Every year, in our December issue, I dedicate my column to looking back at the past year. And although at press time we still had two months to go before we bid farewell to 2012, I can say with confidence it has been a good year.
On the personal front, my family is healthy and happy—what more can I ask for? My husband and I took a much-needed, child-free vacation to Europe that served as an excellent reboot of creative juices we need to do our jobs—both at work and at home. And my son is growing into a happy, silly, gorgeous little boy. Not only is he learning new and interesting things every day, but he’s also teaching me along the way.
On the professional front, InsideCounsel continues to thrive. Throughout the year, the editors and I have continued to build new content for InsideCounsel.com, and I believe we have been successful in bringing you the stories and information you need in a more creative and often easy-to-digest way. Slideshows, infographics and quizzes—to name a few—allow our website visitors to take in a wealth of information quickly and get back to their busy jobs. And our online columnists, now including several in-house lawyers, bring a new perspective to some of the issues our readers face daily. Traffic on our website has grown exponentially in the past year and continues to do so. If you haven’t been there in a while, go check it out and see what’s new.
While I think about how 2012 has affected me personally and professionally, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t consider the major events of 2012 that have impacted in-house counsel. In this issue, I am happy to once again bring you the IC Top 20 (p. 34), a roundup of 20 headline-making stories from the past year that we believe in-house counsel couldn’t afford to miss. Read about President Obama’s re-election, lessons learned from the sex abuse scandal at Penn State, Wal-Mart facing possible charges of FCPA violations, how some high-profile GCs have moved on to other ventures in their professions and much more. The stories highlighted in our feature may have affected you directly or indirectly, but either way, they made us all take notice.
So, as I’ve suggested in years past, sit back, relax and reflect on what 2012 has meant to you both personally and professionally.
