Young Lawyers Division 2000-2001
Jonathan Cole is an assistant editor of The Affiliate and practices law with Baker, Conelson, Bearman & Caldwell in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Winning Game Plan for Successful Bar Programs:
By Jonathan Cole
The Affiliate Outreach ProjectWith football season well under way, you should see the championship caliber team ABA YLD Chair Jeff Paskert has put together to help your affiliate have its best year ever! Your lineup for the Affiliate Outreach Project Team:
Jeff Paskert, ABA YLD Chair
As Chair of the Division, Jeff Paskert serves as coach of the AOP Team, setting its objectives and picking the players to accomplish them. This year, he has established an ambitious set of goals for the Division, including: (1) continuing service to the public, (2) increasing service to ABA members, (3) enhancing membership and membership communication, and (4) addressing the image of our profession. With this charge in hand, the AOP Team seeks to make each of these goals a reality for all affiliates.Jeff Snell, AOP Director
Under Jeff Snell's direction, the AOP Team provides the means for affiliates to develop and implement successful public service or membership service programs. Support from the AOP may be financial, instructional, and/or simply inspirational, so that bar leaders from across the country can make their affiliates meaningful not only in the lives of its members but also throughout their communities. As quarterback of the AOP Team, Jeff Snell takes the game plan and executes it on the field through the help of his team captains:The Game Plan
Championship seasons are not created from scratch. Training methods and successful plays obtained from the past or other teams are used to create winning combinations. As a result, precious time and resources are not wasted by reinventing the wheel.In the same way, the Affiliate Outreach Project (AOP) Team provides you the plays that can be used to create and develop successful programs and projects for your affiliate. With over 330 state and local young lawyer bar associations affiliated with the ABA YLD, the AOP Team provides a clearinghouse for successful ideas and programs to be replicated across the country. The plans for projects and programs which have put wins in the columns of other affiliates are yours for the taking.
As any successful football team has both offensive and defensive squads, the AOP Team consists of four parts, each of which plays a vital role in the AOP's mission:
National Conferences, Chris Stawski
Overtime
The National Conferences Team hosts two AOP Conferences a year to showcase successful programs and projects from across the country and to encourage replication of these successful ideas in other communities. In addition, the AOP National Conferences Team creates a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. The dynamic leadership of Chair Chris Stawski and Vice Chair Laura Farber packs a decisive one-two punch for this team. This year the fall AOP will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, and its spring counterpart will take on a southern drawl in Charleston, South Carolina.As with the great tradition of AOP Conferences in the past, both these events promise to be wise investments of your time as a bar leader. At AOP National Conferences, you have the opportunity to pick from a smorgasbord of great program ideas and "how-to" plans for you to have a successful bar year. AOP Conferences give you the opportunity to see what has proven successful for other bar organizations. As always, public service programs and member enhancement projects will continue to be featured at each conference.
You face a big problem at every National Conference: picking which sessions to attend. Because there is so much great information, it is impossible to do it all. Undoubtedly, you would need to have clone yourselves to attend every session which interests you or your affiliate. Fortunately, project ideas are offered at least twice during the conference, and if you are unable to attend either session, a program pamphlet is available for you to take home.
The format of the sessions provides you the opportunity to get the most significant information in a small amount of time. One way this is accomplished is by having presenters who know the actual nuts and bolts of the project or program being showcased. Therefore, you have the opportunity to interact with a person intimately familiar with the successes (and obstacles overcome) of the projects being featured. All sessions are presented as small group workshops or panel discussions in order for attendees to get the most out of each and every presentation. Beyond these specific project offerings, plenary sessions present speakers of significant interest to young lawyers. After the plenary speakers, time is allotted for small group discussions regarding the topics covered by the plenary speakers.
The icing on the cake at AOP functions is the opportunity to participate in great social events. These events range from elegant dinner dances to down-home barbecues, always featuring the best the host city has to offer. As a dividend these social events provide you an opportunity to get to know other bar leaders from across the country on an informal basis.
Subgrants, Tony Stankiewicz
Often times, it is easy to develop an idea or plan that an affiliate wishes to accomplish. However, the financial resources of the bar are sometimes stretched too thin to fund a specific endeavor. This is where Subgrants come into play. Subgrants provide the financial resources necessary to get an idea off the ground!In order to apply for a subgrant, an affiliate must submit an application detailing the public service and/or member service proposal which it hopes to accomplish. Public service subgrants range from $500 to $2,000, and member service subgrants may vary depending on the proposal.
For more information contact Chair Tony Stankiewicz at 617/723-9500.
While the AOP Team seeks to provide ideas and opportunities for affiliates, it also wishes to provide the gas to get those programs going. The Subgrant program plans to utilize the funds available to promote the creation and expansion of programs in order for young lawyer associations to best serve their communities.
Affiliate Assistance, Randy Miller
As the traveling ambassadors of the AOP, the Affiliate Assistance Team brings the benefits of the ABA to you. When affiliates desire to have some "one-on-one" coaching from experienced bar leaders, the Affiliate Assistance Team will send one of its members to meet with the affiliate, determine a promising plan of action, and offer the resources available from the ABA to address the problem or to put a plan of action in place.The only thing necessary to obtain the help of the Affiliate Assistance Team is to make a request. Assistance is offered on a "first come-first served" basis; therefore, it's best to get your request in as soon as possible. The Affiliate Assistance Team is willing to help any type of affiliate with any type of problem from the large obstacles to the small and seemingly insignificant problems which seem to never go away.
Members of the Affiliate Assistance Team have specialized training to help affiliates meet any need they have by featuring people who have a wealth of experience, including those who have run state bar associations and others who have been actively involved in the different aspects of the Division. With their expertise and the resources provided by the ABA, an affiliate can see any obstacle not as a problem, but rather as an opportunity to improve their association. Possible areas in which you may request assistance from this team include: (1) developing a new affiliate, (2) developing a plan to respond to the needs of your members, (3) recruiting and motivating volunteers for your various programs, (4) developing leadership among you members, (5) creating an affiliate newsletter, and (6) developing a long-range plan.
One of the greatest aspects about the Affiliate Assistance Team is its cost: nothing to the affiliate. That's right: FREE! Don't confuse this with Publisher's Clearinghouse, because by requesting the Affiliate Assistance Team you've really already won.
Affiliate Assistance Team members are the ambassadors of the ABA, providing assistance wherever it is needed. If you believe your affiliate may have use for the Affiliate Assistance Team, contact Randy Miller at 304/ 636-3560.
The Affiliate, Sharon Sirota Rubin
In this media age, two National Conferences are not always enough time to provide all the great information available for bar leaders. As a result, The Affiliate provides the AOP Team an opportunity to address bar leaders across the country six times a year. Under the able leadership of editor Sharon Sirota Rubin, The Affiliate promises issues that are both interesting and informative. In every issue, you will find out how to be a better leader, how to improve the quality of your life as an attorney, how to use the Internet more effectively, what's coming up in the ABA, projects that your affiliate can perform at little or no cost, plus much more. In addition to the hard copy of The Affiliate that you will receive, you can always find each issue's articles online on the ABA home page. This year, a regular column of The Affiliate will highlight the role of the Internet in our lives as professionals. With The Affiliate, you will be able to hop on the information superhighway with ease and exit with the information necessary to have a successful bar year.
As a result of the AOP, you have the vast resources of not only the ABA but also its 330 affiliates at your fingertips. With the AOP, you can draft all the ideas and plans necessary to develop a game plan for the best year your affiliate has ever had. So, don't wait. Use the opportunities offered you by the AOP and carry them in for a touchdown for your affiliate.
