TYLA Project

Bar Leaders Conference and Local Affiliate Awards of Achievement Winners
By:  Alex Yarborough

Every year, the State Bar of Texas and the TYLA invite local affiliates to a two-day conference that addresses common concerns for volunteer leaders.  The Bar Leaders Conference is also a great place to meet other elected leaders and learn about the resources provided by the State Bar of Texas and TYLA.  This year, the annual Bar Leaders Conference is scheduled for July 24-25, 2015, at the Westin Galleria in Houston. It will be a great opportunity for local bar leaders to meet and discuss common topics of interest, learn about resources, share ideas, network, and just have fun.  Not only will Awards of Achievement be distributed, but many TYLA projects will be highlighted during the “Projects, Projects, Projects” sessions. 

As mentioned above, the 2015 TYLA Awards of Achievement winners will be recognized at the Bar Leaders Conference.  There are five award categories: comprehensive, service to the bar, service to the public, minority project, and newsletter.  Big city and small city affiliates are separately recognized for projects that serve the five award categories.  Among the recognized winners: Tom Green County Young Lawyers Association, winner of the small city comprehensive award, and Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, winner of the large city comprehensive award.  Some of the large city winning projects included DAYL’s “Fight Blight,” HYLA’s “Speed Mentoring for Women Law Students: Preparing for Your Future Now,” and AYLA’s “Holiday Extravaganza: Holiday Baskets & Reindeer Games.” Some of the small city winning projects included TGCYL’s “Dinner with the Judges,” SCYLA’s “What Do Lawyers Do,” and AAYLA’s “Easter Egg Hunt.”

All of the award recipients could not be featured in this article, but we encourage local affiliate leaders to join us at the Bar Leaders Conference to hear and learn about the many projects implemented across the State of Texas.  Specifically, many TYLA projects will be highlighted during the “Projects, Projects, Projects” sessions.  Additionally, TYLA will inform each delegate that TYLA has grant money available for local affiliates.  This funding supports local programs furthering the purposes of TYLA.  The Local Affiliate Grant Program is available to those local bar associations who have affiliated with TYLA for programs implemented at the local level that advance TYLA's purposes. These grants are primarily for new programs. Please make sure to attend “TYLA: Rolling in Money, Rolling out Projects: How to Maximize Grant Requests” during the Bar Leaders Conference for hands-on help for various grant opportunities.  We look forward to seeing you in Houston.