print
	email
	translate

Public: Recent News

The Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association has every right to beam with pride over the results of the recent ABA-YLD Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Two first-place Awards of Achievement were garnered in the Single Project division and a third project received the Special Recognition designation, the only such prize awarded in the NCBA’s division.

In addition, YLD received second-place recognition for its 2006-07 Comprehensive Application and a Certificate of Performance for its newsletter, The Advocate. Joey Propst of Raleigh served as chair of the NCBA YLD in last year, supported by Chair-Elect Kim Sieredzki of Clayton and Secretary Patti Ramseur of Greensboro.

“I am happy to report that North Carolina made a fantastic showing,” said Charlotte attorney Kirk Bradley who serves as ABA District 9 representative for the NCBA’s YLD. “Within our division we did very well in all of the categories.”

In the category of Service to the Bar, YLD received the Single Project honor for the CLE “Politics and Professionalism: The Lawyer Legislator.” The program, conducted Feb. 21 in Raleigh, was billed as “a candid and insightful discussion regarding maintaining a law practice and serving in public office.”

The program also provided practical, professional and ethical considerations for seeking public office, including an overview of the political process from filing to running, fundraising and taking the oath of office. The program also covered the ethical considerations upon leaving public office and the transition from the public sector back to the private sector.

In the category of Service to the Public, YLD was honored for “When Duty Calls,” a statewide project designed to provide military veterans with pro bono legal assistance in the initial stages of disability claims filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Under the auspices of the YLD Military Issues Committee, the program involved the recruitment and training of volunteer attorneys who attended a daylong training session hosted by the Raleigh office of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. Craig Cannon of Womble’s Winston-Salem office served as division director the YLD Military Issues Committee last year and served as the lead organizer for project.

The Special Recognition honor was also presented in the Single Project category, under the Minority Project heading, for “Pathway to Diversity’s Role in Shaping Charlotte’s Future.” The project was based on the work of the YLD Minority Focus Committee in conjunction with various other groups under the leadership of Charlotte lawyer Ken Harris who served as the Minority Focus Committee chair last year.

The YLD newsletter continued its longstanding tradition of excellence last year under the leadership of Newsletter Co-Chairs Tad Dardess of Raleigh and Kirsten Foyles of Southern Pines.

The NCBA’s Young Lawyers Division also created a buzz in San Francisco over its upcoming role in hosting the ABA-YLD Fall Conference in Charlotte on Oct. 4-6. The event marks the first ABA national conference ever held in North Carolina, which is all the more reason for the state’s young lawyers to show up in abundance.

Registrations are still being accepted and NCBA YLD members are urged to attend. The event is featured prominently on the ABA Web site at www.abanet.org/yld/fall07; anyone having questions should contact Networking Chair Kirk Bradley or Host Committee Chair Ward Davis.

The fall conference also marks the launch of ABA-YLD’s 2007-08 Public Service Project, “Wills for Heroes.” Conducted in partnership with the Wills for Heroes Foundation, the initiative provides free wills for first responders, including firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Licensed N.C. attorneys are encouraged to volunteer; contact Ward Davis via the link above.

The Wills for Heroes program will take place on Saturday, Oct. 6, with training from 10-11 a.m. followed by the free wills program from 11-5.

"The NCBA YLD is thrilled to be hosting the ABA YLD Fall Meeting in Charlotte because we have the opportunity to showcase North Carolina to the rest of the nation," said YLD Chair Kim Sieredzki.

"North Carolina has it all including professional sporting events, cultural venues, museums, family-oriented theme and water parks, golf, whitewater rafting, wineries, and great shopping.  As everyone will see, North Carolina is the perfect venue to mix business and pleasure."