The purpose of the Washington Young Lawyers Committee (WYLC) is to serve as ambassadors for the Washington State Bar Association in helping to connect young lawyers with resources and to provide networking opportunities. More importantly, the WYLC provides young lawyers with a stepping stone toward becoming the future leaders of our legal profession.
The WYLC has collaborated tremendously on many levels with the WSBA by providing a direct channel for young lawyers to become more involved with the WSBA’s programs. One of these collaborations is between the WYLC and the WSBA sections. The WYLC is very excited to have the opportunity to work with the sections by sponsoring a liaison program for young lawyers.
Every year, the WYLC works with every interested sections to select a young lawyer to become the liaison between the section and the WYLC. This is an amazing opportunity for sections, as it allows the sections to increase their engagement of young lawyers. The program also provides a formal channel of communication to the WYLC in order to increase collaboration between both entities.
As the 2012–13 WYLC-Sections Liaison Program gets underway, the liaisons are working at introducing themselves to their respective sections and they are already having very positive experiences.
Quinn Dalan, liaison to the Criminal Law Section, says, “I’ve met with my committee. It was great!”
Vanessa Waldref, liaison to the Labor and Employment Law Section, says,
I am working on section programming in Spokane, and I joined the section’s networking committee, which is a wonderful opportunity to meet attorneys in my practice area and learn more from other young attorneys about how the section can best provide programming that meets their needs.
In light of this section liaison program, the WYLC, with support of the sections, will be hosting the Third Annual Open Sections Night on January 23, 2013, in Seattle. This event has grown every year and provides an opportunity for the sections to expand their membership and for individuals — including many young lawyers — to learn more about each particular section. If you are a new or young lawyer and would like to attend the upcoming Open Sections Night, RSVP by January 16 to sections@wsba.org.
We look forward to our continued collaboration with WSBA sections and other WSBA programs.
The Washington Young Lawyers Committee (WYLC) is the vehicle for new attorneys and law students to get involved with the Washington State Bar Association.
Beth A. Bratton. Beth is a graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law (2006). She attended her third year of law school as a visiting student at Seattle University School of Law. Beth is a partner at Woods & Brangwin, PLLC. Her law practice focuses primarily on criminal law, personal injury, worker’s compensation, and family law. Beth can be reached at beth@wblawfirm.com.
