By Allyson Maynard-Gibson, QC “In the face of the pandemic, ‘we have realized that we are in the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together’, since ‘no one reaches salvation by themselves’ and no state can ensure the common good of its population if it remains isolated.” — His Holiness Pope Francis, “A Culture of Care as a Path to Peace” Wednesday, January 13, 2021 was the legally mandated Opening of the Legal Year. The chief justice (Sir Brian Moree, QC), acknowledging that “necessity is the mother of invention”, presided over an historic Opening of the Legal Year, replete with many firsts. Many of us agree with the attorney general and president of the Bar, who expressed the hope that some of the “firsts” will continue in the future.