YLD efforts yield great results
(Spring 2005 YLD report from President Cindy Wyrick)
The TBA YLD has been very busy since the Leadership Conference in January. We continue to meet the goals that we set at the beginning of the bar year, but we are cognizant of the fact that we only have one quarter left in which to achieve our remaining goals. We certainly will not be coasting to the finish line! We will work hard throughout the remainder of the year to accomplish all that we can on behalf of the TBA. An outline of our activities since the Leadership Conference follows.
MOCK TRIAL
The Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition was a great success! Eighteen finalists from across the state competed for the honor of representing Tennessee at the National Mock Trial Competition.
For the second year in a row, Hume-Fogg won the competition, beating St. Mary’s in the final round. Could this be another Clinton High dynasty in the making? As many of you know, one of the greatest challenges during the competition is to keep the lag time between rounds to a minimum. We made great strides in reducing that time this year, and expect to reduce it even further next year. This is due in large part to changes in the power matching process. Longtime mock trial guru Beth Dunning graciously agreed to assist with power matching this year, while at the same time training a new power matching team. Jordan Keller, Scott Rose, and David Thompson have been well prepared by Beth to tackle power matching in the coming years.
A huge thank you goes to Mock Trial Chair Danielle Barnes for all of her hard work in pulling together a stellar competition. We also are grateful to Co-Chair Jordan Keller, who wore a number of hats in conjunction with the competition, including serving as the drafter of our problem for the competition. Of course, the dedication and service of YLD Staff Director Stacey Shrader and many others from the TBA staff also was key to the competition’s success. Additionally, we greatly appreciate TBA President Charles Swanson taking the time to be present for the entire competition. Charles proved himself to be the best type of servant leader, when he traveled to a number of local convenience stores to find just the right batteries for our competition stopwatches. (Need I say more?)
On a final note, we had several law students who served as bailiffs for the competition, with an especially good turnout from the Nashville School of Law. We were pleased to see that our efforts to strengthen ties with law student members of the TBA are yielding dividends.
CLE
The YLD has been busy presenting the Trial Practice Seminar in Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Knoxville, and the Tri-Cities. We have also produced a reinvigorated ethics program (our second of the year), which was presented in Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville. This updated version of our traditional ethics seminar included one hour of mediation ethics, so that Rule 31 mediators could use the course to meet their mediation specific CLE requirements. We were especially pleased with the participation in this program.
Our last project for the year is to finalize our plans for the new Transactional Practice CLE, which will be presented in July. We have identified the six topics for this six-hour CLE. They are: contract drafting, estate planning, mediation for the transactional lawyer, intellectual property, real estate practice, and business entity selection and formation. We continue to be grateful to our CLE Committee Chair Carol Anne Long for her tremendous efforts. We also appreciate the support of TBA CLE Committee Co-Chair and YLD Board member Angelia Morie Nystrom, who also has worked tirelessly to make sure that the YLD presented excellent CLE programming. Finally, we certainly appreciate the work of the TBA staff with each of our CLE presentations.
CHILDREN’S ISSUES COMMITTEE
As you know, the TBA YLD awarded our first annual CASA Volunteer of the Year Award to Regina Saffel during the Pro Bono Awards Luncheon at the Leadership Conference. We were very grateful for the opportunity to present the award in this most appropriate forum. The TBA, the TBA YLD, and CASA all received favorable press coverage as a result of this event. It appears that the award helped us achieve one of our goals on behalf of CASA, which is to raise awareness of the organization.
The e-help line, which we established for CASA directors throughout the state, is also receiving good reviews, and is being used on a regular basis. Thanks to Committee Chair Tasha Blakney, we have been able to provide qualified attorneys to promptly respond to inquiries. I also had the opportunity to provide training for members of ETACC regarding the role of a guardian ad litem in dependency and neglect cases. The committee is very excited about the opportunity to provide this kind of training because members of ETACC are directly involved in dependency and neglect matters, and they will be better equipped to do their jobs in a way that is helpful to the guardian ad litem and the court now that they have a better understanding of the guardian’s role.
YLD BY LAWS
I am very pleased to report that the YLD Board has voted to recommend
changes to the bylaws that were presented to them at the Leadership Conference. This has been an enormous undertaking for the YLD, and we are so pleased that we have taken another step toward approving these much-needed changes. The issue will be presented to the full membership for a vote at our annual membership meeting, which takes place during the TBA annual convention in June.
THE QUARTERLY and E-DICT
As promised, our members will receive four editions of The Quarterly this year. Our next edition will be distributed to members this month and will focus primarily on the mock trial competition. However, there will be a number of other articles of interest in this edition. We have worked hard to make what is already a good publication even better this year by adding a “practice tips” and “technology” column. The final issue of The Quarterly will be distributed in May, and will include information on the TBA convention, among other things. Editor Jason Long has certainly gotten the job done this year, and we appreciate his efforts. We continue to distribute E-DICT each month electronically. It is an excellent communication tool, which allows us to get information to our members in a timelier manner. Thanks to Editor David Changas and Staff Director Stacey Shrader for their work on this important project.
LAW STUDENT OUTREACH COMMITTEE
At long last, the resume database will be unveiled in April! This will be a tremendous tool for our TBA law student members and for TBA members whose firms are seeking quality associates. We plan to hold a second round of receptions at the law schools across the state to promote the database, and recruit additional law student members. The TBA YLD has also applied for an ABA/YLD member service sub grant to help defray the costs of this project. We are excited about inquiries we have had from the Appalachian School of Law and Cumberland Law School about setting up TBA law student chapters at their respective schools. The committee is exploring the feasibility of this idea, and will take initial action by the end of the bar year. Laura Steel has done a tremendous job with this committee. Through her hard work we have established a new level of communication with and service to our law student members.
STATEWIDE PUBLIC SERVICE DAY
This year the focus of SPSD will be raising awareness of and funds for local CASA programs. During Law Day actvities, each District Representative across the state will plan a fundraiser/awareness event, or involve CASA and local attorneys in an event that already has been planned. For example, in District 5, a representative from CASA will speak at the local Law Day luncheon. In District 11, the Law Day brunch will be used to educate members of the bar about CASA, as there is a new CASA program which is being started in that District. Chair Jenny Rogers is doing her usual great job in coordinating with the District Representatives to make this event a success! We will also have a terrific new partner to assist us with our SPSD projects this year - the TBA YLD Fellows! Jonathan Steen, the Fellows liaison to the YLD Board, is the author of the idea, which was heartily endorsed by Fellows President Pam Reeves. We welcome the Fellows back home.
LAW DAY ART AND ESSAY COMMITTEE
The materials for the 2005 Law Day Art and Essay Competition have been mailed to schools across the state. The District Representatives will receive the submissions for each District by April 15. Committee Chair Stacey Cason reports that she has received a number of inquiries about the competition since the materials were distributed, and, therefore, expects a high level of participation.
PUBLICATIONS
The Publications Committee is making great strides in updating the Basic Legal Resources Handbook. Committee members Dan Coughlin and Lee Bowles have been working hard to ensure that the handbook contains accurate and up to date information. This second edition also will feature a number of Spanish translations. We anticipate going to press with the revised handbook in early May. The Publications Committee also is updating the local rules, and expects to have this project completed by April 15.
TECHNOLOGY
The Technology Committee has become very active this year. They have
contributed articles for each edition of The Quarterly and are planning a CLE on electronic case filing in federal court. In addition, they are working on adding information to our website which will make it much more valuable to our members. A big thanks to Chair Chad Dickson, Co-Chair Danny Awdeh, and committee member Michael Berman for their efforts.
ABA/YLD
YLD President-Elect Danny Van Horn, Vice President Lisa Richter, Laura Steel, David Changas, David Johnson, and I served as delegates to the ABA Midyear Meeting in Salt
Lake City, UT. The ABA/YLD Assembly addressed some very important issues facing our profession, many of which were ultimately addressed by the full ABA House of Delegates.
The Midyear Meeting also brought a great victory for YLD President-Elect Danny Van Horn. Danny will serve as the Assembly Clerk during the 2005-2006 bar year, and will ascend to the position of Assembly Speaker in 2006. As you will recall, fellow Tennessean Jonathan Cole is also seeking an ABA/YLD office, and is participating in a contested election. That election will be held during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago in August.
STARS OF THE QUARTER
The YLD has announced its second quarter “stars.” They are Carol Ann Long, who was recognized for her hard work as Chair of the CLE Committee, and Tasha Blakney, who has done an excellent job as Chair of the Children’s Issues Committee. We are fortunate to have such outstanding individuals as members of our Board.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
To say that this bar year has flown by would be an understatement. I continue to be amazed by what a group of dedicated volunteers can accomplish in a very short period of time. I always have plenty of material for this report because the members of the YLD Board have worked so hard. Their work and accomplishments make it a privilege to submit this report to you. I am very blessed to have such a dedicated and talented board. We have a number of things left to accomplish before the end of the year, and I look forward to sharing our additional successes with you in June. In the meantime, if we can be of assistance to any of you, please let me know.
|
|
Learn more
Learn more about CASA and how to get involved here in Tennessee.
|
|
