August 15, 2018

VSB Young Lawyers Conference Wins National Awards Competition

The Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference won the State Division, Class A first place award in the Comprehensive category at the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD)’s 2018 Awards of Achievement program in Chicago beating out other large state bars including Texas, Florida, California, New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Georgia.

The Comprehensive Category pits young lawyer groups from around the USA for their projects occurring during the previous bar year. Competitors are judged by originality of the programs, impact of the programs, involvement of the greater bar, budget size, and balance of programs for new and experienced lawyers, among other criteria. The judges consisted of young lawyer leaders from around the country. This is the YLC’s first win in this category in over a decade.

“Winning the ABA YLD’s Comprehensive Award for 2017-2018 is a tremendous honor,” says YLC President Brian Wesley. “It epitomizes the hard work and commitment of our board, our program chairs, district representatives and many volunteers. This award signifies that the YLC is a leader among the nation’s young lawyer groups in its development and execution of programming that services the legal and greater community. We look forward to continuing our service to the profession and assisting with the legal needs of communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

In previous years, the YLC has received first place honors for Public Service Project for its partnership with Hogar Immigrant Services’ Naturalization Clinics, first place for Diversity for the Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute, and first place in Service to the Bar for the Professional Development Series. The YLC has also won numerous second place and honorable mention awards in their Division and Class.

The Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference (YLC) was founded in 1973. The YLC’s approximately 9,000 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. The YLC allows younger members of the bar to directly influence the bar’s activities – to promote, uphold, and elevate the standards of honor, integrity, and competence in the legal profession, and to assist the Bar’s Council (governing body) in improving the legal system and the responsiveness of the profession to the public.