Young Lawyers Division 2000-2001
The AFFILIATE
November/December 2000
Around the Country
ARIZONA
Pima County Bar Association YLD In August, the Pima County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, in its continuing effort to contribute to the Tucson community, teamed up with the Law School at the University of Arizona for a Walk Against Leukemia. The YLD teamed with the Law School again for an AIDS 2000 Walk in October and will do so again at Thanksgiving by serving dinner to the Rescue Mission in Tucson.
The Pima County Young Lawyers Division is sponsoring a Lawyers for Literacy Program at elementary schools throughout the Tucson community. The Lawyers for Literacy Program continues to grow on past years' successes and this year has recruited over 100 tutors who will meet individually with and tutor 4th and 5th grade students for one hour a week during the school year.
The Pima County YLD will sponsor a 2000 Judicial Reception on November 9, 2000, to honor the Arizona and Pima County Judiciary. The Judicial Reception allows young attorneys the opportunity to meet the judiciary in an informal setting outside of court.CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut Bar Association will be hosting a Regional AOP, a/k/a Regional Conference, at Mystic, Connecticut, during the St. Patrick's Day Weekend. This will be the first such conference in the New England or Northeast region in many years.
The focus of the conference will be technology, including IP and cyberspace. All are encouraged to attend.Connecticut Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section On October 12, 2000, the Women's Law Roundtable Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section sponsored an extremely successful event entitled "Gender and Credibility in the Courtroom." The presentation featured a panel of distinguished speakers, including the Honorable Julia Aurigemma, Hope Seeley of Santos & Seeley, P.C., and Shelly Sadin of Zeldes, Needle & Cooper, P.C. The discussion focused on the role gender plays in the practice of law, as well as whether gender issues still exist, and if so, how to deal with them in day-to-day practice. Well over fifty Connecticut attorneys were in attendance.
FLORIDA
Florida Bar YLD The Florida Bar YLD has fully implemented the FEMA/Disaster Legal Assistance Program and is currently coordinating legal relief efforts for the victims of recent flooding in Miami-Dade County.
Also, on October 6, 2000, the Florida Bar YLD Board of Governors passed two important resolutions: The Diversity Resolution and The Quality of Life Resolution, creating two new annual awards for Florida law firms. The Diversity Award will be presented to the firm that best reflects racial, gender, ethnic, and religious diversity in its hiring of lawyers. The Quality of Life Award will be presented to the firm that provides the best quality of life for its attorneys and staff, respecting that lawyers have competing needs to attend to families and to the law, and respecting that mothers and fathers need flexibility in their lives. The awards will be presented at the Florida Bar's General Assembly each year and will include a monetary gift to be donated to the recipient's charity of choice.Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers Section The Jacksonville, Florida, Bar Association Young Lawyers Section participated in a "Back to School Jubilee," where the YLS provided school uniforms, supplies, and books to underprivileged public school students.
GEORGIA
State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division The Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia again hosted the 51st Annual National Moot Court Competition for Region Five. The competition was held on Thursday, November 9, and Friday, November 10, 2000, in the courtrooms of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia at the Richard B. Russell Building in Atlanta.The National Moot Court Competition is the oldest and most prestigious moot court competition in the country. Participants included a representative team of third year students from every law school in the country, except Ivy League schools. The area comprising Region Five includes Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico.
ILLINOIS
Illinois State Bar Association Young Lawyer Division The Illinois State Bar Association Young Lawyer Division will hold a party to raise funds for children's court waiting rooms around the state on Friday, December 1, at Joe's Sports Bar & Grill, 940 W. Weed St., Chicago, Illinois. Last year's event raised $10,000 and 300 individuals donated items such as toys, clothes, and games.KANSAS
Kansas Bar Association Young Lawyer Section The Kansas Bar Association Young Lawyer Section started a mentoring program to pair recent bar admittees with young lawyers to provide guidance and encouragement on how to get involved in bar activities at the local, state, and national levels.MAINE
Maine State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section In April, the Maine State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section participated in Law Day at local schools and joined over 100 volunteers who helped in renovating eleven homes for low-income people as part of the national Christmas in April program.
In June, YLS members participated in volunteer day for a Habitat for Humanity project to construct a three unit townhouse. This project had special significance for the Young Lawyers because the land for the project was donated by a local probate court judge.The Race for the Cure was held this September and the YLS' "Swift Justice" team was part of the record-breaking 2,500 participants who ran or walked in the race. Race organizers recognized the Swift Justice team with a Special Teams award, and two team members placed first in their age divisions.
As part of its Bar Outreach mission, the YLS sponsored a series of luncheons on topics of general interest to members of the bar. In January, Justice Kermit Lipez, Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, spoke about his trip to Chile in connection with the reformation of the Chilean judicial system. In May, Federal Magistrate Margaret Kravchuk, District of Maine, spoke on recent innovations in case management in the state and federal court systems. The November luncheon featured a panel discussion on the topic of law firm marketing.
MICHIGAN
Detroit Bar Association Barristers The Barristers (Young Lawyers) of the Detroit Bar Association have initiated a program called "MELL" (Medical, Education, Law Enforcement, Legal). MELL's mission is to utilize the unique talents of persons in the medical, education, law enforcement, and legal professions to provide Detroit Public School students with positive role models. A team comprised of a member from each profession visits a classroom each spring to provide at-risk school children information concerning the medical, legal, psychological, and social consequences of alcohol and drug use and abuse. The program has been well-received by both students and educators, and the Detroit Bar Association would like to expand the program to coordinate teams to visit the schools in the fall as well as the spring.MINNESOTA
Minnesota State Bar Association New Lawyers Section The Minnesota State Bar Association New Lawyers Section hosted the ABA/YLD Midwest Regional AOP in September. The conference was well-attended and included speakers on parliamentary procedure; the do's and don'ts of speaking with clients, the courts, and opposing counsel; and affiliate presentations. The plenary presentation featured Federal Judge Tunheim speaking about his work on declassifying the Kennedy assassination files. The Hennepin County Bar Association New Lawyers Section sponsored a Masquerade Gala as the last event of the conference.Hennepin County Bar Association New Lawyers Section The Hennepin County Bar Association New Lawyers Section sponsored "Cooks for Kids," which is a program that provides dinner at the Ronald McDonald House.
MISSISSIPPI
Lee County Young Lawyers Association The Lee County Young Lawyers Association has established a long-range planning committee to identify projects and goals for the affiliate, including volunteering as judges for local high school mock trial competitions, judging the Ole Miss Law School's moot court competition, offering an ethics CLE program, and scheduling speakers to keynote their monthly membership meetings.Warren County Bar Young Lawyers Division In October the Young Lawyers Division of the Warren County Bar participated in Vicksburg's Senior Citizens fair. During the fair, a booth was set up with a member on hand to advise seniors on various legal issues, such as wills and estates, powers of attorney, and living wills.
Hattiesburg Young Lawyers Association The Hattiesburg Young Lawyers Association sponsored a charity golf tournament at Canebrake Golf Course in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The tournament was has held on May 6, 2000, and raised $3,000 for the Hattiesburg Boys and Girls Club.
NEVADA
Nevada Young Lawyers Section The Coming of Age Project enters its second year. The project educates high school seniors on the legal responsibilities of adulthood through the publication of a booklet that is distributed to students with corresponding classroom presentations by young lawyers.In addition, the Nevada YLS once again conducted Lawsuits Day in conjunction with the National Make-A-Difference Day on October 28. Lawsuits Day is a clothing drive that collects professional attire for donation to disadvantaged individuals to use in job interviews.
OHIO
Cincinnati Bar Association Young Lawyers The Cincinnati Bar hosted its 8th Annual "Feed the Neighborhood" dinner at a small church in Over-the-Rhine, one of Cincinnati's poorest neighborhood. Over forty-five young lawyers served over 400 members of the community. In addition to the annual dinner, the CBA organized local firms and law-related organizations to serve meals every Sunday during the calendar year.OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma Young Lawyers The Oklahoma Young Lawyers are currently organizing "Quality of Life" programming as part of the Oklahoma Bar Association Annual Meeting. Massage therapists, mental health therapists, health screening professionals, and exercise therapists will be on hand during a three-hour session.OREGON
Oregon New Lawyers Division The Oregon New Lawyers Division (ONLD) has a number of programs in area high schools, from in-class participation to sponsoring a law-related essay contest. Lawyer volunteers are paired with teachers in the Lawyer in the Classroom program-providing students an opportunity to learn about the law. The ONLD has implemented a new program pairing new lawyers with mentors involved in the state legislature. The participants meet monthly and participate in a curriculum designed to train lawyers in the legislative process.
Multnomah Bar Association The Multnomah Bar Association (Portland) is translating its Domestic Violence Handbook into Spanish and expanding its distribution. The Young Lawyers continue to offer pro-bono legal services through the nonprofit project that pairs nonprofit organizations with lawyers who can meet the organization's legal needs.SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina Young Lawyers In December, the South Carolina Young Lawyers will be sponsoring a necessities drive for local domestic violence shelters. Young Lawyers from around the state will collect Christmas items for South Carolina's sixteen battered women's shelters.TEXAS
Fort Worth/Tarrant County Young Lawyers Association The Fort Worth/Tarrant County Young Lawyers Association teamed up with Texas Wesleyan School of Law to present the Second Annual Brief Run, a 5K run through downtown Fort Worth to benefit West Texas Legal Services, a nonprofit organization providing free legal services to the poor.UTAH
Utah State Bar YLD Each Tuesday evening the Utah State Bar YLD (and occasionally other firms/entitles at the YLD's request) sponsors an opportunity for people in the community to receive free legal advice and some one-on-one time with an attorney.
Recently, the YLD's Community Service Committee sponsored a "lawsuit day" where firms/attorneys donated professional clothing for the less fortunate to use for job interviews.VERMONT
Vermont Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section The Vermont Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section (VBA-YLS) recently established an endowed scholarship at Vermont Law School for Vermont residents who intend to practice in the state. The VBA-YLS contribution of $6,000 was matched with an additional $6,000 from the Fiske/Berger Challenge Fund at VLS.
Currently, the VBA-YLS Board is planning the ninth annual Mid-Winter Thaw to be held in Montreal, Quebec, on January 12-13, 2001. The Thaw combines seminars, the beauty and culture of Montreal, and the opportunity for attorneys to meet and socialize. The event is consistently one of the most well attended bar events, with over 200 attorneys attending last year's event.
