By Stephanie Atkinson
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney LLP
Happy New Year NLD!
It is my honor and privilege to serve as Chair for the New Lawyer Division in 2021 along with members-at-large Chris Champine, Sara Gold, Stephanie Pengilley, Alexi Silverman, and Jake Zindulka.
For those of you who are new or unfamiliar with the New Lawyer Division, “NLD” is a division of the SDCBA intended to provide a “soft landing spot” for law students and attorneys in their first seven years of practice. In addition to our monthly publication of For the Record (check out the For the Record archive here), NLD offers various programming throughout the year including social events, legal education programming, community outreach opportunities, and more!
For our law student members, we hope you will join us for the SDCBA’s Law Student Welcome Reception & Legal Community Open House on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 from 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. This event is a great opportunity for you to connect one-on-one with SDCBA Section, Committee, and Division chairs, local attorneys from a variety of practice areas, and leaders from a wide variety of local legal organizations using a really cool virtual conferencing platform. The event is FREE and you can register here. I hope to meet you at NLD’s virtual “table!”
We have all kinds of great programming in store for you this year, so keep an eye out for emails from NLD with information on upcoming events, including our February virtual event to congratulate our newest bar passers! You can also stay connected and find information about upcoming events through the SDCBA calendar, NLD’s Facebook page, and NLD’s webpage.
Another way to connect is through NLD’s Listserv at: sdcbanld@lists.membercentral.com. The listserv is a great community resource of your peers to assist you in any aspect of practicing law. You can seek guidance, post legal questions, seek referrals from other attorneys, find office space to rent, and more, subject to the SDCBA’s Social Media Policy.
Want to get involved and develop your leadership skills? NLD is recruiting members for our subcommittees. Our subcommittees include: Community Outreach, For the Record, Legal Education, Marketing, and Social Events. Law students and attorneys in their first seven years of practice are eligible, so if you are interested in joining one of our subcommittees, you can self-nominate here.
I look forward to connecting with you all in 2021! And please, if there is anything you would like to see from the NLD this year, feel free to reach out to me directly at Stephanie.atkinson@bipc.com. We would love to hear your ideas!
Sincerely,
Stephanie Atkinson