Bill Text: MS SC633 | 2012 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognize the 75th Anniversary of the Young Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2012-04-10 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC633 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2012-SC633-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Hopson, Butler (38th), Fillingane, Montgomery, Watson
Senate Concurrent Resolution 633
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI BAR.
WHEREAS, on September 4, 1936, Hugh N. Clayton of New Albany, Mississippi, borrowed a typewriter from the management of the Greenville Hotel and, taking a seat in the lobby of the hotel, typed the bylaws for the Junior Bar Section of The Mississippi Bar. Clayton got together with two Jackson friends, L.O. Smith, Jr., and W. Calvin Wells, Jr., and wrote a set of nine bylaws. At the 1936 Annual Meeting, W. Calvin Wells, Sr., of Jackson, the Mississippi State Bar's 1934-1935 President, observed that it was "very important that recognition be given to these young members of The Mississippi State Bar. They hesitate to rise until they are specially requested so to do by a modesty which we may commend, and while we do not want to prevent them from working in the regular channels of The Bar, that gives a forum to them of their own"; and
WHEREAS, the creation of the Junior Bar Section in 1936 may have been the single most important event in the early history of the unified bar. Hugh Clayton was elected unopposed to be its first "Chairman." First-year section members were: Northern District: Charles A. Sisson, Clarksdale; Harvey L. Morrison, Okolona; and L.G. Fant, Jr., Holly Springs. Southern District: Jackson Deavours, Laurel; Bill Dent, Collins; and J.K. Travis, Hattiesburg. Central District: William A. Bacon, Durant; John Satterfield, Jackson; and L.O. Smith, Jr., Jackson; and
WHEREAS, as part of the Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) Diamond Anniversary Celebration on December 8, 2011, the YLD hosted all Past Presidents, Outstanding Young Lawyer Award recipients, and Fellows of the Young Lawyers. The grand event took place at the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, hosted by Immediate Past President Derek Arrington. Pat Scanlon, Frank Crosthwait and Joe Meadows were the event speakers. (The trio served consecutively as YLD Presidents in 1969-1972 and then again as "Big Bar" Presidents from 1987-1990.) Melanie Henry, Derek Arrington and the 75th Anniversary Planning Committee chaired by Rachel Pierce planned this event; and
WHEREAS, 1941 was a triumphal year for the Junior Bar Section because they were able to prevail upon The Bar as a whole to support their campaign to persuade the State Legislature "to contract for the publication of the Mississippi Code in multiple volumes patterned after the United States Code Annotated..." which was passed into law on March 23, 1942. After World War II, many of the state's younger lawyers returned to civilian life from the Armed Forces and resumed their practice; and
WHEREAS, in 1950, the Junior Bar felt that The Mississippi State Bar should take a stand on the repeal of the Prohibition Laws in Mississippi. The Junior Bar Section's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee in 1950 was formed and the Junior Bar offered the first Young Lawyers' Seminar in 1958; and
WHEREAS, in 1966, the American Bar Association recognized the Junior Bar Section of The Mississippi State Bar for having one of the most outstanding programs for young lawyers in the Nation; and
WHEREAS, in 1970, the Junior Bar Section changed their name to the "Young Lawyers Section" of The Mississippi State Bar; and
WHEREAS, Past Presidents of the Young Lawyers Division present at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Mississippi Young Lawyers in 1986 were: Robert G. Barnett, 1967-1968; E. Clifton Hodge, Jr., 1979-1980; Walter S. Weems, 1987-1988; E.C. Ward, 1961-1962; Hugh N. Clayton, 1936-1937; Stephen E. Edds, 1985-1986; W. David Watkins, 1981-1982; Raymond L. Brown, 1968-1969; John Morgan Stevens, Jr., 1941-1942; George Woodliff, 1948-1949; George E. Morse, 1956-1957; Frank A. Riley, 1962-1963; Jay A. Travis, III, 1975-1976; Jack A. Travis, Jr., 1957-1958; Eugene L. Fair, 1980-1981; Leonard Blackwell, Jr., 1977-1978; W. Thad Cockran, 1972-1973; Edward P. Connell, 1966-1967; Sherman L. Muths, Jr., 1964-1965; J. Richard Barry, 1986-1987; Stephen W. Rosenblatt, 1984-1985; H.A. Moore, III, 1983-1984; W. Wayne Drinkwater, 1982-1983; F.M. Bush, III, 1976-1977; Pat H. Scanlon, 1969-1970; Eaton A. Lang, Jr., 1960-1961; George P. Hewes, III, 1963-1964; Frank O. Crosthwait, Jr., 1970-1971; L.F. Sams, Jr., 1973-1974; James A. Peden, Jr., 1978-1979; and James F. Noble, Jr., 1959-1960; and
WHEREAS, on June 28, 1990, Governor Ray Mabus signed a Proclamation declaring Mississippi Clerkship Interaction Day, a program of the YLD Minority Involvement Committee which was chaired by Richard Hurt and Charles Griffin. The Women in the Law Committee of The Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division furnished a 162-page guidebook entitled, A Guide to Women's Legal Rights in Mississippi. In 1997, The Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division received three awards from the American Bar Association for service to the public, to the membership, and comprehensive programs; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, over 115,000 Consequences of Misconduct in School brochures were distributed to middle school students by the Young Lawyers Division under the leadership of Young Lawyers Division President Sam Kelly. In 2003, the Young Lawyers Division produced a successful statewide Teen Court Forum. The Mississippi Society of Association Executives awarded the Young Lawyers Division's Mock Trial Competition with a 1st Place Award in 2004. In 2008, the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Legal Assistance Training at The Mississippi Bar Center was implemented. In 2001-2002, the "Bridge the Gap" Seminar was resurrected during the tenure of Briggs Hopson; and
WHEREAS, the Junior Bar was formed "to furnish a forum for the younger lawyers, encourage and foster discussion, the interchange of ideas, and constructive action for the preservation and advancement of the ethics, prestige and integrity of The Bar among the younger lawyers and to establish a special means whereby the younger lawyers may interest themselves to a greater extent in the activities of The Mississippi State Bar and more materially assist in the accomplishment of its purposes and functions"; and it is with great pride that we join the legal profession in celebrating this landmark event:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the 75th Anniversary of the Young Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to current Young Lawyers Division President Honorable Jennifer Hall, forwarded to the Mississippi Board of Bar Commissioners, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
