 Who We Are:
Membership in the Young Lawyers Division
is automatic for attorneys who are either: under 36 years old or in
their first five years of practice following admission to the State Bar
of Wisconsin.
What We Do: The Young Lawyers Division has two
primary objectives, to assist young and new lawyers in the practice of
law and involve them in public service. The division also holds a seat
on the State Bar Board of Governors and makes recommendations on issues
affecting the practice of law and the administration of justice,
particularly on how these issues relate to young and new lawyers.
Projects
and Publications: YLD Public Service Committees are involved in many
different topics and areas of interest and have assisted in producing
several publications, and are currently working on several local
projects.
Legal Education Seminars: The division coordinates
several continuing legal education seminars each year with the goal of
providing affordable CLE with topics geared towards the interests of new
and young attorneys. See below, under the Seminars & events heading,
for current seminar information.
Career Assistance: The YLD has compiled a list of Job
Search Links which may be helpful for young lawyers. Many of our CLE
seminars are also targeted towards exploring different careers.
Associate Program for Law Students: The YLD looks
to develop law students' interest in the state bar system and provide
access to the benefits of the bar by coordinating a program which offers
law students associate
status in the YLD. Benefits of this program include mailings from
the state bar and YLD and access to career counseling, networking, free
legal education, mentoring and discounted publications.
Meetings: An annual meeting and elections are held
every year in conjunction with the State Bar Annual meeting. Additional
board meetings are held approximately four times per year and can be
found below, under the Seminars & events heading.
Holiday Food Drive Challenge from the Young Lawyers Division
On behalf of the Young Lawyers Division
(YLD) of the State Bar of Wisconsin, I’m writing to challenge you to
join us in making online holiday-season donations to Feeding America Eastern
Wisconsin through January 15, 2010.
The holiday season is one time of year when all of us should be
thinking about giving to those in need, but responding to those needs
is especially important this year because food donations are at a 10
year low and demand for food at food pantries across Wisconsin is up by
30% over last year. This means we have an exceptional opportunity to
make a material difference in the lives of 235,000 of our neighbors in
eastern Wisconsin who are expected to rely on emergency food assistance
this year.
Attorney Susan Baran, a YLD member and Resource Development Manager
for Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, has created an easy-to-use
website for the YLD food drive at www.onlineharvest.org/yld
and she can create a comparable site for your committee, division or
section. You can contact her by email at sbaran@feedingamericawi.org
or by phone at 414-831-6323 to arrange a website of your own.
This is a new initiative for the YLD, but if this year’s effort is
successful, I anticipate expanding the program beyond the 36
counties served by Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin in future
years. Residents of other Wisconsin counties can also go to the Feeding America
national site to find a Feeding America food bank that serves your
local community.
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin distributes over 12 million
pounds of food annually to 1,100 food pantries, meal programs and
shelters. The organization (formerly known as America’s Second Harvest
of Wisconsin) is affiliated with Feeding America, which is consistently
ranked as one of the nation’s most efficient charities, by Forbes
magazine. Since 1982, the Wisconsin affiliate has distributed more than
225 million pounds of food.
The need for food pantries will continue to be very severe as
Wisconsin families face continued high unemployment and other financial
challenges. In fact, pantries are serving many new people for the first
time as economic conditions have deteriorated. Unfortunately, we can’t
change that reality – but we can make a difference in the lives of
thousands of children and their families by helping put nutritious food
on their tables.
Please contact me directly if you have any questions or
suggestions.
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