ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended all the Law Student Division meetings I could at National Conference (when not attending the Judicial Division Events) I also attended the ABA sponsored Red Cross Disaster Training at Southwestern College of Law. I was unable to attend the Fall Roundtable because of some on campus obligations. I am planning on attending Mid-Year in Chicago.
DIVISION MEETINGS:
-- I attended the national conference in Chicago and attended each session of the conference. Those meetings included meetings with the outgoing Judicial Council and the incoming council. (The liaison from last year was not present.) During each meeting I contributed as needed. The leadership did not know what to expect from a liaison because they were unfamiliar with the role--they did not have much contact with liaisons in the past.
-- I also participated in a planning conference call on Friday October 14. This conference call consisited of all the Judicial Division Liaisons. I am not sure if I was suppose to be there, but they appreciated it. Through this meeting I was given some additional committee assignments within the Judicial Division,
ISSUES: This year we have been focusing on a project called "Defining the Judge". This project has many components including a film project where individuals are challenged to define justice. This project is building upon the success of last years jury education project.
-- The Judicial Division is working to educate the public about the role of the courts and judges.
-- The schedule for the division has shifted due to the death of Chief Justice Rhenquist, but they are back on schedule.
PROJECTS:
-- I have been asked by the Chair to serve on the Judicial Division's minority clerkship program subcommittee. THis program will take place at MidYear.
-- I am building a great relationship with the chair and I have spoken to her about putting together a Judicial Division speakers bureau where a list of members of the division can be given to law schools and undergraduate institutions so that if they need a judge to speak, they have a list of local judges who are interested in presenting.
-- My involvement at the Annual Conference and on the conference calls has led more people to seek me out and I am sure that this list will continue to grow.

Sections

Issues facing the Section of Litigation that the LSD has an interest in:

1. The Section is discussing increasing its student section dues from $0 to $5. Some of the Section's leaders believe that the Section is spending too much money sending publications to student when the Section gets no revenue in return. This item was tabled for the next Council meeting in January 2006.

2. One of the major efforts of the Section this year is the Chair, Brad Brian's, Raise the Bar Project. This project had identified a number of critical issues facing both the trial bar and the profession. For example, the project had focused on the billable hour culture, lack of mentoring for young associates, lack of training, lack of trial experience, unclear paths to partnership, resentment over associates' salaries, and lack of law firm loyalty among associates. This project affects law students because the ultimate goal is to publish a list of those firms that actively implement strategies to address these issues.

3. Another goal of the Section this year is to expand the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program. The JIOP places minority and financially disadvantaged law students in positions with federal and state judges in Illinois, Florida and Texas. The Section hopes to expand the program in Arizona in the coming year, and then to Washington, D.C and California in the future. This project is critically important because law students receive a direct benefit. A total of 125 students were placed with judges last year. Students received one-on-one mentoring, and several have received jobs as a result.
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Projects I am working:
My predecessor Dave Nelmark started the Section's Committee Liaison program where law students sit on the 42 active committee of the Section. Three weeks ago after the Leadership meeting, I sent out the announcements asking for applications for the 28 positions that were available. Within 2 weeks, I was able to appoint 28 individuals with great qualifications to help me represent the Sections 19,000 student members. As a result of this program, I have increased law student involvement in the Section. These students will have an opportunity to work closely with the chairs of the various committees and more importantly establish relationships. This project may help to offset any concern that the Section does not see a return on its investment by offering law students free membership.

Forum Committees

ENTITY MEETINGS:
-- May 2005 Governing Committee Meeting (Washington, D.C.) - Acted as meeting Secretary
-- July 2005 Governing Committee Meeting (Teleconference) - Acted as meeting Secretary
-- October 2005 Governing Committee Meeting (Kennebunkport, ME) - Acted as meeting Secretary; Proposed and received approval to undertake student outreach initiatives described below.
DIVISION MEETINGS: None
ISSUES: Last year, the Forum experienced a growth of 241 percent, from 1,332 student members to 4,456. It had the highest growth rate among all sections which offered free student membership. We believe it reflects that the field of affordable housing and community development law is a growing interest of the next generation of lawyers. As such, we seek to maintain support from the ABA in serving such a large portion of the student membership and future ABA members. There are three issues about which the Forum would like to inquire:
1. If there is funding to support initiatives supporting law student outreach, we would be interested in taking the appropriate steps to secure such funding. Specifically, the Forum could use funding to subsidize its Law Student Outreach Initiative where members of the Governing Committee host career panels at law schools around the country to educate students about careers in affordable housing and community development law. The panels are coordinated with Law School's Career Services Offices and involve local members of the Forum.
Last year the Forum conducted five panels. This year we have already presented one at the University of Maine, and hope to host four others. These panels expose law students to the diversity of opportunities within affordable housing and community development law. Ensuring that upcoming lawyers are aware of and educated about this area of law is crucial to the health of our communities. If the Division can provide guidance on available sources of funding within the ABA, I will communicate the information to the Forum s leadership.
2. The Forum would like to add more profiles currently available under the ABA Career Counsel Attorney By Attorney Showcase (http://www.abanet.org/careercounsel/profile/profession.html). If the Division can provide guidance regarding to whom those updates should be sent, I will coordinate gathering the necessary information from Forum members.
3. The Forum would like to know if it is possible to track whether law student members of the Forum maintain their membership in the Forum upon graduation. If the Division can provide me with the appropriate contact information, I can follow up with a specific request based on the Forum s interests.
PROJECTS:
Project 1: Submit article for Liaison Notebook (Completed; Scheduled for publication in November issue of Student Lawyer to coincide with Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month.)
Project 2: Create student listserv (In Progress; Received authorization from Forum to work with ABA staff on this initiative. Among other things, the listserv will be used to target Forum events to students. Estimated Completion Date: November 1.)
Project 3: Conduct survey of student members (In Progress; Received authorization from Forum to work with Governing Committee members to draft survey. Members are currently reviewing the survey and I am in the process of searching for free software that can host the survey. Also, the Forum agreed to provide one randomly drawn winner from survey respondents free registration to one of the Forum's conferences of their choice. Estimated Completion Date: November 1.)
Project 4: Update Career Profiles available on-line to students. (In Progress; Estimated Completion Date: January 1.)
Project 5: Create space for students at annual conferences. (In Progress; the Forum approved targeting the reception at their St. Louis conference on homelessness to students as a networking opportunity. The reception is covered in the students' conference registration fee which is only $25. The St. Louis University School of Law, one of the conference co-sponsors, agreed to underwrite the costs of law student attendance at the reception.)
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
-- First, the Forum continues to run its annual writing competition in which the winner receives $1,000, free travel to the Forum's annual conference in Washington, D.C, and publication in the Forum s Journal on Affordable Housing & Community Development. All entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2006 and sent to Cynthea E. Geerdes, Univ. of Illinois College of Law, 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Champaign, IL 61820, cgeerdes@law.uiuc.edu. Second, the Division may be interested in the Forum's two upcoming conferences because of their creative use of students and focus on issues of critical importance.
-- On February 23 and 24, 2006, the Forum will host the ABA's inaugural national conference on homelessness. Both the St. Louis University (SLU) School of Law and the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty are co-sponsoring the conference. The student staff of the SLU Public Law Review is assisting the Forum in coordinating the speakers and compiling relevant articles that will be published as part of the conference materials. In addition, the Forum plans to market the reception on the evening of February 23 as a networking opportunity for students. The reception and following dinner will be held at the McMurphy's Grill, a diner managed and staffed by homeless individuals in St. Louis.
-- Additionally, the Forum is working very hard to sustain the ABA's efforts in providing relief and leadership to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. This includes communities hit directly by the storm and those, such as Atlanta, dealing with an inundation of evacuees. The Forum has dedicated an entire track of their 15th Annual Conference to these issues. The conference will be held May 25 and 26, 2006 at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Law student registration fee is $75 and summer associates are encouraged to attend.