CBA Record March-April 2022

YOUNG L AWYERS S EC T I ON : COME TOGE THER

monthly themes and suggested activities. Th emes include career preparation, build ing connections, honing practice skills, thought leadership, and performing pro bono services. Suggested activities include, but are not limited to, conducting a mock interview; shadowing the attorney-mentor during a virtual hearing, deposition, or deal; and having the attorney-mentor revise the student-mentee’s writing sample. In turn, these experiences o ff er attorney mentors an opportunity to positively impact the Chicagoland community, while o ff ering student-mentees resources and tailored solutions to common challenges they face in law school. Other CBAMentorshipOpportunities Other CBA mentorship opportunities exist for lawyers and law students. Th e Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program pairs experienced lawyers with lawyers in their early years of practice. Th e Alliance for

Women Mentoring Circles features small circles of six to eight practicing attorneys who identify as women with varying levels of experience from di ff erent practice areas. Th e Juvenile Justice Mentoring Initiative pairs attorneys and law students who iden tify as men with court-involved young men aged 13 to 18. Call to Action: Volunteer to Advance Justice We as attorneys owe a duty to the com munity to continuously advance justice. We owe this duty as practitioners and overseers of the legal system on which American society relies. At the same time, our fulfillment of the duty to advance justice takes many forms and covers over lapping societal issues. One way to start or continue ful fi lling this duty is to pay it forward through one of the various CBA o ff ered mentorship programs, such as the YLS Mentorship Program.

In the spirit of coming together and advancing justice, please consider volun teering for the YLS Mentorship Program or another one of the various CBA-o ff ered mentorship programs mentioned above. You can fi nd details on the programs at www.chicagobar.org or email yls@chica gobar.org.

Ted Kontopoulos is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the YLS Journal in the CBA Record, a Chair on the YLS Business LawTransactions Com mittee, and a senior international tax con

sultant at BKD, LLP where he provides tax controversy, compliance, and planning ser vices to businesses, individuals, trusts, estates, and not-for-pro fi t organizations.

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