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Young Lawyers / Law Student Development Committee

Mission

Works to serve the interests of young lawyers and law students in the Criminal Justice Section, including providing practical career information, publishing, and speaking opportunities, networking, public service opportunities, activities to improve the criminal justice system and young lawyer/student participation in Section leadership.

The ABA Young Lawyers Division defines young lawyers as “under the age of 36 or in practice five years or less.”

ABA Young Lawyers DivisionABA Law Student Division

Advance  Your Career

Be an Expert:  Follow  Developments in Criminal Law

Differentiate Yourself:  Lead, Publish, Speak

Goals and Projects

Continuing Legal Education:  Possible topics of CLE programs: Improving Community and Law Enforcement Interaction; Bail Reform; The Latest in Community Supervision Alternative to Incarceration.

Publications: Articles in the Section Newsletter on a topic of interest for young attorneys.

Policy Resolution: Policy resolutions on major issues affecting young attorneys will be considered, including rising tuition costs, falling salaries, lack of employment prospects, and lack of real-world preparation associated with traditional law school education.

The CJS Mentorship Program is open for participation. The Mentorship program aims to facilitate relationships between young lawyers and seasoned attorneys within the Criminal Justice Section. Participation in the program only requires one phone call or coffee meeting with your matched mentee. Please contact the YLC chairs if you have any questions.  

Issues of Interest

·       Professional development – The Committee will develop a variety of resources around professional development such as, potentially, career profiles of various lawyer leaders across the field, compiling non-proprietary resources that are readily available to be posted on the YLC webpage, etc.

·       Alternatives to incarceration and diversion – The Committee will look to partner with the Alternatives to incarceration and diversion committee to co-present a webinar or brownbag introducing young lawyers alternatives to incarceration and the value of such practices in providing equitable access to justice

·       Collateral consequences of a conviction – The Committee will look to host a webinar or develop materials for the committee webpage describing collateral consequences of a conviction, how various legal roles (e.g., prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges) can reduce the impact of these consequences, and related resources/tools that lawyers can access

·       The overlap of homelessness and criminal justice involvement – The Committee will explore options for focusing on the overlap of homelessness and criminal justice, such as potentially engaging subject-matter experts for programming, authoring a newsletter or magazine article on the topic, or other strategy on this subject matter

·     Mental illness – The Committee will look to partner with the Mental Health Committee on an activity

Leadership

Co-Chairs: 

Bethany Bonsu, Braelah McGinnis

CJS Resources

CJS Law Students

Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program

CJS Podcast

Videos of CJS Programs

 

Public Resources 

Financial Tips for Young Lawyers

Starting a Solo Practice for Under $3,000