Did you say you’re an American Bar Association (ABA) Law Student Division (LSD) Liaison?  What exactly is that?  First of all, I have to admit that as of February 1 of this year I had only the vaguest idea what the ABA even was.  I had no idea the ABA had a Law Student Division and certainly wasn’t aware that law students had the opportunity to be liaisons to the various sections, divisions, and standing committees of this national organization. I am happy to say I have learned a lot about the ABA in the past seven months.

I began my law school career in the fall of 2007 as a part-time evening student.  As is true of most part-time students, my law school experience consisted of attending classes at night when most of the faculty, staff and full-time students are gone for the day.  I was fortunate to be able to attend an occasional talk over the lunch hour because I worked on campus, but otherwise law school consisted of going to class and doing homework . . . and managing to get to “bar review” a few times during the semester.

Naturally, once I became a full-time student in January 2009, I was eager to make the most of the golden opportunity to focus solely on law school and to get involved in some of the many extra-curriculars available.  I soon discovered through signs posted around the school that the ABA was looking for students to serve as liaisons between the LSD and one of the many sections, divisions or standing committees that comprise the ABA.  I was amazed at the breadth and diversity of the sections, divisions and committees looking for law student liaisons:  criminal law, air and space law, affordable housing and community development law, children and the law, professional responsibility, litigation, racial and ethnic diversity, mental and physical disabilities law, just to name a few.

My curiosity was piqued.  So I explored the ABA Law Student Division website and the ABA LSD Liaison website to learn more.  Wow.  I discovered a wealth of information about the ABA as well as about the many ways law students can get involved.  I also discovered that the ABA has a Section of Dispute Resolution which addresses the cutting edge issues in my particular field of interest.  I decided to apply and was appointed to the position of ABA Law Student Division Liaison to the Section of Dispute Resolution for the 2009-2010 school year.

So is your curiosity piqued?  Come back for more!  In coming posts, I will discuss more about what my job as liaison entails as well as my first experience at the ABA Annual Meeting held in Chicago July 30-August 4, 2009.  In the meantime, I encourage you to peruse the ABA websites to see what you can learn.