In This Issue:

September 1999—Vol. 28, No. 1

Officially Speaking

Another Journey Begins

For some, it’s the start of your first year. For others, it’s the start of another or maybe even your last year. Either way, it’s the beginning of another journey.

As chair of the Law Student Division, it’s my hope that you will make the American Bar Association part of that journey–not only while in law school but also as a lawyer–for no matter what road you take, the ABA has something to offer you.

Before you can take advantage of the resources of the Law Student Division, you have to know what resources it offers. Some of these include:

• Discounts on everything from Bar/Bri and PMBR to UPS and Xerox.

• Publications including Student Lawyer and the ABA Journal, as well as discounts on great books such as How to Start and Build a Law Practice by Jay Foonberg.

• Competitions for negotiation, client counseling, and appellate advocacy, as well as essay contests.

• Funding of up to $500 for law student organizations for projects focusing on either public interest projects (OAI) or professionalism, ethics, or diversity (PED).

• Support for public interest projects such as Work-A-Day and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA).

• Opportunities to get involved in the leadership of the LSD at the local, regional, or national level.

A resource we will be emphasizing over the course of the year, and one that is unique to your LSD membership is the ability to get involved in the ABA’s other sections, divisions, and forums. Such involvement will provide you not only with exposure to substantive areas of the law, but also to the people who practice and shape it. Law students are the future of the ABA, and we encourage you to get involved now.

Having told you about some of the resources of the Division, here are some important deadlines and dates:

• The deadline for entries for the Negotiation Competition is Sept. 30, 1999. The deadline for the Client Counseling Competition is Oct. 31, 1999. The deadline for the National Appellate Advocacy Competition is Nov. 30, 1999.

• The deadline for entering the Greenhalgh Student Writing Competition, sponsored by the Section of Criminal Justice, is Sept. 30, 1999.

• The deadline for the receipt of nomination forms to run for national office (chair, vice chair, and secretary-treasurer) is Oct. 1, 1999. Please contact any of the national officers or your circuit governor for more information about these positions.

• The fall regional meetings will begin at the end of September and continue all across the country until mid-October.

• Work-A-Day, the LSD’s annual public service project, will be at the end of October. Make plans to get involved.

On a personal note, I want to recognize that the Division is beginning the year with a wonderful new staff in the Chicago office. Please contact them. They can help you utilize the resources of the Division and the Association.

I also want to recognize the new editor of Student Lawyer, Ira Pilchen, who works incredibly hard to bring you this magazine and is helping to put more "student" in Student Lawyer. He takes over from Stephanie Johnston, who edited the magazine from 1995 until her departure in January, and from interim editor Annemarie Micklo.

And I would be remiss if I did not recognize and publicly thank some of the staff who recently left the LSD after long and dedicated service: Joanne Travis, Judy Stofko, and especially Sherry Gouwens, who served on the LSD staff the past 17 years, nine as director. We are truly indebted to them. On behalf of the LSD, I wish them all the best on their journeys.

A new year is upon us. Let the journey begin. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you along the way. I can be reached at kmitchell@abanet.org or 888-699-5468. See you on the road… .