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February 16, 2022 What's New at TIPS

The Committee on Outreach to Young Lawyers: Creating a TIPS Home for New and Young Lawyers

By Megan M. Coluccio

Happy new year greetings from the Standing Committee on Outreach to Young Lawyers (COOYL)! COOYL was created to serve as a pipeline for new and young lawyers into TIPS. Whether a new ABA member or a member of the Young Lawyer Division (YLD), our committee provides a landing place for practitioners to build a permanent home in TIPS. Our committee is emblematic of the TIPS spirit, as our mission is to get young lawyers involved in our Section. We are made up of a diverse, engaging, and fun group of attorneys who are decision-makers and practice in various areas across the country. Our membership includes a breadth of practice areas and intersects with nearly every TIPS general committee, standing committee, and task force. COOYL presents a fantastic forum and resource for young lawyers to network, learn, and gain opportunities within TIPS.

The relationships that are fostered within COOYL are a proven foundation for additional leadership roles in TIPS and the greater ABA community. A primary initiative of our committee is to give new and young lawyers opportunities to take forward-facing roles, with writing and speaking opportunities. Our membership provides a community of leaders on other TIPS committees including, the Standing Committees on Ethics and Professionalism, Diversity and Inclusion, Membership, in addition to substantive practice areas including, Admiralty and Maritime, Automobile Litigation, Business Litigation, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, Employment and Labor Law, Medicine and Law, and Animal Law, just to name a few. This provides a robust network of high-quality, highly specialized, attorneys across the nation, fostering mentorship relationships, access to subject matter experts, and leadership skills.

The heart of our committee, of course, is outreach to new and young lawyers, and that is where you, our TIPS members come in! As we enter 2022, and an anticipated return to our, albeit “new,” normal, planning is well underway for programming opportunities. Since 2020, COOYL has been working on the relaunch of the Anatomy of a Trial program, which we anticipate will launch during the bar year. We have planned two full days of dynamic, interactive, and demonstrative programming, divided into pretrial and trial topics, from both the plaintiff and defense perspectives. The covered topics include:

  • Initial Case Intake and Strategy
    • Conflict Checks, Settlement Demands/Insurance Coverage, Venue Considerations, Pre-suit Investigation and Strategy, Tort Claim Form and Statutory Requirements, Case Assignment, Case File Investigation, Case Strategy
    • ADR and Mediation
    • Rule 26 Conferences and Meet and Confers
  • Pleadings and Discovery
    • Initial Pleadings: Complaints, Responsive Pleadings, Counterclaims, and Crossclaims, Removal, Venue
    • Written Discovery: Interrogatories, Requests for Production, Requests for Admission, ESI Issues, Objections
    • Depositions: Taking and Defending the deposition, Exhibits, Objections, Use of Technology, Witness Preparation
  • Trial
    • Opening Statements
    • Closing Statements
    • Direct Examination
    • Cross-Examination
    • Experts

In preparation and in planning this program, we are working closely with various TIPS Committees. If you are interested in presenting on a topic, from either the plaintiff or defense perspective, or would like to participate in the planning and development of the programming, please join us! Anatomy of a Trial also offers the unique opportunity to place new and young lawyers in a forward-facing role as presenters. If you are a new or young lawyer, this is a wonderful opportunity and platform to get involved in TIPS.

If you are a new or young lawyer or a young at heart lawyer and passionate about outreach and mentorship of the future generations of our profession, please feel free to reach out to discuss how you can get involved. If you know of a new or young lawyer, recruit them to TIPS! If you are involved in other TIPS committees, please let us know how we can work with and partner with your committees. We look forward to the return of in-person TIPS events soon and embrace the opportunity for in-person networking, recruitment, and programming in the fellowship of our TIPS peers. Please come join us!

To learn more about COOYL and to join, please visit our Standing Committee page: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_trial_insurance_practice/committees/young_lawyers_sc/ or email me at [email protected].

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By Megan M. Coluccio

Megan M. Coluccio is a partner with Christie Law Group, PLLC and the Chair Elect of the Committee on Outreach to Young Lawyers.