YLD - ARE YOU INVOLVED?

The Young Lawyers Division welcomes you to the start of another year. For those who are not sure, anyone who has been in practice for fewer than 10 years, regardless of age, is automatically a member of the YLD.

Chairperson Rick Rose says he has been asked, “Why should I get involved with the YLD?” The YLD is active in many great projects, including Wills for Heroes – which provides free wills to first responders; Surviving the Season – which provides assistance to the elderly; Gift of Life – which provides information regarding organ donation; and our newest project, Serving the Community. Simply put, you should get involved with the YLD because it is a great way to help your community, your bar and yourself.

A NEW COMMITTEE WITH A VERY NOBLE PURPOSE: SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY

Last year, President Conger emphasized the need for lawyers to be leaders in our communities. President Parsley has asked the YLD to carry this theme forward in 2009 and put it into action. In response, the YLD created a new committee dedicated to leadership and community service.

As the YLD considered how to put this theme into action, we were proud to see that our bar is already full of men and women donating many volunteer hours. However, we also discovered many lawyers who are eager to become active participants and leaders in their community but just haven’t found the project they are looking for. Therefore, our goal this year is to help identify and recognize the different ways in which lawyers are active in their communities and share these opportunities with those looking to become involved.

Lawyers sacrifice a lot of their time and do a lot of good work, much of which goes unnoticed. Often, the help lawyers provide is legal in nature; however, our leadership role is not limited to legal problems. This committee is a chance for lawyers to showcase the great work we do every day.

The impact of our bar on Oklahoma communities is huge. To put this into perspective, our bar has 16,000-plus members – if each active lawyer only did one hour of community service each month, we would log nearly 200,000 hours next year serving our communities. Whether your service is to your community, pro bono or something else, our committee would love to hear your story. Here are some examples we found so far: scouting, United Way, Lawyers for Children, Western District Pro Bono Panel, Adopt-a-Street, reading programs, mentoring programs, Habit for Humanity, Ask A Lawyer, and serving on non-profit or church boards.

The point is that, individually, we do a lot; now, collectively, let’s show our state just how much.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The hard part for our committee is not going to be finding lawyers to serve their communities, as many lawyers already do. The challenge will be getting you to tell our committee about what you are doing. Our committee fully recognizes that many people do not want the spotlight; however, the project you are working on in your community may be just the one needed in another community. By sharing your story, or someone else’s story, that example may benefit many additional people throughout the state.  If you are a seasoned lawyer, your example will help show the younger lawyers what is expected. If you are new to practice, it will show the bar new and exciting ways for us to support our communities.

Please e-mail your stories and ideas to rrose@mahaffeygore.com.