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Business development
I won’t pretend that referrals don’t
happen here. They do. But they
don’t happen because you hand
out business cards like Halloween
candy. They happen because you
become part of a trusted circle of
people who know how you work.
My FDCC blue book pages get a
workout every week — and I’m
happy to report it’s not one-sided.
It’s a revolving door of “Who do
you trust in X jurisdiction?” going
out and “Can you jump in on this
matter?” coming in.
Fellowship
This is the part I can’t oversell. The
FDCC is unusually good at creating
actual connection. The kind where
you end up talking for an hour at a
dine-around with someone you met
that day — about trial strategy, yes,
but also about parenting challenges
(“is anyone else living out of a car
between practices right now?”),
which vacation spot is actually
worth the flight and the backlog of
emails, and who smuggled home
the best dessert from the hospitality
suite. (There are politics around
dessert. I will brief you.)
44 February 2026 | Federation Flyer FDCC PILLARS
In a world built around trying to
resolve “unresolvable” disputes —
where we’re often in adversarial
roles that can make real friendship
between lawyers feel impossible —
this is a space where you can form
lasting relationships with people
who actually understand the stress,
the highs and lows, the wins and
losses, and the pressure of doing
what we do at the level we do it.
Here’s what I want you to do
depending on where you are in your
FDCC journey:
•
If you are a new member:
jump in. Come to new member
orientation. Introduce yourself.
Join or create your Class Year
group chat. Volunteer for one
thing (not twelve — one).
Momentum matters more than
perfection.
•
If you’ve been a member for
a while but haven’t been back
recently: come back. You are
not “behind.” No one is giving
you a quiz on bylaws. Just say,
“I’m ready to plug back in,” and
I will get you a landing zone: a
section, a committee, a table
at dinner, a circle that will be
genuinely glad you’re there.
•
If you’re already active: you
are the culture. Volunteer as a
mentor. Sit with someone new
instead of your usual comfort
table at the reception. Host (or
co-host) a dine-around. Say out
loud to someone “you should
submit that for a panel.” You
have no idea how one sentence
like that can change someone’s
trajectory.
A Personal Moment
I remember my first FDCC meeting.
I showed up with my “professional
conference brain” on. I had my
agenda circled, I knew which
panels I wanted to attend, I had my
elevator pitch polished.
And then I sat down at dinner.
Within ten minutes, people who
could have been intimidating on
paper were telling stories like we’d
known each other for years. We
were talking about trial strategy and
insurance coverage, yes — but also
about vacation plans, “my flight was
a disaster,” youth sports schedules
(I have a soccer kid, which means
it feels like 50% of my calendar
is cleats and a theater kid, which
means the other 50% is drama!),
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