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No doubt, the Young
Lawyers Section had an eventful and exciting 2004.
As 2005 gets kicked off, we have a busy Spring ahead.
Plenty of opportunities are available for you to get
involved.
Numerous volunteers
are needed to make the annual Arkansas Bar Association
Mock Trial Competition a success. YLS member Brian
Vandiver is chairing the Mock Trial Committee with
our own Michelle Cauley serving as co chair. Every
year, over 300 Arkansas high school students compete
in the statewide competition. Many of you can personally
attest to the importance of this competition because
a spark was struck in you when you took part in high
school. Arkansas high school students form teams,
receive mock case materials, practice for months,
and then compete against other Arkansas high school
students in February and March. Last year, around
30 Arkansas high schools competed and more are anticipated
for 2005. There are numerous ways you can volunteer.
One of the easiest ways to get involved is to assist
on the day of the competition, whether as a scoring
judge, a timekeeper, or a bailiff (as many as 175
will be needed). You could also assist in coaching
a team. The regional rounds of the competition will
be held on Saturday, February 26, 2005, in Jonesboro,
Benton, Russellville, and Hot Springs. The state finals
will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2005, at the Pulaski
County Courthouse in Little Rock. Mark these dates
on your calendar! The students will appreciate your
time commitment, and you will undoubtedly enjoy the
experience. To volunteer or for more information,
contact Brian (501-371-9999 or bvandiver@cgwg.com)
or Rando Hicks (501-375-4606 or rhicks@arkbar.com).
Under the leadership
of Shannon Short Smith, Michelle Cauley and Amy Dunn
preparations are in full swing for the Law Day activities
sponsored by the YLS. Law Day is "officially"
May 1, but activities will be taking place throughout
the week surrounding this date. This year, the YLS
is offering to come into high schools throughout the
state to present the "We the Jury" Program.
This excellent program provides a brief history of
the American judicial system, presents a trial, and
allows the students in the classroom to sit and deliberate
as the jury. YLS members will be facilitating this
program to tenth through twelfth grade classes that
are interested. All the materials already have been
finalized and your preparation time should not be
too significant. If you are interested in presenting
this program to your local high school, please let
Shannon (sssmith@mwsgw.com),
Michelle (mcauley@mwsgw.com),
or Amy
(amydunn@kutakrock.com)
know.
As you may have read
in a recent e-mail to all YLS members, the Board of
Governors approved the addition of three at-large
members to the YLS Executive Council at its December
meeting. The Executive Council is currently comprised
of nine elected district representatives and three
elected officers. The addition of the three at-large
members will expand the governing body of the YLS
with the intent of increasing the diversity of those
participating as Council members. The addition of
the new positions required an amendment to the YLS
By-Laws. A special meeting was held on Friday, January
21, 2005, during the Mid-Year Meeting in Memphis to
vote on the amendment. The By-Law changes were approved.
On April 15 and 16,
the YLS will host the South-Central Regional Conference
of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar
Association. This will mark the first time that Arkansas
has hosted this event. Delegates from at least six
states will be coming to Little Rock to share ideas
and work together to accomplish public service and
member service projects. The conference will be held
at The Peabody Little Rock and will include CLE programming
during the afternoon on Friday, April 15, a reception
and dinner Friday evening, project programming on
Saturday, and a tour of the Central High School Museum
and the Clinton Presidential Center later in the day
on Saturday. You are invited to take part in the conference.
Please watch for details posted at www.arkbar.com
or contact David Sterling (dwsterling@barberlawfirm.com)
or me (mhodge@cnjlaw.com)
for further details.
Hopefully, the use of
the space in this column to highlight a few of the
upcoming activities of the YLS has peaked your interest.
As you can see, your involvement is needed as we head
into a busy 2005. The more members we have involved,
the more we can accomplish. Plus, new members being
involved will likely lead to new ideas as to how the
YLS can better serve its membership and the public.
I look forward to working with you.•
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