chevron-down Created with Sketch Beta.

The YLD Assembly will next meet on Saturday, February 4, 2023, 9am CT to 12:30 p.m. CT, in conjunction with the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. This Assembly will be held in person only at the Marriott New Orleans (check room assignment onsite).

Assembly Information

The dress code for Assembly is business attire. All delegates to Midyear Assembly must agree to abide by the Code of Conduct. Delegates agree to do so when signing the onsite delegate book and receiving a delegate ribbon. Violation of the Code of Conduct may result in forfeiture of delegate status. In accordance with Assembly Standing Rules Rule 5.2(b), the following Resolutions with Reports have been distributed via email to the Division’s council members and other then-designated delegates a minimum of 14 days prior to the meeting, slated on the Debate Calendar or Consent Calendar, as indicated below.

Delegate Sign-Up & Certification

Affiliate Delegate Sign-Up is now live, and will remain open through January 6, 2023.

YLD Midyear Assembly will be held in-person only, on Saturday, February 4, 2023, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

(Do not use this form if you are a YLD Council Member, YLD Scholar, or a designated Young Lawyer Representative for the House of Delegates. You are already signed up by virtue of your position.)

For the Affiliate Delegate Allocation numbers, view this PDF.

To vote in the YLD Assembly you must be certified as a delegate and registered for the meeting during which the Assembly is held. Young lawyer state and national bar organizations and military branches (YLD affiliates) choose Assembly delegates to represent their organization at the Midyear and Annual Meeting Assemblies. If you are interested in serving as a delegate, contact the YLD affiliate organization you would like to represent to express your interest. The affiliate organization must approve your role as a YLD delegate before you can be certified.   

See full Assembly Delegate Sign-Up Tips & Tricks here.

If you have any questions regarding delegate certification, please contact the YLD Credentials Board at [email protected].

Debate Calendar

The following Resolutions have been slated for the Midyear 2023 YLD Assembly Debate Calendar. Any delegate or other person with privileges of the floor may speak in favor of or in opposition to any Resolution on the Debate Calendar. Delegates may also make motions to amend Resolutions or postpone Resolutions indefinitely, or other motions in accordance with the Assembly Standing Rules. For additional guidance, see the Robert’s Rules of Order Cheat Sheet.

Persons wishing to take action regarding a Resolution should submit written notice via electronic “Salmon Slip” no later than Friday, February 3, 5pm CT. Hard-copy Salmon Slips will be available during Assembly on Saturday, but preference will be given to individuals who submit electronic requests in advance. No person may take action regarding a Resolution without completing either an electronic or hard-copy Salmon Slip and being recognized by the Speaker.

Why is it called a “Salmon Slip”?

Because it’s been traditionally printed on salmon-colored paper!

Disclaimer

These resolutions were passed by YLD Assembly and do not reflect that of the ABA House of Delegates.

23-615YL (Passed)

Regarding Access to Justice in Housing Courts

Recognizes various needs and impacts related to the affordable housing crisis, and urges legislative action and implementation of innovative funding sources to ensure the right to counsel for low-income defendants in housing courts or in residential landlord-tenant litigation. 

23-621YL (Passed)

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team 

Supports various efforts to ensure that bar admission is not denied based solely on immigration status, including urging specific actions by state and territorial legislative bodies, bar licensing entities vested with the authority to regulate the legal profession, and Congress. 

Resolutions referred to the YLD that will also be considered by the 2023 Midyear House of Delegates: 

23M300 (Passed YLD, Did not pass House of Delegates)

Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar 

Concurs in the action of the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar in making amendments dated February 2023 to Standards 501 and 503 of the ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools. 

23M703 (Passed by YLD, Withdrawn in House of Delegates)

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws 

Approves the Uniform Telehealth Act promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws as an appropriate Act for those states desiring to adopt the specific substantive law suggested therein. 

Consent Calendar

The Resolutions Teams has compiled a Consent Calendar of Resolutions & Reports to which it does not expect substantial opposition.

Any delegate may object to inclusion of a Resolution on the Consent Calendar by submitting written notice via electronic “Salmon Slip” no later than Friday, February 3, 5 p.m. CT. Pursuant to the Assembly Standing Rules, Saturday’s Assembly will also contain a window to object to inclusion of a Resolution on the Consent Calendar.

Please note: objecting to a Resolution on the Consent Calendar adds the Resolution to the Debate Calendar, with whomever objected serving as the Resolution’s primary opponent in the debate.

23-600YL

Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Encourages respectful use of pronouns and honorifics consistent with a person’s gender identity within law schools, the bar admissions process, the legal profession, and the justice system. Further urges laws schools and bar admissions entities to include self-reporting options for gender-inclusive language in admissions applications, registration portals, and other submission forms.

23-206YL

Law Student Debt and Financial Wellness Team

Urges certain extensions of the 2020 CARES Act (which provides tax-advantaged scenarios through employer driven educational assistance plans). Further urges legislative expansions of the employer tax advantages related to employee student loan payments.

23-101YL

YLD Bylaws Amendment

Proposes amendments to the Mission Statement of the Bylaws of the Young Lawyers Division, to be consistent with the Division’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.

Approved by YLD Council at Spring Meeting 2022. Must be approved by the ABA Board of Governors to take effect.

23-102YL

YLD Bylaws Amendment

Proposes amendments to Article II, Membership, of the Bylaws of the Young Lawyers Division, to clarify the qualification of “Affiliate Professional” members.

Adds to amendments approved by YLD Council at Midyear Meeting 2021 and by YLD Assembly at Annual Meeting 2021. Must be approved by the ABA Board of Governors to take effect.

23-110YL

ABA Constitutional Amendment

Proposes amendments to the Constitution of the American Bar Association to synchronize the eligibility of a young lawyer House of Delegates member and a young lawyer member-at-large on the Board of Governors with the more inclusive eligibility of membership in the ABA Young Lawyers Division (which is, a lawyer less than 36 years old or admitted to practice in their first bar within the past ten years).

If adopted by the Division, this Resolution will be submitted to the House of Delegates for Annual Meeting 2023.

Resolutions referred to the YLD that will also be considered by the 2023 Midyear House of Delegates:

23M501

Criminal Justice Section

Urges the American Bar Association to adopt and support the report of the Criminal Justice Section’s Women in Criminal Justice Task Force on ten principles to advance the goal of gender equity among employers, institutions and people who are part of the criminal legal profession.

23M502

Criminal Justice Section

Urges all governmental entities and organizations to eliminate the use of stigmatizing and inhumane labels to refer to people who are or have been involved in the criminal legal system. 

23M505

Section of Litigation
International Law Section 

Adopts the American Bar Association Best Practices for Remote Depositions, dated February 2023. 

23M509

Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section

Urges Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture to incentivize the safeguarding of the environment, human health, food safety, animal welfare and farmers by providing natural disaster preparedness training and guidance to farmers and other animal producers who seek federal government payments including, but not limited to, those through the Livestock Indemnity Program. 

23M510

Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Commission on Homelessness and Poverty

Urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to amend existing laws and/or enact new laws to provide a refundable personal income tax credit for qualified lower-income renters and tenants.

23M511

Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Center for Human Rights
Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice
Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Opposes all federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal legislation, regulation, and agency policy that attempts to impose medical or surgical intervention on minors with intersex traits (also known as variations in sex characteristics) without the minor’s informed consent or assent, and urges licensed professionals not to conduct or propose medical or surgical intervention on minors with intersex traits until the minor requests the proposed care, understands the impact of the proposed care as well as alternatives, is provided with affirming psychosocial supports, and gives informed consent or assent, except when immediate life-threatening circumstances require emergency intervention.

23M512

Section Of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Center for Human Rights
Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice
Commission on Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity
Senior Lawyers Division

Opposes governmental actions and policies that unreasonably interfere with a person’s abilities to direct their own health care, including their right to refuse unwanted medical treatment and their legally authorized substitute decisionmakers’ rights to refuse medical treatment on their behalf.

23M513

Section Of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Center For Human Rights
Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice
Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Criminal Justice Section
Senior Lawyers Division

Opposes federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal legislation and regulations that restrict the right of any individual to travel interstate to access medical care.  

23M514 (Revised)

Section Of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Coalition On Racial And Ethnic Justice
Commission On Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
International Law Section
Senior Lawyers Division

Condemns antisemitism and proposes certain ameliorating measures to combat it.

23M606

Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Section of Civil Rights And Social Justice

Encourages state and territorial bar licensing entities to eliminate from applications required for admission to the bar any questions that ask about sexual orientation or gender identity and to eliminate processes that could lead to unintended disclosure of sexual orientation or gender identity without explicit consent from the applicant. 

23M400

King County Bar Association

Urges SCOTUS to adopt a code of judicial ethics.

23M401

New York State Bar Association

Supports the adoption of bench cards addressing best practices for judges in "using LGBTQ+ inclusive language and pronouns."

23M402

Virgin Islands Bar Association

Urges governments to remove racial & ethnic bias symbols of the Confederate States of America from judicial areas accessible to jurors, litigants, attorneys, witnesses, and the general public in courthouses, courtrooms, and the exterior of any government facilities in which judicial proceedings are held.

23M506 (Revised)

International Law Section
Center for Human Rights
ABA Representatives and Observers to the United Nations

Condemns the Russian Federation's unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

About YLD Resolutions

The control and administration of the American Bar Association (ABA) is vested in the House of Delegates (HOD), the only policy making body of the ABA. This ABA YLD resolution search engine is limited to resolutions adopted by the ABA YLD Assembly and provided to allow members to find and review past YLD Assembly resolutions. Resolutions that were adopted by the ABA YLD Assembly must not be mistaken as the policies of the ABA.

Elections Notice

Declarations for positions during the 2023-2024 bar year will open at the adjournment of the February 2023 Midyear Meeting. You can find the complete Election Notice and additional information on the Elections Webpage.

Join the Assembly Distribution List

To join the Assembly Distribution List for up-to-date notifications regarding Assembly, send an email to [email protected] and follow instructions to confirm. 

Meeting and Assembly Rules