THE AMERICAN BAR Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA/YLD) offers new lawyers great opportunities. Specifically, the YLD allows new lawyers the chance to meet other new lawyers nationwide, to participate in public and member service projects, to receive substantive CLE from nationally renowned lawyers, and to develop networking skills. Membership in the YLD is open to all ABA members under the age of 36 or admitted to practice for less than five years.

I currently serve as the ABA/YLD district representative for New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As the district representative, I represent both states before the Division. I also attend all meetings of the YLD Council, which has the general executive and administrative authority over the YLD. The New Hampshire Bar Association’s New Lawyers Committee is included among the more than 300 state and local affiliates of the ABA/YLD. Over the past year, I have worked closely with the New Lawyers Committee and its chair, Jason Craven, on increasing the benefits of our YLD affiliation.

There are four major conferences open to the YLD – the Annual Meeting in August, the fall conference in October, the Mid-Year Meeting in February and the spring conference in May. The conferences are packed with great CLEs and a host of fun-filled events. I have just returned from the spring conference in New Orleans along with two other lawyers from our New Lawyers Committee. No matter what you call it – New Orleans, NOLA or the Big Easy – the city lived up to its reputation and the conference was a great success.

The Annual Meeting in August will be held in San Francisco, and I encourage anyone interested in attending to visit the YLD Web site at www.abanet.org/yld for more information. New Hampshire is allowed two voting delegates at the YLD Assembly on August 8 and 9. If you are a member of the ABA/YLD and would like to be certified as a delegate, please contact the New Lawyers Committee. The advance registration deadline for the Annual Meeting is Friday, July 11, 2003.

This year, the YLD’s member service project is focused on balancing personal and professional responsibilities – an important issue to all lawyers. The YLD has published "Life in the Balance," a written guide that includes excerpts from experienced new lawyers (3-5 years) and veteran new lawyers (6-9 years) on strategies for achieving this balance. The guide is available on the YLD Web site, and I strongly suggest new lawyers take the time to read the guidance and suggestions offered by others.

The YLD has also taken on two public service projects this year. "Junior Judges: Helping Kids Make Smart Choices" is a curriculum targeted to elementary students (particularly 3rd-5th graders) that is designed to help kids faced with tough choices make good decisions. Consisting of an "MTV-type" video and curriculum guide, the program covers cheating, property destruction, teasing, bullying, stealing, weapons & gangs, and drugs & alcohol. The New Lawyers Committee made 25 copies of the video available to those participating in the NH Bar’s "A Lawyer in Every School" program this year. Lawyers who used the video praised the project.

The other public service project of the YLD is "Mediators Achieving Peace: A Direction Away From School Violence." This project is targeted at junior high school students with the goal of offering students an alternative to violence by showing them how to manage peer pressure before it escalates minor incidents into violent ones.

Watch for more information about the ABA/YLD and the New Lawyers Committee of the New Hampshire Bar Association. Do not miss out on the opportunities available to you as a new lawyer.

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