YLD Spring Happenings
The YLD is ready for April showers, May flowers, and a spring full of frenzy for our membership. We’ve planned this winter for a big spring, and we’re looking forward to seeing all of our young lawyers at an event soon.
Law Students
The YLD has continued its successful Grab a Coffee (GaC) program with a springtime launch. This spring, we had 167 law student matches, which is very close to the 212 matches that we had last fall. The program has been so successful that we were recognized by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division as an Affiliates Spotlight. We also plan to do another launch of the program in the fall.
On the heels of our successful law student reception in January, our law student representatives have been busy planning events on each campus. We hosted the following events:
- February 8: Wake Forest University School of Law hosted an NCBA informational panel
- February 17: UNC School of Law hosted a panel as part of UNC’s Festival of Legal Learning titled “Working Together: Tips on How to Have a Successful Practice from the Paralegal, Young Lawyers, and Senior Lawyers Divisions of the NCBA”
- March 29: Campbell University Law School hosted a “Searching for Jobs as a 3L” panel
Our very own Kayla Britt (also known on LinkedIn as #FairyLawMother) put together a panel that gave an overview of bar organizations and dues for young lawyers on March 24.
We are so proud of all of our student reps and our Law Student Division for making big things happen for our law students!
Legal Feeding Frenzy
March is always Feeding Frenzy month, one of our favorite months of the YLD calendar. With the generous support of NC Attorney General Josh Stein, we launched our Feeding Frenzy fundraising drive, benefiting Feeding the Carolinas food banks. The drive aims to fight hunger across NC by asking firms to compete against one another to raise the most money (or pounds of food). We held a successful kickoff volunteer event on March 3 at the Raleigh Food Bank where we cleaned and sorted 15,605 Capri Suns! By the end of the competition, we raised $161,080.16 or 664,321 points of food. A complete list of winners for this year’s competition can be found on the 2023 Legal Feeding Frenzy Results page. A huge thanks to Spencer Fritts and Meredith Brewer, co-chairs of our Feeding Frenzy Committee, for leading the way!
Volunteers joined Attorney General Josh Stein in launching this year’s Legal Feeding Frenzy.
Other Happenings
Members of the YLD leadership traveled to New Orleans in February for the ABA Midyear Meeting. Many thanks to Jonathan Bogues, Collins Saint, Samantha Gordon, and Taylor Dewberry for representing us well!
YLD and the NCBA were well represented at the ABA Midyear Meeting.
On March 8, we hosted a joint social with the Criminal Justice Section at Bourbon Bowl in Greensboro. We had over 30 law students and local practitioners in attendance. We mingled, bowled, and had some great food and conversation. We also hosted a joint social with the Intellectual Property Law Section, the Privacy & Data Security Section, and the YLD on March 2 in Cary.
Our team has been hard at work planning some wellness initiatives in the coming months, including hosting a life coach to give us some tips on how to find balance in our legal careers.
Our YLD section liaisons have been busy planning Section Spotlights to connect the YLD and NCBA’s sections. The Appellate Practice group just hosted a “How to Build an Appellate Practice” section spotlight on March 22. Our Education Law Section also recently hosted a spotlight on March 2.
The Liberty Bell and Law Week Committee has been working hard to get ready for Law Day, which was May 5. The Committee hosted a Regional Moot Court Competition on March 18. The final round competition was held on Law Day and the finalists were honored at the Law Day Ceremony immediately following the competition.
Finally, our leadership team met for our final quarterly meeting on April 1 before our annual meeting in June. Our Nominating Committee presented the recommended slate of officers for the 2023-2024 bar year, which are Collins Saint (Chair Elect), Sheila Spence (Secretary), and Michele Livingstone (Administrative Division Director). The slate of nominees will be voted on by the YLD members present at the NCBA YLD Council Meeting/Annual Meeting on June 23. Jonathan Bogues will serve as our Chair in 2023-2024.
As always, you can find us on our blog, LinkedIn, and at an event near you. We hope to see you this spring and at the Annual Meeting in Wilmington!
Lisa Williford is 2022-23 chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.