Message from Christopher Hughes and Soyeun Choi, Co-Chairs of the Business Law Section

As we close out the 2025 year, it is apparent that our world needs change and growth. The reports of violence and disruption have been overwhelming and those are just the ones that made the headlines. There were approximately 412 mass shootings in the United States in 2025, fourteen in December in fourteen different states, including California and the one in Rhode Island at Brown University.^[1] We mourn the tragic Bondi Beach shooting that occurred in Australia. We also head into a holiday season where over a million people lost their jobs,^[2] which is worrisome since economic instability is often a factor for future violence.^[3]

In times like these, Joan Baez’s insight resonates loudly: “Action is the antidote to despair.” It is vitally important to believe in growth and to engage in the habit of change even when, especially when, it is not clear which actions to take. Do not give into the overwhelm, the paralysis of despair. Creating positive change, in any form, whether through developing healthy habits or volunteering in the community, always makes a difference. Tackling gun violence, for example, is a group effort. Some of us work on the legislation. Others strengthen the community that enables the legislation to succeed.

Paradoxically, the first step is easier when we do not fixate on the result. Professor Carol S. Dweck explains that the peril behind fostering a fixed mindset is the perfectionism. People feel dread in the face of possible failure when that failure symbolizes a negative statement on their basic abilities: If intelligence is a static trait, then failure means you were not smart enough. In contrast, it is better to consider attributes, like intelligence, as skills that can be improved. From that perspective, challenges just test information and are opportunities to learn. Curiosity, not dread, is the emotional result. “[I]t’s not about immediate perfection. It’s about learning something over time: confronting a challenge and making progress.”^[4] Effort becomes less stressful because achieving success is just a matter of time.

It is possible to shift into a different mindset. Incredibly, it has been documented that human test subjects physically alter their brains through the practice of meditation, resulting in neuroplasticity, increased cortical thickness, reduced amygdala reactivity, and improved brain connectivity and neurotransmitter levels. All measurable, observed changes in our neurons from meditation. The changes lead to improved emotional regulation, cognitive function, and stress resilience.^[5]

The takeaway from all of this is that, to ward away despair and more comfortably and confidently create a better world, take action and keep taking action. To that end, BLS maintains a list of volunteer opportunities for members who are interested in utilizing their legal skills for various organizations, but we also encourage members to pursue any opportunity to make a positive impact — at the local animal shelter, food bank, or school. Growth occurs through a beautiful unpredictable alchemy of positive effort and we all need to keep moving forward to give change a chance.   

Recently, a teacher contacted BLS on behalf of a high school student who had only one week to meet with a business lawyer for a school project. The teacher reported that the student had reached out to 15-20 different law firms, with no response. Within five minutes of contacting  BLS, three attorneys volunteered and an interview was scheduled within a day.  Not only was it satisfying and heartwarming to have BLS attorneys fulfill the student’s request, the collective response of our members to immediately take action made it easy.

Perhaps the student will meet us in eight years when he passes the bar. Maybe he will forgo law for medicine or business, engineering or politics. We cannot control the outcome, but we hope he remembers the gesture as a supportive community response and will proceed to help others in his own way.

Best wishes for a peaceful and happy holidays.

[1] List of mass shootings in the United States in 2025 – Wikipedia, (last visited December 17, 2025).

[2] Job Losses Pass 1 Million For 2025, With Grim Outlook For Seasonal Hiring, Forbes, Nov. 6, 2025 (last visited December 17, 2025).

[3] Economic Hardship and Violence: A Comparison of County-Level Economic Measures in the Prediction of Violence-Related Injury – PMC, National Library of Medicine, (last visited December 17, 2025)

[4] Carol S. Dweck, Mindset (Random House, rev. ed. 2017) (2006), p. 32

[5] Calderone A, Latella D, Impellizzeri F, de Pasquale P, Famà F, Quartarone A, Calabrò RS. Neurobiological Changes Induced by Mindfulness and Meditation: A Systematic Review. Biomedicines. 2024 Nov 15;12(11):2613, National Library of Medicine, doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12112613. PMID: 39595177; PMCID: PMC11591838, (last visited December 17, 2025).