Fellows Program

fellows

 

Announcing the 2013-2015 Class of Fellows!

The Section is excited to announce the 2013-2015 class of RPTE Fellows! There was a record number of 39 applications submitted, all of which were outstanding. After much discussion, the following individuals have been chosen to represent the Section for the 2013-2015 bar years:

Trust & Estate Fellows
Real Property Fellows
Elizabeth Glasgow
Venable LLP
Los Angeles, CA
Tiffany Harper
Polsinelli PC
Chicago, IL
Vanesa Hernandez
Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C.
Birmingham, AL
Joanne Crum
Lemery Greisler LLC
Albany, NY
Eric Hooper
Moore, Clarke, DuVall & Rodgers, P.C.
Albany, GA
Karen Nashiwa
Folawn Alterman & Richardson LLP
Portland, OR
Laura Lattman
The Lattman Law Firm, L.L.C.
New York, NY
Donald Rencher
Michigan State Housing Development Authority
Detroit, MI

 

The Section also sends a huge thank you to the 2013 selection committee: Hugh Drake, Liz Ochoa, Kathy Law, Rana Salti, Robert Nemzin, Orlando Lucero, and Marjorie Bardwell.

 

About the RPTE Fellows Program

The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Fellows Program encourages the active involvement and participation of young lawyers in Section activities. The goal of the program is to give young lawyers an opportunity to become involved in the substantive work of the RPTE Section, while developing into future leaders.

RPTE Fellows are assigned to work with a substantive Committee Chair, who serve as mentors and help expose them to all aspects of committee membership; get involved in substantive projects, which could include writing for a RPTE publication; become Section liaisons to the ABA Young Lawyers Division or local bar associations; become active members of the Membership Committee; and attend important Section leadership meetings.

RPTE Fellows will:

  • Be assigned to work with a substantive Committee Chair, who will serve as a mentor and help expose you to all aspects of committee membership
  • Get involved in a substantive project, which could include writing for a RPTE publication
  • Become a Section liaison to the ABA Young Lawyers Division or your local bar association
  • Become an active member of the Membership Committee
  • Attend important Section leadership meetings


The Fellowship appointment is for two years. To be considered for selection, a person must (1) have practiced in the trusts and estates or real property area for at least one year, (2) be younger than 36 years of age or have been admitted to the bar less than 10 years, and (3) have demonstrated leadership at the state or local bar level or in the ABA Young Lawyers Division. Applicants need not be ABA or RPTE members, yet we require accepted Fellows to become dues paying members of both the ABA and RPTE.  All Fellows will receive reimbursement of up to $2,000 annually to attend Section meetings.

The Section promotes full and equal participation in our membership, the association, our profession, and the justice system by all persons. As such, we are committed to ensuring that no less than half of the Fellows chosen each year are diverse.

Questions about the Fellows Program? Contact Hillary Clark at Hillary.clark@americanbar.org for more information.  


What Our Fellows Say

Christina JenkinsChristina Jenkins
Real Property Fellow, 2010-2012

Any young lawyer seeking clarity, direction, or sharpening of his or her skills must take advantage of such an opportunity for three reasons.  First, RPTE Fellows are invited into the inner workings of the Section on a level at which they may not have yet penetrated in their own firm.  Second, an ABA Fellowship provides an opportunity for unconventional, unrestricted mentorship in a supportive environment.  And third, a RPTE Fellowship involves true work assignments, such as presenting at ABA-sponsored CLE meetings. My experience during my term as a RPTE Fellow is invaluable, and I anticipate building upon my work within the Section for years to come.

 

Keya Koul

Keya Koul
Real Property Fellow, 2012-2014

I have had appointments through the ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for the past three years, but as I prepare to age out of YLD, I wanted to find a home in the larger association. The RPTE Fellowship Program has given me that home. During and after the 2012 Fall Leadership Meeting, I reached out to several Section leaders in order to get more involved and hit the ground running- everyone has been very responsive to my requests to get involved. All in all, my experience so far with the RPTE Fellowship Program has been an amazing one, and I look forward to everything the Section has to offer in the years to come.

 

 

Javier TapiaJavier Tapia
Trust & Estates Fellow, 2011-2013

Serving as a RPTE Fellow has allowed me to meet some of the leading practitioners and leaders in the trust and estates field throughout the country. To be able to consider such figures as professional contacts is a tremendous resource for a young attorney, and it has proven to be one of the most valuable aspects of serving as a Section Fellow. I would certainly encourage any young attorneys interested in RPTE to get involved by applying to be a Section Fellow. I look forward to making myself available as a resource to future Fellows, and salute the hard work that the Section staff does in making the Fellowship experience possible.



Troy Rule

Troy Rule
Real Property Fellow, 2011-2013

The RPTE Fellows Program is the single best way for young Section members to expand their network of national contacts, learn about the Section’s structure and purposes, and gain access to Section leadership opportunities that are available nowhere else. As a law professor, I recognize that staying informed about trends in the legal services industry and within my substantive teaching areas is crucial if I am to adequately prepare my students to practice law. My RPTE Fellowship has already enabled me to make useful connections and gain perspectives that will enhance my teaching and academic career well into the future.

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The 2012-2014 Class of Fellows

Trust & Estate Fellows
Real Property Fellows
Jessica Baggenstos
Duffy Kekel LLP, Portland, OR
Keya Koul
Albuquerque, NM
Robert Barton
Holland & Knight LLP, Los Angeles, CA
Soo Yeon Lee
Gordon & Centracchio, L.L.C., Chicago, IL
Dana Foley
Arnold & Porter LLP, Washington, DC
Sorell Negro
Robinson & Cole LLP, Hartford, CT

Updates on our Fellows:

2012-2014 Fellow Keya Koul sat on a panel of affiliate leaders at the 2013 ABA Young Lawyers Division Spring Conference in Minneapolis on Saturday May 18. The panel discussion was entitled "Fitting In: How Affiliates Work with Parent, National and Local Bar Associations." Keya is the current Chair of the State Bar of New Mexico Young Lawyers Division.  She sat on the panel with other affiliate leaders from across the country to discuss how affiliates work with their parent bar associations, national bar associations, including the ABA YLD, as well as other local young lawyer bar associations to accomplish public and member service projects. Keya also received the 2013-2014 ABA Presidential Appointment to the Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Congratulations, Keya!

 

At the ABA Young Lawyers Division's Spring Conference in Minneapolis, on May 17, 2013, Fellow Sorell Negro participated in a CLE panel that discussed hot topics in land use and environmental law. Sorell presented on new land use regulations pertaining to natural gas development and coastal adaptation to sea level rise, and new takings issues that have arisen or may arise with respect to these emerging areas of land use law. This presentation included a discussion of takings issues with regard to ordering the dismantling of seawalls, which Sorell analyzed in an article published in the Ocean and Coastal Law Journal last year entitled, "Built Seawalls: A Protected Investment or Subordinate to the Public Trust?"

 

2012-2014 Real Property Felllow Sorell Negro will be receiving the 'Up and Comer" award from the ABA State and Local Government Law Section at the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Congrats, Sorell!

 

Download 2012-2014 Fellow Keya Koul's thoughts on "Life After the ABA YLD - Placing Affiliate Leaders in the Big Bar" in this link.

 

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