ABA Young Lawyers Division Highlights

For the first time in several years, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD) is coming to Boston, Mass. on February 12-14, 2009. Every year, the ABA YLD Midyear Meeting is held in conjunction with the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting, which this year will take place from February 11-17, 2009. The 2009 meeting provides New Hampshire lawyers with a rare opportunity to network with several hundred young attorneys from across the country, attend CLE sessions that are specially designed for newer attorneys, and to learn more about the important work of the ABA YLD.

The ABA YLD is the home for young lawyers. Comprised of more than 150,000 members and 300 affiliated young lawyer groups, the ABA YLD is committed to providing the profession with the young lawyer voice, ensuring that it reflects the society it serves, and helping young lawyers develop the skills and acquire the experiences that are necessary to attain professional and personal success. Membership in YLD is automatic for ABA members who are under the age of 36 or were admitted to their first U.S. bar within the past five years.

The ABA YLD has planned a wealth of valuable events for the 2009 Midyear Meeting, with even more programming to be announced in the coming weeks. The ABA YLD meeting begins in earnest at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 12, 2009, with an hour-long first-time attendee orientation, which will be followed by the ABA YLD’s traditional opening night welcome reception at a popular Boston venue. The legal education component of the midyear meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 13th, when the ABA YLD hosts two different sessions of hour-long programs (including several different CLEs) on topics ranging from effective appellate advocacy to preserving a client’s rights when the client’s debtors file for bankruptcy, to a discussion on legislative advocacy, with a special emphasis on advocacy that is related to domestic violence issues. The ABA YLD 2009 Midyear Meeting will cover topics of interest and use to virtually every lawyer.

In addition to the educational opportunities that are available during the ABA YLD 2009 Midyear Meeting, attendees will have the chance to participate in several different networking events at some of Boston’s culturally and historically significant sites. The aforementioned orientation session and welcome reception will take place on Thursday evening, and the traditional ABA YLD dinner dance is scheduled for Friday evening. All midyear meeting attendees are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the unique opportunities to develop relationships with other new lawyers from across the country, and sometimes even members of the ABA YLD’s international affiliates, throughout the course of the midyear meeting. Please check the ABA YLD website in early 2009 for specific details about the midyear meeting.

While the educational and social offerings of the ABA YLD midyear meeting are major draws to the event, the primary purpose for the midyear meeting is to hold a session of the ABA YLD Assembly. The ABA YLD Assembly, which is the principal policymaking body of the ABA YLD, will meet from 9:00 a.m. until noon on Saturday, February 14, 2009. The Assembly is comprised of delegations from across the United States. During Assembly at the ABA YLD 2008 Midyear Meeting, in addition to hearing from distinguished guests (including the former President of the ABA and the current President of the ABA, among others), the Assembly featured passionate and thoughtful debates on several resolutions, including a resolution that sought to increase public understanding of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution in our public elementary and secondary schools.

Jonathan Eck is an associate at Devine, Millimet & Branch and the ABA YLD District Representative for New Hampshire and Massachusetts.