Welcome!

Hello fellow law students,

I am a third year law student at Southwestern Law School, and I am excited and honored to serve as the 2010-2011 Law Student Division Liaison to the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. In my role as Student Liaison, I attend and participate in ABA-IPL events and meetings, representing the interests of the 9,000+ ABA-IPL law student members, and report back on issues that are important to us.

ABA-IPL seeks to engage law students and enrich their careers by offering a broad spectrum of events programming, membership benefits, and publications. There are dozens of ways to get involved as a student, and I encourage you to seek out the opportunities available to you. One of the easiest ways to get involved immediately is to join a committee in your area of legal interest. Just click on the “Committees” button on the left side of the screen, then choose your Division of interest, and select the committee that most interests you. Also, make sure to join our LinkedIn and Facebook groups to stay current on ABA-IPL news.

This blog is to introduce you to the Section, and to keep you updated on all the exciting events and programs that the Section has to offer. Thanks for visiting!

Showing posts with label ABA-IPL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABA-IPL. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

ABA-IPL's Young Lawyer's Action Group (YLAG)

One of the most welcoming, active and eager committees of the ABA-IPL is the Young Lawyer's Action Group. They have monthly conference calls and everyone is welcome on their calls. I encourage all law students to check out this group. They are always excited to have law students dial in, and frequently put the law students to work on the group's upcoming Careers in IP Publication and other great programs.

There are so many stand-out members of this group, so when you call in, listen for people such as Matt Kohner, Matt Asbell, David Postolski, Sharra Brockman, Chrissie Scelsi and Mo Deka.

Check out their ABA page at: http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=PT051000
The page contains the call-in information so you can join the call and PDFs of the minutes for each call, so that you bring yourself up to speed before you call in this month.

Also, check them out on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/aba_ipl_ylag

Monday, August 9, 2010

2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco

As the incoming Law Student Division (LSD) Liaison to the Intellectual Property Law (IPL) Section of the ABA, my first order of business was to attend the 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Every where I walked in San Francisco was filled with attorneys wearing their ABA badges, carrying their ABA tote bags. The city had such an exciting vibe because everyone at the Meeting was ready to meet fellow attorneys and law students. Strangers would strike up conversation in line at the Starbucks next to the convention center and everyone with the LexisNexis lanyards around their necks would smile at each other on the street.

TV screens in the hotel displayed the events of each day
Likewise, the ABA-IPL welcomed me with open arms. I was given tickets to all events, luncheons and even the big Section Celebration. I was also invited to sit on their Membership Board and their Young Lawyers & Law Students Board. I even attended the Section Council meeting and chatted with a Division Chair.

This was my first time experiencing the ABA in action, and it was delightful!

As a law student, I was amazed by the networking opportunities available to me. Every CLE event, every luncheon and every elevator ride was a networking opportunity. The attorneys were excited to have a law student around, and many were more than willing to help out a law student in any way that they could.

Aside from my wonderful ABA-IPL colleagues, one of the highlights of the Meeting was the Section Celebration. The ABA-IPL Staff did a fantastic job putting the event together. It was held at a restaurant several blocks from the Section's hotel, where we dined, drank and chatted until our hearts content. And then we sang karaoke! It was so much fun to see everyone let loose and enjoy themselves. I'm sure the restaurant hosting us had no idea that a group of Intellectual Property attorneys could be so much fun.

Room where the Section Council was held
I look forward to the coming year and I am grateful to be representing the interests of law students to the Intellectual Property Law Section of the ABA. I hope to provide the Section with insight about what we law students want in a bar association/section, and how to best reach out to us. I am thankful for the guidance of ABA-IPL staff members Amy Mandel and Leah Richards, who helped make my Meeting experience one to remember, and to the outgoing ABA-IPL Law Student Liaison, Angela Morrison, for sharing her experience as Liaison last year, which has set me up for success this year.

I have already expressed a strong desire to get the Section it's own law students' Facebook page and have many ideas that I look forward to implementing this year during my term as Law Student Liaison. [edit 4/1/2011: The page is now available at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10100813764191853&id=2204045#!/pages/ABA-IPL-for-Law-Students/214053651942190]