LSD Committees: Where the Work Really Gets Done

Although the Law Student Division’s Board of Governors meets three times annually, these meetings represent only a fraction of the time your student representatives devote to the Division. Much of the LSD’s substantive work—from planning upcoming events to reviewing the content of Student Lawyer—is performed by members of the board’s committees.

In a recent change to its committee structure, the board voted at its annual meeting this past August to split the Membership and Programs Committee into two separate bodies. Among the many committees that affect students are:

Membership. "Promoting membership is my focus this year," says Division vice chair R. Matthew Graham, a third-year student at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. "I want every law student to be a member of the ABA." As the head of the newly formed Membership Committee, Graham leads a team of five who promote and constantly seek out ways to improve the benefits of membership.

Programs. The newly formed Programs Committee faces an exciting and challenging year, as members define their role and encourage participation in all ABA-sponsored events, such as competitions involving writing, negotiation, client counseling, and moot court. In the pilot’s seat as committee chair is Division delegate and Air Force veteran Terry Nealy, a second-year student at the University of Florida College of Law.

Public Interest. The Public Interest Committee, chaired by 10th Circuit governor Amy Williams, a third-year student at the University of Oklahoma Law Center, begins its work almost as soon as new members are sworn in each spring. Charged with the task of developing and promoting Work-A-Day, the Division’s largest one-day public service effort held each October, the committee must meet throughout the summer to ensure the program is ready to go when law students return to class. The committee is especially busy this year, tracking law student public service hours nationwide as the Division approaches it ambitious goal of 2 million hours for the Countdown 2000 project.

Diversity. Eleventh Circuit governor Melane Conyers-Ausbrooks, a third-year student at Howard University School of Law, heads the Division’s Diversity Committee. The committee plans a theme for Diversity Day every April and disseminates information on issues of concern to special interest groups within the Division. The committee also considers applications from law schools across the country seeking financial support from the Professionalism, Ethics, and Diversity (PED) Fund. Started as an experimental program, PED is now a permanent Division effort to bring diversity issues to the fore.

Student Bar Association. "The Student Bar Associations [SBA] Committee is composed of members who are uniquely tuned to the concerns of SBA leaders across the country," explains David Jordan, vice chair for SBAs and a third-year student at the University of Oklahoma Law Center. The committee helps Jordan and the rest of the board identify and address the issues that confront law student governments across the country. •

Brandon Bigelow