2010 Annual Meeting Re-Cap

By Carl N. Frazier

Young lawyers from affiliates across the country converged on San Francisco for the 2010 Annual Meeting on Thursday, August 5 through Saturday, August 7.

The ABA YLD Annual Meeting provided attendees excellent opportunities for professional development and networking. The ABA YLD welcomed its members to San Francisco with a networking reception on Thursday evening. Attendees were able to attend any of countless CLE presentations offered by the ABA’s various sections and entities. The ABA YLD sponsored programming specific to young lawyers. Highlights of the ABA YLD programming included seminars on networking for the aspiring partner and how to plan award-winning affiliate programming.

On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, nearly 200 delegates met to do ABA YLD business at the Assembly. The ABA YLD Assembly is the principal policymaking body of the Division and consists of delegates from state and national affiliates, the armed forces, and the ABA YLD Council. At the Assembly, awards were presented to young lawyers and affiliates, including the ABA YLD Outstanding Young Military Service Lawyer Awards to courageous lawyers serving in the armed forces, ABA YLD Awards of Achievement for effective and innovative affiliate programming, and the Child Advocacy Awards for lawyers representing some of the most vulnerable members of our society. The ABA YLD Assembly, in bringing together leaders from affiliates around the country, provides a unique opportunity to share ideas and network. Ethan Tidmore, 2009–2010 Assembly Speaker remarked that “this year’s Annual Assembly offered the perfect opportunity for the sharing of ideas among affiliate leaders.” Tidmore stated that in addition to deciding matters of Division policy, the Assembly “highlighted the best affiliate projects from around the country” and “had numerous networking events to develop lasting friendships and promote opportunities for affiliate leaders to work together.” 

A number of resolutions were presented for the Assembly’s consideration. Following spirited but respectful debate, the Assembly adopted three contested resolutions:

1. Resolution 100B, sponsored primarily by the ABA Criminal Justice Section, urged trial and appellate courts to differentiate between “error” and “misconduct” when reviewing the conduct of prosecutors.
2. Resolution 100C, also sponsored primarily by the ABA Criminal Justice Section, urged federal, state, and local governments to provide sufficient funding for the provision of immigration advice for indigent non-U.S. citizen defendants in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Padilla v. Kentucky.
3. Resolution 111, sponsored by a number of ABA entities and state and local bar associations, urged states and territorial governments to eliminate all legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry.

More information regarding the ABA YLD Assembly and the resolutions it considered is available at www.abanet.org/yld/assembly .

The Annual Meeting is the highlight of the ABA YLD bar year, providing a rewarding culmination to a successful year, and the 2010 meeting in San Francisco was certainly no exception. With the Annual Meeting’s excellent programming and opportunities for leadership, all affiliates should consider encouraging their members to attend. Mark your calendar now for the 2011 ABA YLD Annual Meeting, which will take place August 4 through 6, 2011, in Toronto, Canada!