Scott M. Karson, NYSBA president. courtesy photo Scott Karson, new president of the New York State Bar Association. Courtesy photo

Scott Karson, a partner at Lamb & Barnosky and a municipal and commercial litigator, was sworn in Monday as the new president of the New York State Bar Association.

In a virtual ceremony, Karson raised his right hand and repeated an oath from Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. The organization says he's their first president to be installed virtually. He takes over in the role as New York state continues to face a coronavirus pandemic.

"Not anywhere in the farthest recesses of my mind did it ever occur to me that I would be taking office in the middle of a plague or a pandemic," he told the New York Law Journal in an interview.

In light of the pandemic, Karson said he's had to repivot his goals. He reported he's established a task force on attorney well-being, saying there's concern about the impact on emotional and physical health due to stress.

Another task force being set up will deal with issues of liability, he said, noting the effort is still in its infancy.

"The virus has opened up a Pandora's box of issues concerning liability," he said. That topic extends to tort liability and contractual liability, he said.

Karson is the 123rd president of the association and succeeds Henry Greenberg. Both are graduates of Syracuse University College of Law. 

"I'm hoping that at some point before I leave office, I'll actually get to participate in a live face-to-face event—that I won't simply be the virtual president that nobody ever sees," Karson said.

Karson, who is a past president of the Suffolk County Bar Association, has argued more than 100 appeals in the federal and state appellate courts, according to the state bar association.

"Scott has enjoyed such an outstanding legal career, demonstrating over the course of his professional life a deeply held conviction that lawyers have an obligation not only to give back to our profession, but to serve disadvantaged families and individuals," DiFiore said before administering the oath to Karson.

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