The Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers

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Mentor Program

Through the Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Mentor Program, volunteers continue to make a difference in the lives of Richmond children. Partnering with Woodville Elementary School, young lawyers and University of Richmond law students help third graders with classroom assignments during their monthly volunteer sessions. Attorneys and law students of diverse backgrounds are highly encouraged to participate and are very active in mentoring the children, many of whom come from low-income housing developments with high rates of crime and poverty. Additional informatin is available via the Affiliate Database.

Georgia’s Young Lawyers Division
(SBG YLD)

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Department of Family and Children's Services Program

The SBG YLD’s Community Service Projects Committee implemented this project initially in 2011 and throughout that inaugural year partnered with Fulton County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services to provide extracurricular activities for foster children in an effort to expose those children to positive role models in the community. Some of the extracurricular activities included a trip to a Thrashers hockey game, a Hawks basketball game and the Georgia Aquarium. Each event paired one child with at least one volunteer, affording each child individual, undivided attention. At least twelve (12) children participated in each of the project’s events.

SBG YLD implemented this project after it discovered that there are many children in state custody in Georgia, and a lot of these foster children are placed with families that do not have the resources to provide them with opportunities outside of meeting their basic needs. This discovery led to the revelation that there is a need in the foster children community to create opportunities for these children to participate in fun, different adventures, while affording them the opportunity to meet young professionals that could serve as positive role models in their lives. With this need in mind, SBG YLD implemented this project with several goals, namely: to provide foster children with opportunities to interact with positive role models, participate in exciting community events and expose the children to events that they may otherwise not have the opportunity to experience.

The response to each of the activities during the 2011 bar year was extremely positive, with each child leaving with a smile on his/her face after giving each volunteer a hug and a “thank you.” Hence, the SBG YLD decided to make this project an annual one, and has since evaluated the effectiveness of the various chosen activities and searched for new opportunities as well.

SBG YLD used annual committee funds to fund each of the events, to the extent necessary. Actual event tickets were donated by the teams.

If you would like to implement this project in your State, you should know that each event takes about one month to plan. For additional questions about this project, contact Mary McAfee.

The Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section

Diversity, Inclusion and the Young Lawyer: Our Generation’s Roles, Responsibilities and Opportunities to Shape the Future of the Legal Profession

The Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section (“CBA YLS”) implemented its award-winning diversity/minority project, which consisted of an interactive panel discussion. CBA YLS recognized that despite the national population becoming more diverse, the legal profession has not seen a concomitant increase in the representation of diverse lawyers. In doing so, it acknowledged this disparity and formulated a plan (i.e., the panel discussion) to help increase diversity and inclusion, as well as reduce, if not eliminate, bias within the profession.

The panel brought together six (6) leaders from the Chicago legal community to discuss the current state of diversity and inclusion within the legal profession as well as current initiatives to improve on the status quo. The audience itself was extremely diverse and included representatives from minority bar associations and organizations around the Chicago area. As noted, this was an interactive panel, with audience members sharing their own experiences as well as soliciting advice regarding how to deal with the often difficult circumstances that arise surrounding diversity and inclusion issues.

Attendees paid a registration fee of $30 and received 1.5 hours of Professional Responsibility credits towards their CLE requirements. Approximately 40 members of CBA YLS attended the panel discussion.

CBA YLS plans to implement this project on a yearly basis as it continues to explore the issues of diversity and inclusion, but will vary the themes and speakers to address emerging issues.

If you would like to implement this project, you should know that a diverse group of members (approximately 5-10) are needed to solicit speaker on various topics to provide a comprehensive discussion of diversity and inclusion issues and initiatives. The project carries no implementation costs, but takes about two (2) months from beginning to end to implement. It is recommended that young lawyer groups implementing this project engage their leaders and members to solicit a diverse group of speakers to ensure representation of a broad spectrum and also consider co-sponsoring with other groups that represent or work in the area of diversity and inclusion to ensure a diverse audience.

For additional questions about this project, contact 2011-2012 CBA YLS Chair, Justin Heather.

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