The Advocate - Winter 2023

THE ADVOCATE

Young Lawyers Section Council

Maryland State Bar Association

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Lauren Lake, Chair

Rima Kikani, Chair-Elect

Emily Greene, Treasurer

Jeffrey Sadri, Secretary

Megan Micco, Member At-Large

Kerri Smith, Immediate Past Chair

BOARD OF GOVERNORS REPRESENTATIVES

Lauren Lake

Jasmine England-Caesar

Christian Noble

Kayla Vossler

STANDING COMMITTEES

ACTIVITIES CO-CHAIRS

Ashley Fellona, Megan Micco, Taylor Scott

ABA REPRESENTATIVE

Chris Jennison

DISASTER RELIEF CHAIR

Jackie L. Fox-Copley

DIVERSITY CO-CHAIRS

Jasmine Caesar-England & Dania Ayoubi

EDUCATION CHAIR

Candice Miller

FAMILY FRIENDLY CO-CHAIRS

Genna Hoy, Sonya Tsao

LAWYER WELLNESS CO-CHAIRS

Sara Lucas, Richard Shermanski

LEGISLATIVE CHAIR

Grason Wiggins

MEMBERSHIP / LAW STUDENT OUTREACH CO-CHAIRS

Valerie Desroches, Reema Sood, and Eliza McDermott

NOMINATING CHAIR

Kerri Smith

POLICY CHAIR

Rima Kikani

PRO BONO / WILLS FOR HEROES CO-CHAIRS

Bill Kiniry, Zuhair Riaz, Ernesto Villasenor

PUBLICATIONS CO-CHAIRS

Anamika Moore, Meg Tippett

PUBLIC SERVICE CO-CHAIRS

Annice Brown, Christian Noble, Amy Rappole

SOCIAL MEDIA CHAIR

Letam Duson

STRATEGIC PLANNING CHAIR

Rima Kikani

TECHNOLOGY CO-CHAIRS

TJ Keilty III & Joseph Kavanagh

YLS SUMMIT CO-CHAIRS

Rima Kikani, Greg Waterworth

CIRCUIT REPRESENTATIVES

Gary Damico, Anne Arundel

James Robinson, Baltimore City

Alexis Holiday, Baltimore County

William Sasse, Carroll

Spencer Cropper, Lower Shore

Clark Adams, Frederick

Jackie Fox-Copley, Harford/Cecil

Tyler Brown, Howard

Kayla Vossler, Montgomery

Holland Burch, Western Maryland

Kamryn Washington, UB Law

Olalekan Olaniyi, UB Law

Adamandia Frantzis, UMD Law

The Advocate is published quarterly by the Young Lawyers Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, 520 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201.

The opinions exercised in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the opinions of the Young Lawyers Section or the Maryland State Bar Association © Maryland State Bar Association, Inc.

BRINGING THE BARS TOGETHER

WELCOME BACK HAPPY HOUR

More than 100 members of several local and specialty bar associations, including the MSBA YLS, celebrated the new bar year at the Welcome Back Happy Hour – Bringing the Bars Together on September 7, 2023, at The Maryland Club in Baltimore City. It was a wonderful way to kickoff the bar year!

Angela Munro chats with Amy Petkovsek and Sarah Belardi

Letam Duson, Sarah Belardi, Rachel Samakow, Kerri Smith

LEGO LEAGUE

Members of the YLS Public Service Committee gathered at Checkerspot Brewing in Baltimore on November 11, 2023, to volunteer with the FIRST LEGO League. The FIRST LEGO League supports students as they apply STEM skills by building LEGO robots for competition. Public Service Committee Chairs Amy Rappole and Christian Noble built components that would become an integral part of each course

Public Service Committee Chairs Amy Rappole and Christian Noble

YLS SUMMIT

On November 15, 2023, the Young Lawyer’s Section hosted its annual YLS Summit at Maryland Live!. Joined by incredible guest speakers, members of the YLS enjoyed fireside chats with Baltimore City State’s Attorney, Ivan Bates, who stressed the importance of resilience, and Executive VP & General Counsel for Fender, Inc., Aarash Darroodi, who spoke about his unique career path, innovation, and the future of practicing law.

Ivan Bates (center), having recounted his successful journey to achieving the position of Baltimore City State’s Attorney, is pictured alongside Letam Duson, Genna Hoy, Kerri Smith, Kiernan Waters.

Greg Waterworth, MSBA YLS Summit Committee Chair interviews Aarash Darroodi about his career.

MSBA President Jason DeLoach, Rima Kikani, Ivan Bates, and YLS Chair Lauren Lake pose together at the YLS Summit.

YLS SUMMIT

Rima Kikani, Greg Waterworth, Aarash Darroodi, Past YLS Chair Indira Sharma, YLS Chair Lauren Lake

Aarash Darroodi and Greg Waterworth

Members of the YLS socialize before the YLS Summit.

NEW ADMITTEES CEREMONY

On November 28 & 29, 2023, YLS Members welcomed the new admittees to the Maryland Bar.

Editor’s Note: Do you know a new admittee? Let them know their first year with MSBA is free! Send them to msba.org/join

FALL OPEN MEETING

On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, YLS members let their creative juices flow at the Fall Open Meeting hosted by Gordon Feinblatt, LLC. While there was a theme and reference painting, no two creations looked the same. Participants enjoyed becoming artists for the evening by mixing colors, creating textures and layers, and laughing over the realization that we should not quit our day jobs!

Stay tuned and keep your calendars open for the Spring 2024 Open Meeting.

Editor’s Note: Upcoming YLS MSBA events are always available at msba.org/calendar

Attendees were inspired to paint a legal-themed design and encouraged to add their own creative flair.

Ally Comegys (middle) starts her painting with friends, Eleni vanRoden Bickley, Kyle Anthony

Emily Greene, Emily Sofia

Lauren Lake and Letam Duson pose together with their finished artwork.

ESTATE-PLANNING CLINIC

On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the YLS Pro Bono Committee co-sponsored a Pro Bono Resource Center estate-planning clinic at the Enoch Pratt Free Library - Waverly Branch, in Baltimore. The event had a fantastic turnout and members were able to help many low income individuals with unique and challenging issues.

One of the most challenging cases was a client who was not only attempting to keep her home in her family, but also had two timeshares. YLS members learned that timeshares actually count as Real Property and can be deeded, and had to do a lot of legwork to make everything clear in the client’s Will.

Pro Bono Volunteers, Bill Kiniry and Vidhi Kumar

UPCOMING YLS EVENTS

SPRING HAPPY HOUR & HEADSHOTS

March 13, 2024

Meet up with members of several other MSBA Sections for socializing at Guilford Hall Brewery at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Plus, get a complimentary professional headshot. Learn about the event here.

DAY AT THE ZOO

March 23, 2024

Join members of the MSBA and their families for a fun-filled day at the Maryland Zoo, the beneficiary of the YLS Charity Event on April 19, 2024. Attendees will receive a special discount on tickets and additional information to make your day at the zoo extra memorable, especially for anyone who also already has a ticket to the Charity Event. More details coming soon — look for information in the MSBA e-Weekly, social media, and the MSBA website

UPCOMING YLS EVENTS

YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION OPEN MEETING

April 2, 2024

Join members at the University of Baltimore School of Law to learn about disability rights and accommodations. More details coming soon — look for information in the MSBA e-Weekly, social media, and the MSBA website.

YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION 33RD ANNUAL CHARITY EVENT

April 19, 2024

Support the conservation efforts of the Maryland Zoo by attending the YLS Charity Event. You can purchase tickets as well as find sponsorship and silent auction donation information here.

ABA YLD SPRING MEETING

May 15-18, 2024

Members of the MSBA can learn more about what young lawyers sections are doing nationally as they attend social events and CLEs at the ABA YLD Spring Meeting. Contact Chris Jennison at chris.s.jennison@gmail.com to express interest and for more information about receiving an MSBA YLS stipend.