knew we were their partner, and we would provide information to protect them during that time.
More than ever, this has been a “we are all in this together” time for our industry, when lawyers partner with their clients and community leaders to achieve goals that are best for the public at large. We hope this will be a trend that continues.
In this month’s cover, In Business Magazine addresses specific areas of concern for business, from cyber security and healthcare to remote work and including COVID-related content into contracts for protections. Firms like Burch & Cracchiolo and the others contacted for this June edition include a variety of practice groups comprised of attorneys who specialize in those particular areas, and this cover story shares insights in select practice areas on some of the important changes for business over the recent few years.
This edition also includes the 2022 Legal Guide for Business Owners, a special section with details about law firms in our community.
Gender equity is not a new topic but recent events have brought it once again to the fore. Within that subject is an aspect of job responsibility and career advancement that Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart discuss in feature article “Tasks, Tasks – and Non-Promotable Tasks” — to wit: dead-end tasks, which fall disproportionately on the desks of women and minorities.
Politics is not just a hot topic but a volatile one. Businesses are often pushed to take a stance on various issues, and sometimes even become politically active themselves. In this month’s Legal feature, Christine Fort helps businesses assess if, what and how they may permissibly engage.
With all the (sometimes conflicting) news about the economy, it is helpful to have Alliance Bank of Arizona president Don Garner put the issues into context in the Economy feature, “Eye on Arizona’s Economy.”
Other important feature articles discuss the business opportunity of franchising (“Phoenix and Arizona Are Ripe for Franchise Growth”) and our thriving office real estate market (“Population Growth and Office Construction Are Thriving Together), while departments offer smaller articles on such varied topics as “Detox Centers Expand as Overdose Epidemic Increases” in the Healthcare section and “Is a Business Equipment Subscription the Way to Go?” in the Briefs section.
In Business Magazine continues to develop a broad view on business-relevant information to help strengthen our Valley’s business community. I’m pleased to help bring this June edition to you, and hope you enjoy the read.
Sincerely,
Andy Abraham
President
Burch & Cracchiolo
Andrew Abraham is certified as a Real Estate Specialist by the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Transactions since 2008 and in every edition of Southwest Super Lawyers. In the 2011 and 2014–2022 editions, Andy has been voted among the top 50 lawyers in Arizona by his peers many times over. He is included among Arizona’s Finest Lawyers and is an AV® Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 peer review-rated attorney in Martindale-Hubbell. Andy has served as Burch & Cracchiolo’s president since 2017.