ABA Young Lawyers Division

Member Service Project

Current Member Service Projects

101 Practice Series
This year, the Young Lawyers Division will present the "101 Practice Series" as its Member Service Project. Our focus is on the lawyers that are new to our profession and who are in their first three years of practice. Our goal is to provide these new lawyers with basic training in both substantive and practical aspects of a law practice. Too often, our youngest members do not recieve the mentorship and training they need to learn basic lawyering skills. Young lawyers often specialize too early without knowing basic information about other areas of law that are critical to becoming a well-rounded lawyer (such as real estate, intellectual property, or environmental law) or important practical skills (such as negotiating settlements or drafting contracts).

We will provide our members with these tools by hosting quality programming at our four conferences during the year in Baltimore (Fall Conference), Miami (Mid-Year Conference), Montreal (Spring Conference) and San Francisco (Annual Conference). On this website, we will also post short, 101-type articles on different areas of substantive law as well as professional development articles to improve your legal skills. With the participation of our numerous substantive committees, we will seek to cover a broad range of topics and issues in the 101 Practice Series. If you are interested in becoming involved in the Member Service Project this year, please contact Sunil R. Harjani, Vice-Director of Membership, at sunilharjani@abanet.org.

Click here to read more about this project and to view upcoming member service projects.

Recent Member Service Projects

Do It Yourself: Your Career-Building Toolkit
The focus of the 2005-06 Member Service Project is to provide young lawyers with the tools they need to create their own personal career plans. The project addresses topics such as finding a mentor, seeking constructive feedback, pursuing continuing legal education, finding opportunities for hands-on skills development, and others. These materials are available at YLD conferences, in its publications and on its website, ensuring access to the YLD's 120,000 members.

Click here to read about more of our recent member service projects.

Member Service Opportunities

Write for the Member Service Project This Year!!!

As lawyers, we often wonder whether we are choosing the right paths for our careers. This year's member service project is designed to aid us in that assessment. Unlock Your Potential will focus on the various career paths available to young lawyers and will provide programming designed to highlight various career options. The program's focus this year will be to assist young lawyers in evaluating whether solo practice is the path best for them. In Hanging Out Your Shingle, young lawyers will receive materials designed to assist them in exploring the various facets of forming and developing a law practice. The program will also offer suggestions regarding financing and marketing a solo practice.

Click here to go to the Unlock Your Potential homepage.

Past Member Service Projects

Unlock Your Potential: Hanging Out Your Shingle

Subgrants for New Programs

To promote public service and member support, the ABA Young Lawyers Division awards subgrants to young lawyer affiliates to assist them in undertaking projects in these areas. Funding for these subgrants is provided by the American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education.

Every year the public service subgrant and member service subgrant programs begin with a mailing to affiliate chairs and chair-elects in early January. The mailing announces the start of the program for that year and provides an updated application form. These applications are usually emailed to affiliate leaders in January and must be submitted by mid- March for consideration. The judging team is comprised of ABA YLD affiliate members.

Public service subgrants are given to affiliates whose programs are designed to provide law-related services to segments of the population not currently being adequately served. Additional priority is given to public service projects that provide innovative approaches to dealing with significant public need. Special consideration is also given to first-time applicants and to affiliates with small annual budgets.

Projects eligible for member service subgrants are those that focus on: Professionalism/Ethics, Member Development/Recruitment and Member Support. Judging is based on the submission of well-developed proposals that demonstrate a need for the project and its potential impact on the profession and the Bar. Priority is given to affiliates with small annual budgets, new affiliates and minority projects.

All affiliates are encouraged to apply for subgrants. There is no limit to the number of applications an affiliate may submit, however, the competition is keen and affiliates are encouraged to submit only their best projects for consideration.

Updated applications are available here on the website. For more information on subgrants, please contact ABA YLD Staff, Gina Sadler at 312/988-5671.

Click here for more information about our subgrant program.