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YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISIONNEWSPRESIDENTAnna K. Rush, HattiesburgPRESIDENT-ELECTChristina M. Seanor, JacksonSECRETARYLindsay S. Arevalo, HattiesburgIMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTBrittany B. Frankel, GreenvilleABA YLD REPRESENTATIVEChristina M. Nunez, JacksonDIRECTORSDanielle E. Ashley, Laurel %u2013 East District IIAllyson L. Brock, Jackson %u2013 Central District IMatthew G. Dalton, Southaven %u2013 Northern District IIKate S. Davis, Meridian %u2013 East District IKatelyn D. Foster Jackson %u2013 Hinds Post IIKaylon A. McCou, Greenville %u2013 West DistrictMorgan S. Hart, Oxford %u2013 Northern District IKaleigh C. Nelson, Pascagoula %u2013 Director-at-LargeSamuel D. Newman, Gulfport %u2013 Coastal District IIChristina M. Nunez, Jackson %u2013 Hinds Post IIITreMarcus D.K. Rosemon, Jackson %u2013 Hinds Post IVG. Laithan Simmerman, Gulfport %u2013 Coastal District IAmber L. Stewart, Jackson %u2013 Central District IIGabrielle C. Wells, Jackson %u2013 Hinds Post ILOCAL YOUNG LAWYERS AFFILIATESDelta.................................................................Yeager M. BassGolden Triangle......................................Grace M. LawtonHarrison County....................................... Hannah ShirleyHattiesburg AreA............................................Andie SzaboJackson County........................Cameron M. McCormickJackson............................................................ Karmel KeetonJones County .........................................Danielle E. AshleyLauderdale County............................Kathrine C. CurrenLee CountY...................................................Justin C. MoodyNorthwest Mississippi ........................Matthew G. DaltonOxford Area .................................................Morgan S. HartWarren County.....................................Robert W. ArledgeIam truly honored to begin my term as President of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar for the 2025-2026 Bar year. I view this upcoming year as both a privilege and a duty to serve. I want to commend Past-President Brittany Frankel for the momentum she has built over the past year. She has led a great group of board members and committee chairs. I would also be amiss if I didn%u2019t acknowledge Kye C. Handy for her near decade commitment that she has provided to the YLD as she ends her tenure in YLD leadership. I am excited to welcome aboard Christina Seanor of Jackson as President-Elect, and Lindsay Arevalo of Hattiesburg as Secretary for the 2025-2026 year. I hope that it will be our best yet.In drafting my opening letter I noticed that every woman I mentioned above, I have considered a friend long before we were all lawyers. One day you%u2019re sitting next to each other in undergraduate or doing each other%u2019s hair for Barrister%u2019s Ball, then in a blink of an eye you%u2019re together in a leadership position wondering where the time has gone. While the YLD has its list of goals and missions, I believe that it all boils down to fostering relationships that go beyond the practice of law and that will last long after we%u2019ve earned our fifty-year pin at the Bar Convention. My first Bar Convention was after I was elected as YLD President-Elect. Previously, I was a solo practitioner and couldn%u2019t justify my small firm budget affording a trip to the Bar Convention. Since attending the past two years, I now see the value it brings not just in the quality of its speakers and CLE programming, but in the networking and relationship building it fosters among lawyers. It is my hope that as a YLD President from a solo/small firm I can help encourage other solo practitioners and small firms to find connection within the YLD and the Mississippi Bar. As YLD President, I want to tap into my small firm perspective to help law schools match graduates to small firms and help young lawyers find mentors in small firm owners who are looking to leave a legacy in their community. I want to aid the Mississippi Bar in its efforts to offer health insurance coverage as a member benefit. I want to have frank conversations with law schools and upcoming graduates on what changes need to be made to retain young lawyers in our state. And while we are working on those goals, I hope the YLD will have a lot of fun along the way.Our next YLD Fall Meeting will be in my hometown of Hattiesburg August 22-23. I am looking forward to showing off my hometown, building relationships with the new board, and having productive committee conversations to lay the foundation of a great YLD year. In the next week or two, I will be building my cabinet of committee chairs and listening to what other board members, Leadership Mississippi Bar graduates, and local YLD affiliate chapters want from their membership with the YLD and the Mississippi Bar.Before I close, I want to acknowledge, again, the success of Brittany, Kye, and the 2024-2025 YLD team, with some highlights from the past few months. In July, we honored Christina Nunez as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year. In addition to her tireless work in private practice, she has served as Mississippi%u2019s District Representative to the American Bar Association and gone above and beyond, including attending the Summer and Spring ABA Conferences. Throughout the year, our seminars committee, chaired by Gregory Alston with the Attorney Generals%u2019 office, was responsible for all of the mandatory Bridge the Gap CLEs that the new lawyers in Mississippi must attend. In April, we welcomed a new batch of young lawyers during our spring Bar admissions ceremony, which was held in the Supreme Court Courtroom April 24.Our Diversity Committee, chaired by Karmel Keeton, held a PreLaw Day on April 4 at Jackson State University. Anna RushYoung Lawyers Division President2025-202638SUMMER 2025