Happy New Year on behalf of the Young Lawyers Division.  After taking down the Christmas tree and sending the Maxwell family Elf on the Shelf – “Zipper” – back to the North Pole, I finally have a few minutes to catch up.

Though it is a bit off topic, I would first like to compliment The Mississippi Lawyer magazine on the recent issue honoring our service men and women.  The JAG officers and other members of our armed forces, who endure many sacrifices to protect our country and constitution, deserve recognition from our Bar.

Next, I want to thank those who responded to my call to serve the YLD.  I am told by many with years of institutional knowledge that interest and participation in the YLD are at an all time high.  Yet there are still plenty of opportunities to serve, so if you are not involved and want to be, the invitation remains open. 

I am also proud to report that our Women and the Law Committee released an updated version of A Guide to Women’s Legal Rights in Mississippi (3d ed.).  This 152-page reference book addresses a variety of topics, ranging from housing and children to employment, public benefits, domestic relations, and criminal law.  It is an outstanding resource for community-service organizations, as well as anyone else with questions about legal issues affecting women. 

The YLD has already begun distributing the guidebook statewide free of charge to women’s and children’s shelters.  We have also provided the guidebook to rape and domestic violence centers, United Way agencies, victim-witness coordinators, and all local libraries.

This project was a tremendous undertaking, and I want to personally thank Katherine McKee Surkin, who chaired the Women and the Law Committee.  I also want to recognize the following committee members for their hard work on the project: Kelly P. Dees, Becca Underwood Dickerson, Christe Harris-Leech, Claire Barker Hawkins, Ann Maree Heidke, Shanda Yates Johnson, Rosamond H. Posey, Jaqueline H. Ray, Kathleen Richter Shields, Elizabeth Porter Todd, and Linsday Green Watts, as well as my predecessor Chad Russell.

Special thanks are also due to Melanie Henry, Krissa Dobbins, Ashley Sasser, and Anne Elise McIntosh of the Bar Center.  The YLD is also grateful to the Mississippi Bar Foundation for the IOLTA grant that funded the guidebook.  If you know of an agency or shelter that could use a copy, please send an e-mail to Krissa Dobbins at kdobins@msbar.org.

While these are exciting times for the Mississippi YLD, other parts of our world are suffering.  The recent earthquake in Haiti has engulfed our attention, emotions, and prayers over the past weeks.  This tragedy has rekindled vivid memories of the national disaster that devastated our own Gulf Coast less than five years ago.  In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the YLD, led by then-president Amanda Jones, was at the forefront of the Mississippi Bar’s disaster legal relief.  The YLD set up a toll-free legal assistance hotline and also provided on-the-ground support and legal advice at MEMA Disaster Recovery Centers.