ALOHA!

ABA YLD ANNUAL MEETING REPORT
HONOLULU, HAWAII
KENDYL HANKS AND AMY DAVIS BENAVIDES
OUTGOING AND INCOMING DISTRICT 26 YLD REP

On August 3-6, the ABA Young Lawyers Division held its annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the land of leis, hula, surfing and the origin of the mai tai, TYLA leaders joined young lawyers from around the country to plan public and member service projects for the year and catch up with friends old and new.

TEXAS YOUNG LAWYERS HIGHLIGHTED
Every year TYLA’s public service and member service projects shine in the ABA YLD national Awards of Achievement competition. This program is designed to encourage project development by recognizing the time, effort and skills expended by young lawyer organizations around the country in implementing public service and bar service projects in their communities.
The ABA YLD again recognized the important achievements of TYLA and many of its local affiliates with various awards for public service, members service and overall excellence. Congratulations to TYLA which received the Outstanding Public Service Project Award for Kids in the Crossfire, an educational video used by schools and public service organizations across the state to improve the lives of Texas children by educating their parents about the impact of divorce. Many TYLA Affiliates also received their own Awards of Achievement for local projects.
Congratulations to these winning affiliates:
**Houston Young Lawyers Association, second place awards in the 1B category for comprehensive—service to the public and service to the bar—and for its minority projects.
**Austin Young Lawyers Association, first place awards in the IIB category for its overall excellence and for Service to the Bar and Service to the Public.
**Collin County Young Lawyers Association, first place awards in the IIC category for its overall excellence and for Service to the Bar and Service to the Public.
**Ft. Worth-Tarrant County Young Lawyers Association, second place for overall excellence in the IIC category.
**Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, second place for overall excellence and its Newsletter, as well as special recognition for its Minority Projects.
**Congratulations also to the young lawyers of Amarillo, Hidalgo County, San Antonio and Texarkana who also were recognized for their excellent submissions.
As they say in Hawaii, No Ka Oi (you are the best)!

WELCOMING TEXAS LEADERS
No mention of Texas lawyers would be complete without huge kudos to Texas’s own Jay Ray, welcomed in Hawaii as the incoming ABA YLD Chair. The meeting also marked the promotion of two other Texans to the highest ranks of ABA YLD: our District’s own Kendyl Hanks is trading in her position as District Representative for YLD Communications Director. Likewise, Kelly Ann Clarke transitioned from District 25 Representative to YLD Administrative Director. Congratulations Jay, Kendyl and Kelly-Ann, we are proud to call you a fellow Texans.

UNVEILING YLD’S PUBLIC SERVICE PROJECT: CHOOSE LAW
In his first action as Chair, Jay Ray proudly introduced the YLD public service project for 2006-2007, Choose Law: A Profession for All. The project bolsters the ABA’s Diversity Pipeline project, designed to ensure the success of individuals of color throughout the education process in order to increase diversity within the legal profession. Choose Law targets ninth grade high school students of color through use of a new and powerful video, a written curriculum, website, book and attorney volunteers. These tools encourage students of color to seek a career in the legal profession and provide guidance on getting there. Volunteers are needed to promote and implement Choose Law in schools and youth groups; visit www.abayld.org/chooselaw or contact Phenise Poole or Rita Diaz for more information.

YLD’S 2006-2007 MEMBER SERVICE PROJECT: 101 PRACTICE SERIES
This year, the Young Lawyers Division will present the “101 Practice Series” as its Member Service Project. The YLD’s goal is to provide lawyers in the first few years of practice with basic training in both substantive and practical aspects of a law practice. Too often, our youngest members do not receive the mentorship and training they need to learn basic lawyering skills. Young lawyers often specialize too early without knowing basic information about other areas of law that are critical to becoming a well-rounded lawyer (such as real estate, intellectual property, or environmental law) and other important practical skills (such as negotiating settlements or drafting contracts).
Through the 101 Practice Series, the YLD will host quality programming at its four conferences during the year in Baltimore (Fall Conference), Miami (Mid-Year Conference), Montreal (Spring Conference) and San Francisco (Annual Conference). On the YLD’s website you will be able to find short, 101-type articles on different areas of substantive law as well as professional development articles to improve your legal skills. If you are interested in becoming involved in the Member Service Project this year, please contact Sunil R. Harjani, Vice-Director of Membership.

YLD SOCIAL EVENTS
The weekend was not all work! Young lawyers met Thursday night for a welcome reception hosted by ABA YLD. Friday night, ABA YLD members from around the country enjoyed a Lua and Fellows Dinner at the famous Hawaiian Royale Hotel. There, young lawyers and fellows were treated to traditional dancers—including some incredible fire-dancing. Not to be outdone, TYLA held its annual Chair’s Dinner at Michel’s, Honolulu’s favorite French restaurant, for the Texas contingent of young (and young at heart) lawyers, which included Jay Ray (YLD Chair), Karin Crump (TYLA President), Gindi Vincent (TYLA Chair), Kelly-Ann Clarke (YLD Administrative Director), Kendyl Hanks (YLD Communications Director and outgoing District 26 Representative) and many others.

YLD MEETINGS
Don’t miss out on all the useful programming and fun! Please join us for the upcoming ABA YLD meetings:
Fall Meeting October 19-21, 2006
Baltimore, Maryland Midyear Meeting February 8-10, 2007
Miami, Florida Spring Meeting May 3-7, 2007
Montreal, Quebec Annual Meeting August 9-11, 2007
San Francisco, California
For registration and more information visit www.abanet.org/yld/meetings.html.
Keep in mind that there may be affiliate funding available to cover the expense of your travel.
For more information about possible funding, visit www.abanet.org/yld/affiliateleaders/funding.html.

YLD AFFILIATE ASSISTANCE—TAKE ADVANTAGE!
Did you know . . .
The ABA YLD Affiliate Assistance Team is available for hands-on assistance for your young lawyer affiliate? The Affiliate Assistance Team offers free training and support to help young lawyer organizations across the country through (1) written materials; (2) phone consultations; (3) e-mail consultations; (4) on-site visits; and (5) meeting programs. Consultations can include information and guidance on recruitment, retention, fundraising, short or long range planning, technology, communications, budgeting, dues or non-dues revenue, governance and project planning. For more information and to request assistance, visit the YLD website at www.abanet.org/yld/affiliateassistance.html.

You can present your program at a YLD conference?
Each year, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division provides young lawyers affiliates with an exciting opportunity to nominate their programs and projects for presentation at the Division’s upcoming meetings. The benefits of presenting a project at a Division meeting are many, including: national recognition for your project; the opportunity to have your projects adopted and implemented by other young lawyers; the opportunity for you to recognize and reward the presenting young lawyer with a travel and professional development opportunity (a great way to reward diligently to make your project a success); and possible additional funding for one presenter to attend the meeting (including airfare and $100 per diem for 2 days). For more information, visit http://www.abanet.org/yld/affiliateleaders/programpresentation05.html.

The YLD website has resources ready for your use as an affiliate leader?
Just log on and download! http://www.abanet.org/yld/affiliateleaders/resourceguide.html

You can get funding from the YLD for your member service and public service projects?
To promote public and member service projects, the ABA/YLD Subgrant Program awards subgrants to its young lawyers affiliates to assist them in undertaking projects in these areas. The American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education provides funding for these subgrants. Once a year, the YLD awards subgrants to affiliates for public service projects in amounts up to $2,000, and for member service projects in amounts up to $500. For more information, visit http://www.abanet.org/yld/affiliateleaders/funding.html.

Don’t miss out on these and other great opportunities available to you through the YLD.
For more information about participating in these and other YLD events, please visit www.abayld.org, or contact your YLD District Representative, Amy Davis Benavides or at 214-749-6548.

Aloha and Mohalo!