In March, I attended the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division (YLD) 2017 State High School Mock Trial Championship in Nashville. Thirty years ago, I tried out for my high school mock trial team. After four years of competition, I knew that I was going to be a lawyer.

Not long after, I found myself being sworn in as a new attorney in the state of Tennessee. The first few years were a roller coaster as I adjusted to the new role. I was thrilled to be a lawyer, to be earning a living, and to be helping others. Nonetheless, the practice was often humbling, as I realized the sheer volume of information I did not know. Moreover, the glitz and glamor promised to me as a lawyer on television and in the movies were replaced by often repetitive and mundane tasks. I found myself questioning whether I made the correct career choice.

Again, the YLD was there to help me. As a member of the YLD Board, I was fortunate enough to meet regularly with fellow young lawyers around the state in planning mock trials and a myriad of other activities. Time with these dedicated attorneys renewed my soul and gave me the energy and inspiration to push through those difficult formative practice years. The Young Lawyers Division was a lifeline that allowed me to grow as a lawyer and provided lifelong friends. This column is a “thank you” note to the YLD.

I want to thank the YLD, not only for the gifts it gave me in the early years of my practice, but for the work it continues to do on behalf of lawyers and the citizens of Tennessee today. The millennial generation has, at times, been described as a self-centered generation. I can only speak from my perspective, but the millennials I deal with through the YLD are the most dedicated, energetic and altruistic people I know.

There is no simple way to catalog the dizzying array of YLD activities and services, and I am certain not to cover everything it does. Nonetheless, I will begin with its work on behalf of members.

This year, the YLD has produced CLE programs ranging from a six-hour seminar on transactional practice skills, to ethics seminars, each including “Membership Moments” extolling the virtues of our organization. It has produced a Young Lawyer Toolkit to assist members starting out in practice. The YLD recruits at swearing-in ceremonies and liaisons with law schools, to keep us growing and vibrant, and is currently working with the TBA and Belmont University College of Law to launch a pilot program to establish TBA membership for all 2Ls and 3Ls; a program we hope will be replicated at every law school in Tennessee. The division informs young lawyers through the E-Dict newsletter and social media, such as the YLD Facebook page and YouTube videos. It provides a voice for young lawyers on public policy issues to help shape our profession, having recently created a public policy committee and adopted public policy-related bylaws amendments for this purpose. Most importantly, the YLD provides a home for lawyers to network, plug in and expand their practice beyond the four corners of the office.   

As important as the YLD is to its members, its greatest works may be the service it provides to the community at large. This year, the YLD has continued its history of public service with a special emphasis on public education. YLD board member Brittany Faith created a “Know Your Rights” presentation, which members of the YLD board have presented to 1,867 high school students and members of minority communities in just this bar year alone. The YLD also engages in direct public service across the state, including disaster legal services, sessions on voter registration, expungement clinics, general legal advice clinics and the YLD’s “Wills for Heroes” project. In its ninth year, this program has served 265 first responders so far this year, and thousands since the project was launched.   

The YLD has promoted ABA public service projects such as “Access to Education” and the “What Do Lawyers Do?” outreach to students. It will host events including Law Day discussions with juvenile offenders, a children’s book drive, and a virtual legal clinic focusing on issues related to children and families. In addition, it is working to create an anti-bullying lawyer referral program and continues to recognize and support the work of Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) through the CASA Volunteer of the Year Award.

The YLD strengthens our profession by promoting diversity, supporting the minority and women’s bars throughout the state and the good work they do. It hosts the Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI), a nationally recognized program that simultaneously celebrates and encourages diversity and inclusion in the profession.

Finally, there is the Mock Trial competition exposing students, like me 30 years ago, to the legal profession and inspiring some to pursue that calling. The Mock Trial program is the signature public service and education project of the YLD, engaging hundreds of students, teachers, lawyers and members of the judiciary in an educational program that has now touched the lives of generations of Tennesseans.    

YLD President Rachel Mancl, the board of the YLD, YLD Coordinator Lauren Hopper Lee and our Executive Director Emeritus Allan Ramsaur, have my eternal gratitude for their leadership and commitment to the division.

Thank you. The YLD represents the very best of what it means to be a Tennessee lawyer.
 

JASON H. LONG is a partner with Lowe, Yeager & Brown in Knoxville. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, he is a past president of the TBA Young Lawyers Division and the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers.