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Michael Gregg on his longstanding leadership in Orange County with the OCBA and as a Founder of the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association

UCI Law Dean Austen Parrish interviews Michael Gregg, President of the Orange County Bar Association and Shareholder at Littler Mendelson, on supporting the bench and the bar through the Orange County Bar Association, being part of the founding group of the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association and practicing law in Orange County. 

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Featuring:

• 

  Austen Parrish

  UCI Law Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law
  Expertise: Transnational Law and Litigation, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts

  Austen Parrish assumed the role of Dean and Chancellor's Professor of Law of the University of California, Irvine School of Law in August 2022, becoming its third dean. He previously served as the Dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. In 2018 and again in 2021, he was named a Wells Scholars Professor for his work with Indiana University’s prestigious Wells Scholars program. In 2019, he was bestowed with IU’s Bicentennial Medal and, in 2022, he was awarded the Provost’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Office of the Provost, recognizing outstanding and transformative contributions to Indiana University Bloomington. He serves on the board of directors of AccessLex Institute and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Prior to academia, Parrish practiced law at O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles. He earned his law degree from Columbia University.

• 

  Michael Gregg

  President of the Orange County Bar Association

  Michael Gregg is President of the Orange County Bar Association and a partner in the Irvine office of Littler Mendelson, representing employers in a broad range of employment matters arising under state and federal laws. Michael has previously served the OCBA in many different roles, including Secretary, Treasurer and as a member of the Board of Directors. He is also one of the founding members and former President of the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, an affiliate bar association of the OCBA. Michael obtained his JD and BA from USC.

Podcast Transcript

Intro 0:04
Welcome to UCI Law Talks from the University of California, Irvine School of Law. For all our latest news, follow UCI Law on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Austen Parrish 0:22
Good morning. Thank you for joining us. My name is Austen Parrish and I'm the Dean and Chancellors, professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. This is UCI Law Talks, the podcast where you learn more about the amazing anteater community, that is UCI Law. But also you get to hear from leaders and lawyers of Orange County and obtain a glimpse into why we have such an inspiring legal profession here in Southern California. Today, what a privilege! Michael Gregg, the president of the Orange County Bar Association, and a partner with Littler Mendelson joins us, Michael, great to have you on the show. Welcome to UCI Law Talks.

Michael Gregg 0:54
Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Austen Parrish 0:57
Yeah. Well, great to see you this morning. But Michael, you're the President, as I said, and a member of the executive committee of the Orange County Bar Association. You know, we have many listeners who are law students or new lawyers, maybe we could begin with the basics. What is the Orange County Bar Association.

Michael Gregg 1:11
So at its core, the OCBA is a professional association of judges, attorneys and law students that practice here in the Orange County area. It's one of the largest voluntary bars in the country with about seven to 8,000 members. The OCBA's mission is to enhance the system of justice support the lawyers who serve it and assist the community. It's a lot of words there. But we have a lot of different programs that we have here at the bar to assist attorneys support the community, and lawyers as well. So we might enhance justice in a myriad of ways by supporting our our judiciary, supporting court funding weighing on various proposals at the state bar, or the just traditional council or any number of other organizations. But at the core of what we do is we support attorneys, we bring them together to network share ideas, learn about the latest legal developments in a given area of law. We have 26 specialty sections, which are different attorneys from different practice areas that network and learn about legal developments, we have 22 different committees that serve specific purposes. For example, we have a judiciary committee that evaluates candidates that have applied as serve on the bench. We have community outreach committee that organizes community service activities for ocpm members. And we have 15 different affiliate bar organizations. These are separate organizations that are affiliated with the OCBA, such as the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, or with Marshall bar, Orange County Women Lawyers Association. So the OCBA does a lot. But at its core, it's your enhanced justice, support lawyers and assist the community. Now

Austen Parrish 3:07
That support is extraordinary. I've got to say I could when I look at my calendar, if I include the affiliate bars, it seems like I could almost do a Bar Association event every night of the week. And you must know that is president. So maybe I could ask how long you've been involved with the Association. And I know you've served for quite some time in leadership positions. And maybe you could talk a little bit about what it means to be president and what you've done during your term. Yeah, so

Michael Gregg 3:30
I've been involved with the OCBA since 2015. I was elected to the Board served a number of years and then was elected secretary in 2019. And at the OCBA, we have a ladder system whereby if you're elected secretary, you progress through the various officer positions, eventually to President and then immediate past president. So I was elected secretary and 2019 Serve this treasure and 2020 President Elect in 2021. And I may have the year off but eventually now is president in 2023. So I've been involved in various capacities, first as a board member, served for about six years elected secretary and then have progressed my way through the organization in various roles.

Austen Parrish 4:26
And well if you're gonna join a distinguished group of past presidents, if I look at some of the people I most admire in Orange County as lawyers, there's a lot of them that have served as president of the Bar Association. So I've got to ask you're completing your term soon. I if I understand correctly, I think elections are occurring right now. When does the turnover actually occur? And what's next for you? Because this means you no longer get to go to Bar Association events are you You done after this long term of service? Yeah,

Michael Gregg 4:51
So the turnover officially happens at the on a calendar year basis. So January of next year, at the beginning of each year, we have our judges tonight, an annual meeting where the officers and board members are sworn in. That takes place typically in middle or so of January. But in reality, the transition occurs much sooner than that, because the CEO, Executive Director Shruti Levandowski, works with the incoming president to plan the goals and programs for the coming year. So while I am the 2023 president, currently, there is some transition that goes on well before 2024 to plan, for example, judges in AI and programs and goals for next year as well. So my role as president ends effectively, at the end of the year, and so as I had mentioned previously, there's a ladder position such that my role next year will be immediate past president of the OCBA. That means I'll serve as a member of the executive committee of the OCBA. And as well, I'll serve as president of the Orange County Bar Association's Charitable Fund, which is the philanthropic arm of the OCBA. So my work will continue but in a different capacity next year. And I know you, you also asked me about initiatives for the year, and what it sort of means to be president. Essentially, I preside over board of director and executive committee meetings, I write a monthly column that appears in oshi, Warrior magazine, I attend OCBA and other related events. And among other things, some of the initiatives that I've worked on and continue to work on this year, is creating a podcast actually, just like we're on today. So the podcast that we have created at the OCBA is entitled raising the OC bar. And the idea is to spotlight the rich and unique history of the Orange County legal community, anything from you know, landmark cases, to impactful institutions, legal trailblazers, we've done a podcast on TLC history, Community Legal Aid. SoCal OCBA history, we have a whole bunch of others in the works. So the point is to tell people about the rich and unique history that we have here in Orange County, also working on a idea called practice pointers portal. The idea there is to create a library of short and discreet videos on legal topics to help OCBA members better represent their clients and navigate the courts. So I think, you know, short YouTube videos, but geared towards lawyers on discrete legal topics. So those are some some of the things that I've worked on and continue to work on. And, you know, obviously, a lot of different things that come up as needed as well.

Austen Parrish 8:03
Michael, congratulations on a fabulous term and that the light is at the end of the tunnel. I don't know how much work it is as president and still will be a lot of work as past president, but congratulations on a fabulous year. You know, you mentioned there, you know, a lot of great things. One of the core parts, as you said is all these events that are designed to connect the legal community help lawyers network help support them. Which events would you highlight, if you were, you know, recommending to a law student or a new attorney or somebody new to Orange County, and they wanted to dip their toe into getting involved? Are there a couple of events that you would say these are, these are signature ones that you really can't miss?

Michael Gregg 8:40
I would say probably the signature event would be judges night and annual meeting that I mentioned earlier. That's where we are number one, our local judiciary, and we swear in the officers and directors of the Orange County Bar Association as well as the OCBA charitable fund. So that's a great event. It's an opportunity to meet a bunch of lawyers meet our local judiciary. It's always a great event on a more sort of casual, more casual setting. There are a number of charitable events that I think are really cool to attend. We have a golf scramble each year, typically in the spring, where we go out at various golf courses, and I'm not a great golfer, but I go out it's, you know, social event where you get to meet judges, attorneys as well in a more laid back setting on a golf course. And maybe we have typically have a reception afterwards where you can mingle and talk with folks. And then we have typically in August of each year we have an event called Raise your glass. That's a social event wine tasting event where attorneys get together their lot. There's a live auction, where you can bid on different trips and other things. wine tastes In a really cool social event, laid back an opportunity to just to get to meet folks in the Orange County community. So we have a slew of other events. But those are probably the key ones that I would point out. We also have, as I mentioned, a number of affiliates, our affiliates have annual galas as well, for example, Thurgood Marshall, the Hispanic bar, Orange County, Asian American Bar, they have really great annual galas. And I think those are really cool to attend to get a full flavor and perspective of what it's like to practice in Orange County.

Austen Parrish 10:34
Yeah. And for new lawyer, somebody new to Orange County, what a great way to catapult you into the community. And, you know, it seems like it's, although we're such a big area, and there's so many attorneys here does seem like we have a closer knit community than than some of the bigger cities. And I think the Bar Association's is one of the ways that attorneys get to know each other so well, which is a it may also be the addiction to golf in Orange County. But that might be another reason so well, that I think those are great tips for somebody who's thinking about events they should attend. When you're not serving as president or attending Bar Association events. You're also a lawyer and a shareholder with littler. Can you describe a little bit about your practice and how you got started in that practice.

Michael Gregg 11:15
I'm an employment attorney. The gist of what that means is we as I represent employers, management on a broad range of employment matters. They could deal with state statutes or federal laws, unionized or public sector employees, employers and labor relations matters. So a whole slew of issues that come up. But at the core of it, we represent the interests of employers as it relates to their workforce. I started off in employment law by working at a small word attorney firm in Orange County, representing employers. And then I transitioned to my current firm and I've been here at littler since 2005.

Austen Parrish 12:03
Yeah. And what a great employment firm it is. It's well known nationally for its work. You also mentioned that the some of the affiliates, and you mentioned a couple of times Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, if I understand correctly, you're one of its founding members. We love the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, because so many of our graduates from UCI Law are engaged and have served as leadership positions in that organization. Can you talk a little bit about what it is and what it means to be an affiliate of the Orange County Bar Association?

Michael Gregg 12:30
Yeah, so the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association is, as I mentioned, an affiliate of the OCBA. I guess I'll cover first what it means to be an affiliate. So we have 15 separate affiliates, they're essentially standalone Bar Association's they have their own mission. They have their own constituencies, but there is an affiliation with the OCBA. And there's a formal application process. So if an organization, a legal organization in Orange County, of lawyers would like to affiliate or be an affiliate of the OCBA, they submit an application, they have to have at least 25 or more members who are eligible to be members of the OCBA. So attorneys, law students, etc, and have those members of their membership, the greater of 60%, or 25 of the members must also be members of the OCBA. So the idea there is that there's an overlap, obviously, in membership, to foster that affiliation. And being an affiliate means that the OCBA works with that organization provides a number of resources, mailing address, phone number, promotes their events, works with them in terms of collaborating on different programs and the like. So it's essentially, you know, a close relationship among the two organizations. We work together to fulfill bass or essential missions, and to foster that and push that out. That

Austen Parrish 14:08
makes sense. And what about the Thurgood Marshall bar association itself? How did you find out or your founder? How did you found it and what's its purpose and goals?

Michael Gregg 14:15
Yeah, so the Thurgood Marshall bar is focused on connecting, supporting and increasing the black legal community in Orange County. So that's their specific mission. I was involved with a number of other attorneys back many years ago in forming that organization. We met over a number of years, created the bylaws, did outreach to solicit board members, we sought to affiliate with the OCBA to get our name out there to the larger community. And over the years the organization has grown it supports the legal community in a myriad of Ways law students in particular is a focus of T MBA, bringing folks together for events, and just helping to increase diversity in the Orange County legal community. I served as president in 2016 as well of Thurgood Marshall. But it was just a collaborative approach of five or so attorneys. We got together we met for lunch over a period of years. And the I we wanted to form this organization, it took a little while, but we got it up and running. And, and now it's a thriving Bar Association.

Austen Parrish 15:34
Yeah, it does a lot of great work with our students. And you know, as I mentioned, Holly Washington is the past president, she's our grad. And they have Danka is a current president, as I understand that she's our grad tray, Wilson is going to be the incoming president as the president elect. So we're really proud that so many of our alums have joined that organization and are taking on leadership positions. You I mentioned this before I I've talked to a number of people that sort of remark how close knit Orange County is, and partly that maybe the bar associations and the networking events, but more broadly, what do you see is some of the best aspects of practicing in Orange County? And why is it a nice place to practice law? Yeah, so

Michael Gregg 16:11
I've learned a lot about I've been in Orange County since 2006. And I practice in LA as well. And what I've learned from being in Orange County is that it has the small town feel, but with that small town feel it's a sophisticated legal market. And part of that small town feel, I think, is just built into the fabric of Orange County. It's agrarian beginnings. And it's just always had that feel to it. Where See, folks that you, local attorneys at different events, everyone, most people, by and large, know each other, we have the best courts in the country, the most accessible, if you go to events, you can hear from judges meet them, they're transparent. It's just a great market to practice. And I think part of that has just been woven into the fabric of Orange County, which is always had that small town feel where folks are accessible and transparent.

Austen Parrish 17:18
Yeah, I also think it might have something to do with traffic too. And I used to practice up in Los Angeles, if you wanted to get across town, there was a, I always felt it was harder to get from downtown to central city than it was to fly to New York, you know, just because of the traffic. And here, it's it's fairly accessible. Last night, we had an event here at the law school where seven of the local judges from the Superior Court just showed up and, and all of them said I was just 10 minutes away. So we thought we'd pop by and talk to some students, which, as you say, is really a nice feel to be able to have that high level of practice, really some of the most innovative legal cases in the country happening here. And yet, as you say, still have a little bit of that small town field. So I very much agree with you. The weather doesn't hurt either. Well, look, I you know, part of this podcast is to sort of be a resource for incoming law students and current law students to talk a little bit about how you develop a path and how you how careers develop and, and maybe I can ask you, how did you start on your path to law? And growing up? Did you know you want to become a lawyer or what inspired you? What was your How did you get where you are now?

Michael Gregg 18:22
Yeah, so no, I did not know that I wanted to be aware, I decided in high school that I wanted to tell stories, and that was going to be my focus. So I fell in love with films and telling stories and thought I would pursue that. I have an immigrant I'm actually an immigrant myself immigrated from Jamaica with my mother at a young age. And as an immigrant, she didn't see film as a serious endeavor. She didn't see it as a serious academic pursuit. So she was not inclined to support that. So I majored in English creative writing. And then when I attended USC, and then while at USC, I would frequently go to the lion center with my roommate. And while at the Lyons center, I would run into a couple law students at USC. And we would we got to know each other over time just running into each other at the gym, and they would just talk about their experience at law school. And it was that chat chance encounter actually talking to law students at USC about their experience that sort of sparked the idea in my mind about considering considering law school after obtaining my BA. And so while I was in law school, I'm sorry, while I was in undergrad at USC, my final year, that was sort of when that idea sparked in my mind, and I started pursuing that and planning for pursuing law school. So it's certainly wasn't planned. It was just a byproduct of, of meeting people that were law students and their experiences. And that sparking the catalyst.

Austen Parrish 20:10
You know, a couple of things you say resonate really well with me. So, one, I think students often, you know, they're reading Reddit or blogs or some other things, and they think that everybody's got it figured out. And your story is incredibly common. The literature actually suggests that those chance meetings or those opportunities for mentorship, and not only in college, but also in high school, can make a tremendous difference as to whether somebody actually gets that spark and ends up in law school. And then the other thing is, which, which resonates with me is how much influence a mom can have. I also have emigrated to the United States and I agree with your, I can see how that path developed. And that makes a lot of sense. How about after you went to law school? So you got into law school, and you started doing what law students do? When you first graduated? Did you have the vision, it was all planned out, you become the president of the Orange County Bar Association, a partner at a very well known employment firm, or how did that path was that also sort of linear or was it a little more sort of working hard and networking and sort of taking it day by day,

Michael Gregg 21:14
it was all day by day, none of it was linear. And in in part, it's because I candidly, I didn't know what practicing as an attorney meant. I didn't know any attorneys other than the law students that I'd met on campus, which sparked as I said, the interest in in law school, I had never spoken to an attorney, I didn't know what the day to day was like, I kind of fantasized in my mind from what you might see on TV or sort of creating your own mind, like what it might be to practice law. But I didn't have a sense, true sense of, of what it was like day to day, or at all. So I was just interested in the bigger concept of law and justice and make them having an impact. But where and how that would play out. I can't really didn't think that through. And so probably in retrospect, if I was giving myself my younger self advice, I would have told myself to think through those things. But I don't know if it would have really changed much. But I just did not certainly didn't plan out, you know where I am today, and then going to law school would have would have led to worry, I'm currently,

Austen Parrish 22:25
You know, here at UCI Law, we we just founded the law school, you know, we're about to celebrate our 50th year anniversary, we decided that one of the things that was missing from legal education were that law schools traditionally have done a great job of teaching the law, the doctrine, how to think like a lawyer that did an okay job about clinical education and having students actually have real life experiences working with clients working with legal documents while they're in law school. But then the big gap was actually telling students what lawyers do, and how the legal profession, what the legal profession looks like, how its structured, what's the difference in the waste law firms are structured and how the difference between work being done in government or corporation, or in corporate work and, and public interest in nonprofits. And so we actually have a mandatory first year course that usually occurs in the first semester, it's the starts in the first semester, on the legal profession, designed to explain to students a little bit about what the legal profession looks like. And some of its big challenges in order to provide a little more of a foundation yet, and that not fully, you don't actually know until you get into it, but a little bit of sense about what lawyers do. So many students, I think, come to law school, thinking either that they're going to practice in a very large law firm in New York on Wall Street, not knowing what that means, but just having heard about it, or they want to do human rights work in Cambodia, and both are good. But both are very, very small percentages of what actual lawyers do, and, and the vast sort of ways that people use a law degree so bad. And I think it's inspiring to hear from people who are at the top of the legal profession, who are leaders that can tell a student who's just starting out, well, you know, I didn't have it all figured out, either. And look what I've done. I think I think that's inspiring myself.

Michael Gregg 24:03
Ya know, and I think even if you think you have it all figured out it. It doesn't always play out that way. I would imagine, like, in most instances, you can script it. You can script the plan, but life has its own way of, you know, presenting opportunities and detours and, but I do think there's a benefit to having that perspective and knowing at least what you're looking at before you jump into into law school. So I think it's a great, it's a great program that you guys have at UCI?

Austen Parrish 24:33
Yeah, well, so I agree with you very much that it's nice to be thoughtful and mindful, but because if you don't have the detours and the sort of the unexpected twists and turns what's the fun in life, right? And so I think there's a nice balance to be I think, thinking through what you want to do, but then also be flexible to take advantage of those great opportunities that might present themselves and, and being ready to, to make little tweaks and, and changes and, you know, I think maybe 50 years ago people's careers Is were a little more sort of set while now, mobility and changes and changes in practice is pretty common with lawyers. And you often we now often talk about lawyers having multiple careers as they sort of see different stages of their life and make impacts in different ways. We'll look at the law school here, we emphasize the importance of public service and a deep engagement with our community, you've given back significantly through your work with the Orange County Bar Association. But maybe I can ask you how do you see public service and public interest work as being a component of what it means to be a lawyer? And how's that connect to the special responsibilities that lawyers may owe to the public?

Michael Gregg 25:37
Yeah, so I appreciate that question. My perspective on this has certainly matured over the years. But at its core, I actually see lawyers as essential as an essential component of a thriving society, I think many, including myself included, sometimes take for granted that our system of justice in the society we live in is guaranteed. But it's, you know, I realized, as I've gotten a little older, that it's far from guaranteed. And so the institutions that we have, such as the OCBA, that serve the greater good, I've grown to appreciate how important those institutions are in the rights and freedoms that we have and the society that we live in. And so I think it's integral I think, you know, obviously, we work in a profession, it's a business, you have to make a living. But I think we take for granted a lot of the benefits that we have and assume that they're guaranteed. So for example, you know, the OCBA, was instrumental in convincing the Orange County Board of Supervisors to appoint a public defender to represent indigent individuals. In criminal cases, it was instrumental in the establishment of a building of a federal courthouse in Orange County Court of Appeal, instrumental in bringing the Court of Appeal, all those things we sort of take for granted. But our legal community would just not be the same without those institutions. And all of that required folks to give of their time and energy for the greater good. And so I have a much greater appreciation of the role that attorneys play and why it's important that we think about these bigger picture things.

Austen Parrish 27:30
I think it's it's amazing how many people's lives can be impacted by law in different ways. And if you don't have access to a lawyer can make it really difficult to navigate. And so, as you say, lawyers play an important role not just in the legal community, but more broadly, and their impact is significant. It raises, you know, the question to me, I, you know, I have a few relatives that will occasionally send me a bad lawyer joke. And, you know, it's not uncommon to hear a negative view of lawyers, I certainly there's some in our profession that don't do us any favors in the national press from from things that we might not be particularly proud about. But I have to say, when I meet with leaders in Orange County, and Los Angeles, San Diego, the whole Southern California, I'm struck by how, how impressive and what a difference people have made in their communities while they're practicing law, particularly here in Orange County, they can practice at a really high level, they can have really challenging and, and be able to use the brainpower around creative things as a lawyer, but also they get to give back in broader ways and serve in a much broader way than just being a lawyer. I'd love to get your thoughts on that. And what's your experience? Maybe it's too glib, a question. But have you enjoyed being a lawyer? And do you like the practice of law?

Michael Gregg 28:40
I do, especially as I sort of grown and matured, you know, I to hear and have heard the negative views of, of lawyers and their role? It's easy. It's some of them are, are humorous, and I understand it, because there's this perception that may be some folks or some individuals, they don't deserve, or they shouldn't have a particular legal defense. But I completely disagree. I think the great aspect of our system of justice is that, you know, everyone, irrespective of your circumstances, you have legal rights. And we follow the rule of law. You know, I think that's obviously that's, that's essential to our system of justice. People don't go out and start businesses if they can't rely on contracts that there'll be enforced. I heard a few folks that mentioned this recently at a couple of dinners that I attended that when you look at societies where there are no attorneys, or there's a lack of attorneys, you have injustice, you have corruption, you have all these things that no one wants to live in those societies. So, like I said before, I think attorneys are essential key components to any thriving society. We don't practice A mob justice, whatever the larger sort of majority believes we don't just follow that we have rules in place and we follow those in. You know, I think that's a good thing for us.

Austen Parrish 30:11
Yeah, no, I agree. You know, we have a very, very large clinical program here at UCI Law, one of the largest I think, compared to the size of our student body. And, and we unique well, not uniquely, but but somewhat distinctly require every student to complete a clinic. But you really get to see how lawyers can make a difference. As you see students working with lawyers out in the community, whether that's on family violence, or domestic violence, environmental issues that are facing Southern California and water quality water quantity issues, could be immigration work, it could be small businesses and entrepreneurship, could be community economic development. It just really runs the gamut. But you can kind of see how law impacts in so many different ways and can make a difference in sort of the day to day lives. So we're running out of time. And so I might end by a kind of a self serving question. But you know, one of the things I found remarkable since I arrived in Orange County is how supportive the Orange County community is of UCI law school and and it was because of members of the bench and bar and leaders and community that UCI law was founded 15 years ago. Now I realize you have two degrees from USC. So I suspect that maybe a slight leaning towards the Trojan mascot over at the Anteater mascot, but from your vantage point, as I've been advantages to having a University of California law school here in Orange County, and what do you see the benefits are?

Michael Gregg 31:32
Absolutely, I think a huge huge impact is I had mentioned previously, we have a podcast, the OCBA Raising the OC Bar and we had a recording recently on OCBA history. And we had a number of participants on that recording, including Jean Andres, Tom Malcolm, judging at Guilford, all former OCBA presidents. And one of the things that we talked about during that recording was the growth of the Orange County legal community. And its growth from being maybe a bedroom community to, you know, a major economic market. And all agreed that the number one the establishment of the federal courthouse in Orange County played a huge role, and that the establishment of UCI Law school had a tremendous impact as well, in our Orange County legal community. So I think it helped transform Orange County from bedroom community to major economic power, it's had a huge impact on our market.

Austen Parrish 32:42
Well, I like to think so I what I'm inspired with on a day to day basis is just the quality of the students. And when we welcome the new class this semester, my initial thought was how on earth did I ever get into law school, and because they're an inspiring group, and as you say, I think that's great. It's great for us. But it's also great for Orange County to be able to bring in that next generation of leaders and instill in them the importance of public service, and practicing law at a really high level. So, but Michael, it's been absolutely fabulous. I know how busy you are. So I really appreciate you carving out some time to come on UCI law talks. Thanks for joining us any final words for our listeners before we sign off?

Michael Gregg 33:18
Final words would be if you are an attorney, joining OCBA, we have a slew of resources to assist you in your practice. And I'm obviously biased. I think we have one of the great legal markets in the country. And I'd like to see the OCBA thrive and become one of the largest, we are one of the largest but the largest store association in the state of California. So become a member,

Austen Parrish 33:50
Michael, hey, on that note, congratulations again on a fabulous year as President and thank you for all the support of UCI Law and other students. And thanks again for joining us on UCI Law Talks.

Michael Gregg 34:02
Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Austen Parrish 34:04
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