Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of CLI seeks to stimulate interest and involvement of young lawyers in the objectives of the CLI’s mission and programs. YLD membership is free for all lawyers who are under the age of forty (40) or who have been a lawyer less than ten (10) years, and to all law students.
YLD Chair: Marika Rietsema Ball, Holland & Hart
There are many ways to get involved. Attend an event or consider joining a committee! Please contact us here click here.
YLD Committees
- Pipeline Committee – Provide education, mentorship, and resources to diverse secondary and post-secondary students to assist with academic support, law school admission, and access to the legal profession.
- Recruiting Committee – Create and support effective programming within the legal community targeting the recruitment of diverse talent.
- Retention/Advancement Committee – Enhance and preserve the percentage of diverse students and lawyers within the legal field and assist with their professional progression.
- General Committee – Provide support for the other committees of the CLI and create and maintain innovative YLD programming and activities.
Mentorship Program
The CLI-YLD is partnering with the University of Denver Sturm College of Law to develop an attorney mentorship program centered around building circles of diverse and first generation attorneys, and we would love for you to join our initiative! We are looking for both diverse and first generation senior and young attorneys to join. This program will begin in mid-September and continue throughout the Spring semester.
DU has established student mentorships by pairing 1Ls. We will be expanding upon their program and adding to each pair a young attorney as well as a senior attorney. This will create a mentorship circle, wherein the members can meet either as a group or one-on-one. Thus the younger students will find mentors in their matched young attorney and senior attorney. In turn, the young attorney will act as mentor to the students as well as find a mentor of their own in the senior attorney. Each member will benefit from the group design, which will then facilitate a flexible mentorship environment.
We think it is important for diverse and first generation mentees to have mentors who can share their experiences as to what it is like to participate in the legal field as a diverse or first generation attorney. Ideally, we would like to match our mentees/mentors based on these unique characteristics including their race, LGBTQ, and first generation status. If you are interested, please contact us.
YLD Membership Signup
Membership in CLI's YLD is open without charge to law students and attorneys under 40. Joining the CLI YLD is a rewarding way to meet other young lawyers who also want to make a difference in the community and participate in the leadership of the CLI. We look forward to having your involvement, and will get back to you shortly.
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