Updated: Sept. 18, 2019

Subcommittees of the Washington Young Lawyers Committee

Please join the Washington Young Lawyers Committee (WYLC) in their work to welcome new and young lawyers into the legal profession.

Any new and young lawyer or law student can sign up for a WYLC subcommittee. If you would like to join, please click on the name of the subcommittee chair and contact them directly to sign up. 

Unless otherwise specified, the subcommittees meet at the WSBA office in Seattle and via conference call during the dates and times listed below. The conference call in number for the all meetings is 866-577-9294, passcode 57240. For meeting agendas and materials, select the event on the WSBA Events Calendar on the right hand side of this page. 

Subcommittees:

Bylaws and Governance Subcommittee

Chair: Mike Moceri

Members: Nathan Beard, Zach Davison

Meeting dates and times: 9 a.m. PT on Nov. 2, Dec. 7, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, Aug. 2, and Sept. 6 (cancelled)

This subcommittee will be doing work preparing proposed bylaws changes affecting the young lawyer definition as well as the young lawyer Board of Governors position. The subcommittee plans on interfacing more closely with the Board and the state Supreme Court and analyzing how pending litigation and the Janus decision affect WSBA governance.

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Debt and New Lawyer Benefits Subcommittee

Chair: Brian Neuharth

Members: Andrew Van Winkle, Chelsie Elliott

Meeting dates and times: 1:30 p.m. PT on Jan. 3, March 7, May 2, July 12, and Sept. 5

Be part of our practice management discount review team. Develop financial planning CLE with WSBA CLE team. Work with WSBA staff to support Preadmission Education Program (PREP). Propose, develop, and outline debt solutions and new lawyer benefits for young and new lawyers.

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Awards Subcommittee

Chair: Emily Ann Albrecht

Members: Ian McCurdy, Molly Winston

Meeting dates and times: 1 p.m. PT on Nov. 30, Feb. 1 (cancelled), May 17 (cancelled), 12:30 p.m. on June 14, and 1 p.m. on Aug. 2 (cancelled)

Administer the Public Service & Leadership Award. Write NWSidebar blog posts (and possibly a NWLawyer article) about awardees. Work with WSBA staff to research, order, and present awards for outgoing WYLC members.

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Outreach Subcommittee

Chair: Colin McMahon

Members: Maha Jafarey; Alice Bagirova, Laura King*

Meeting dates and times: 3 p.m. PT on Nov. 15 (cancelled), Jan. 17, March 21, May 16, and Sept. 19 (cancelled)

Develop in-person outreach, communications, and events in partnership with WYLC regional representatives and local bar association young lawyer divisions with focus on social and career networking. Create a stronger social media presence by liking, posting, checking in, and sharing relevant content and WSBA posts with their new and young lawyer social networks through personal social media accounts and WYLC Facebook page. Determine the best way of distributing a calendar of regional new lawyer events for the year to new admittees, and new and young lawyers. Work with staff, local, and minority bar associations to host live PREP programs. Reach out to and engage with new and young lawyers to ascertain relevant issues for the subcommittee. Notify and encourage new/young lawyers to apply for WYLC positions .

*indicates subcommittee member is not a member of the WYLC.

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Access to Justice and Recruiting, Retention and Retiring Subcommittee

Chair: Jordan Couch

Members: Maha Jafarey, Brian Neuharth, Alixanne Pinkerton

Meeting dates and times: 11 a.m. PT on Nov. 1, Jan. 14, March 5, May 28, July 16 (cancelled), and Sept. 10 (cancelled)

Educate the bar, law schools and membership on the rural retention challenge and the opportunities to successfully build a rural practice. Explore co-hosting the “Northwest Regional Summit” in partnership with the Oregon New Lawyers Division in 2019. Explore developing an RFP for the Access to Justice Conference workshop that will focus on the changing landscape of membership practicing in rural communities and address concerns of legal professionals in rural communities. Work with staff on the Rural Placement Pilot Project to connect WYLC regional representatives to fellows. Help identify counties and other potential participants such as law schools, local bar associations, etc. to participate in pilot, and provide additional support for this pilot program.

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ABA Subcommittee

Chair: Benjamin Hodges

Members: Cat Holm

Meeting dates and times: 11:30 a.m. PT on Dec. 13, 10 a.m. on June 13; 9 a.m. on June 24

Work with ABA liaison, staff and leadership. Administer the ABA YLD Meeting Scholarship for the midyear and annual meetings. Notify and recruit new and young lawyers to apply for scholarship. Evaluate the scholarship applications and select scholarship recipients. To learn more about the scholarship and deadlines, visit the ABA Scholarship webpage.

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Questions?

Time commitment and level of engagement varies. Contact subcommittee chairs for more information or reach out to newmembers@wsba.org with any additional questions.