Law Student Now, Law Student Division Circuit Governor for Life

The great thing about being a governor, judge or president of the United States is that you get to keep the title for life. Even after you leave the position, people will still call you "Judge Bork" or "President Carter."

But while you'll have to wait until you're 35 to be president, and you need to be a lawyer before you can become a judge, the ABA's Law Student Division offers you a chance to be a governor-now.

The division is divided into 15 regional circuits (see the box below). Leading each circuit is an elected governor, who serves a one-year term (see the box at left). Each governor represents students at the law schools in the states that comprise that circuit. Because he or she sits on the division's Board of Governors, the governor is a national law student leader.

The governor's primary duty is managing the ABA business within that circuit. That means organizing three circuitwide meetings a year, coordinating information and events among the law schools within that circuit, managing the circuit's budget, and attending three Law Student Division Board of Governors meetings.

Third Circuit Governor Claudia Jones, a second-year student at Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania, represents law students who go to school in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. She says the summer circuit meeting is often the first chance for a new governor to get his or her team together. The meeting may be devoted to planning for the upcoming school year, talking about membership, meeting the ABA school representatives in the circuit and otherwise doing basic team-building activities.

The fall circuit meeting tends to be devoted to training the circuit's ABA/LSD school representatives and lieutenant governors. (Circuit governors may appoint several lieutenant governors to help with their duties during the year.) It is a good opportunity to bring student bar association (SBA) presidents and ABA school representatives from around the circuit to one location to meet and share problems and ideas.

The primary business of the spring circuit meeting is electing a circuit governor for the next school year. Any law student who is an ABA member is eligible to run for governor. SBA presidents and ABA school representatives (or their proxies) from each school within the circuit are eligible to vote. The nominations and voting are carried out according to the Law Student Division's election code as set forth in the division's bylaws. The spring circuit meeting is thus a time for transition, where the outgoing governor can advise the new governor and pass on helpful information. That saves having to reinvent the wheel every year.

Third Circuit Governor Jones credits a previous Third Circuit governor for getting her involved in the Law Student Division. Former Third Circuit Governor Cathleen Kelly, who also was a Villanova student, made it a point to get first-year students involved. "And here I am," Jones says.

The division's 15 circuit governors also attend three Board of Governors meetings each year. The first one comes in the spring, when the new governors get together as a board for the first time and receive their training. The board also meets at the ABA's Annual Meeting in August, and many circuit governors use the meeting as an opportunity to meet with members from throughout their circuit. The board meets again in late fall for the important task of electing national officers for the division. Because it is up to them to manage the division's business, the governors also consider resolutions at each meeting.

Being a circuit governor can be time-consuming. Besides planning three circuit meetings and reviewing resolutions as a member of the Board of Governors' Resolutions Committee, Third Circuit Governor Jones tries to keep in touch with the division members at the law schools in her circuit. Still, she says, "It is well worth it. I definitely get back much more than I put in.

And no matter what else she does in law school and after passing the bar, she will always be "Governor Jones."

To apply for a position as circuit governor, fill out the form on page 78 and mail it to your circuit governor and the Law Student Division's offices at 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611. Applications must be postmarked no later than 21 days before the Spring Conference

Lee Farbman