May 2007

Young Lawyers Section

Recap:  2007 Rocky Mountain Regional Young Lawyers Conference

By Jennifer Hilsabeck, YLS Chair

As promised, this month I am devoting my column to sharing the details of the recent Rocky Mountain Regional Young Lawyers Conference, which was hosted by the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Nevada on March 2nd and 3rd at the Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa Casino. By all accounts this event was a huge success, to which those of you who attended can hopefully attest.  For the readers who were unable to participate this year, perhaps my summary (complete with corresponding photo spread) will inspire you to sign up for next year’s conference.  Because this regional young lawyers' conference was co-sponsored by the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD), it attracted attendees not only from within Nevada, but also from other states within the Rocky Mountain Region of the ABA YLD (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Montana).  We even had two attorneys from as far away as Texas and Pennsylvania (who also just happened to be the chair and chair-elect of the ABA YLD, Jay Ray and Justin Goldstein)! 

The conference commenced on Friday afternoon with a welcome address from our keynote speaker, former two-term US senator and two-term governor for Nevada, Richard H. Bryan.  Senator Bryan shared memories from the early days of his legal career and also provided valuable insight from the perspective of a partner with one of the most prestigious law firms within our state, Lionel Sawyer and Collins.  During a brief question and answer session, he addressed topics such as finding a balance between work and personal life as a young attorney and the importance of remembering those mentors and employers who helped you along the way throughout your career.

The first official presentation of the conference focused on affiliate outreach and was given by members of the ABA YLD Affiliate Assistance Team (ATT).  The mission of the ATT is to provide direct and timely support to the various state, local, national and international young lawyer organizations that are formally affiliated with the ABA YLD, including the YLS of the State Bar of Nevada. One of the many ways that members of the ATT provide support to affiliates is through on-site assistance, such as giving presentations at regional conferences with no cost to the young lawyers section hosting the event. 

During the first presentation, ATT member Noah Davis of Seattle, Wash. gave many specific examples of how to successfully engage young lawyer members practicing in rural areas of a geographically large state, such as Nevada.  ATT Vice Chair Roxanna Chacon and member Erika Anderson, both of New Mexico, spoke next about increasing awareness of, and sensitivity to, the importance of diversity within the legal profession.  This topic is of particular significance to young lawyers, as we are the future leaders of our respective bar organizations.  Roxanna and Erika were able to share their experiences as the former and current chairs of the New Mexico Young Lawyers Division, which is an organization that achieved great success through its various diversity awareness initiatives.

Continuing the theme of YLS organization-oriented topics, the next presentation was given by former State Bar of Arizona Young Lawyers Division President Jeffrey Jacobson, on the ABA YLD public service project for 2007/2008, “Wills for Heroes.”  As mentioned in Bar President Rew Goodenow’s April article, the goal of this program is to provide support, services and supplies to volunteer attorneys, thereby enabling them to provide pro bono estate planning consultation to eligible emergency first responders (police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, etc.) in the United States.  Jeff’s presentation was not only inspirational but also highly entertaining, with a pop quiz to see how many of the attendees could identify popular “first responder-themed” television shows with only the first few bars of the theme song as a clue.  I’m embarrassed to admit how quickly I recognized the theme song to television’s classic police department series “TJ Hooker,” but at least my pre-pubescent fascination with William Shatner earned me a piece of candy as a prize.

As we took our first break of the day to enjoy a delicious hot fudge sundae bar provided by the friendly staff at the Green Valley Ranch (no boring oatmeal raisin cookies for the YLS!), the conference attendees had an opportunity to meet and mingle, and those who regularly attend the various ABA YLD meetings each year had a chance to catch up with old friends.  After we had secured our collective sugar high, it was time to dive right back into the presentations with our first CLE event of the conference; “Facing Up to Cultural Diversity: Creating Gender Equity in the Legal Profession,” as presented by former Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Deborah Agosti, and “Dangerous Pitfalls of the Profession - Understand, Prevent, and Control  Substance Abuse” as presented by Coe Swobe, Kristine M. Kuzemka, and Brian M. Fisher with Lawyers Concerned For Lawyers.  These topics were extremely thought-provoking and on behalf of the YLS, I would like to thank the presenters for sharing their personal views and experiences so that we may learn from their valuable insight.

With the first day of the conference programming officially behind us, the attendees, presenters and several honored guests walked over to Kennedy’s Tavern, located in the fabulous adjacent mixed-use shopping center known as The District (insert plug for my employer, American Nevada Company, here) for an evening of fine food and drink, which was generously sponsored by the firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews and Ingersoll (notably the only firm to contribute to the Rocky Mountain Regional Young Lawyers Conference at the “Ace” level of sponsorship).  This event was completely sold out and, as you will see from the corresponding pictures from this event, served as actual proof that young lawyers indeed know how to have a good time!

Day two of the conference started bright and early at 9:00 on Saturday morning, to an amazingly full room when you consider the prior evening’s social event.  This fact serves as proof that in addition to being fun-loving, young lawyers are also responsible and have great stamina!  No doubt some of the credit for the stellar turnout needs to be shared with the generous sponsor of our breakfast buffet, the law firm of McDonald Carano Wilson, LLP.  The morning’s agenda began with an extremely timely and salient CLE presentation by Stephanie Sparks, a partner with the San Jose office of Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel, Inc., entitled “Are You Ready For The Federal Rule Changes? - What you need to know about the e-discovery rule amendments.”  I can honestly say that, as a non-litigator practicing as in-house counsel with a private company, this was the most interesting and user-friendly presentation on this very important topic that I have seen to date.

Our next presentation provided what could arguably be described as the most comprehensive, while at the same time truly interesting, discussion on the history of Internet gaming ever given during a CLE format.  The speaker was none other than Anthony Cabot with the firm of Lewis & Roca-- and with a speaker of that caliber on the topic of Internet gaming, you know that the presentation simply had to be great!  

The final presentation for the conference was a roundtable discussion entitled “Life After YLS,” led by a State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors panel, with current Bar President Rew Goodenow, President-Elect Nancy Allf, immediate past President Vince Consul and Board Liaisons to the YLS, Kathy England and Bryan Scott.  As evidenced by the members of this panel, the YLS enjoys the strong support of its parent bar organization, without which conferences and other YLS-sponsored events would be impossible to organize and implement.  During this final presentation, the panel members shared their individual experiences and described their personal paths to the level of bar service to which they are currently committed.  Some of these individuals began their journey via the YLS and some did not, but all of them shared a common vision of improving the legal profession as a whole through dedication to groups and organizations focused on improving the law and helping those who are engaged in its practice.  Most notably, these fine leaders shared stories of friendships that had developed as a result of commitment to this common goal-- and that spirit of camaraderie was clearly evident as they spoke and traded memories with collective laughter. 

Almost as quickly as it had begun, our conference had ended. Some of the attendees had flights home to catch, others had tickets to the YLS group outing to see Mamma Mia at the Mandalay Bay that evening, and still others had twins to get home to play with (ok, maybe that was just my husband and me…) but we all had one thing in common-- we had just earned 5 CLE credits while making new friends and having a lot of fun!  As I said at the opening of this article, if you missed the opportunity to attend this year’s Rocky Mountain Regional Young Lawyers Conference, don’t despair-- there is always next year.  The location for next year’s event has not yet been set, but I’m sure that whichever young lawyers section has the responsibility for playing host will do a fantastic job, and I hope they have as much fun as the Nevada YLS did this year!

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In addition to the above referenced speakers and presenters, the YLS would like to extend its sincere thanks to each of the following individuals and organizations, without whom this year’s Rocky Mountain Regional Young Lawyers Conference would not have been possible:  Sponsors -  ACE level:  Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLC; KING level: McDonald Carano Wilson, LLP; Lewis and Roca, LLP; Woodburn and Wedge; and Jones Vargas; QUEEN level:  Law Offices of Al Lasso, LLC; and Legal Wings, Inc.; JACK level:  Laurie Webb & Associates; and Prestige Court Reporting.  All printed materials were sponsored by The Copy Center.  Thanks also to immediate past YLS Chair Adrienne Yeung, who was primarily responsible for the organization of this event; Paula Mecke and the rest of the catering and convention services staff at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino; Kennedy’s Tavern at The District at Green Valley Ranch; the leadership and support staff of the ABA YLD; and last, but certainly not least, the fantastic support team at the State Bar of Nevada who provide assistance to the YLS every step along the way, specifically Marcia Stribling, Cathi Britz, Alice Grimble, Martin Wilson, Toni Sandler, Chris Boadt, Marc Mersol, Gale Skala, Melinda Catren and Kristen Bennett.  THANK YOU!!!