August 9, 2021

Young Lawyers Conference Wins Prestigious National Award 

The Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference (YLC) received the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s prestigious 2021 Award of Achievement for best comprehensive programs.  

The YLC received the award in 2018 and 2019, besting young lawyer groups of large state bars including Texas, Florida, California, and New York.  They also received special recognition in 2020. The comprehensive award honors the collective impact of programs sponsored by the YLC and it is a tremendous honor to win the award again this year, particularly when programs were significantly altered due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the YLC won the 2021 Award of Achievement for Diversity for the Time to Talk Townhall Web Series, which was a series of three townhall style virtual forums for discussing issues of equality, race and ethnicity in the wake of the nationwide protests surrounding the deaths of George Floyd and other persons of color. These issues were discussed through the lens of concrete legal frameworks and concepts. 

The townhalls were a joint project with the Diversity Conference and covered policing, free speech, statue removal, protests, and addressing implicit bias. The web series was distributed after recording through the two conferences’ newsletters, Docket Call and Invictus.

“Thanks [go] to the efforts of YLC volunteers, program chairs, district representatives, and the board of governors. Without volunteers, none of our important work would be possible,” said YLC President Kris McClellan. 

The Young Lawyers Conference's more than 7,500 members include all Virginia attorneys who are under 36 years of age or who have been admitted as active, practicing members of their first bar for fewer than three years.