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Students who pay the $20 annual membership in the ABA Law Student Division get an annual subscription to Student Lawyer Magazine and ABA Journal, Bar Review Course discounts and incentives, Health Insurance offered through MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, Leadership opportunities as a national, regional or local representative, Eligibility to participate in competitions, writing contests and the Annual Awards Program and many more.
Lawrence Freiman, a law student at Whittier Law School, joined the ABA Law Student Division to get health insurance. "I think it is a good insurance plan and it is relatively inexpensive. Also, I was able to pay a smaller amount of money for my Bar Bri deposit and got a free Legalines book."
Jeter said the most important reason students join is to obtain their member benefits. "These include nationwide skills competitions, leadership opportunities, and national as well as regional meetings and networking opportunities," explained Jeter. "The Law Student Division is an excellent way to connect with fellow students and practicing attorneys all over the country. Our goal is to make the Law Student Division the premier place for law students to get involved and make a difference in the legal profession."
As Chair of the Law Student Division, Jeter presides over the Annual Assembly — which consists of two-voting members from each ABA-approved law school nationwide, the SBA President and the ABA Representative. The Assembly meets annually to discuss resolutions that could become Law Student Division policy and occasionally be passed on to the ABA House of Delegates to become ABA policy. He also presides over the Division's executive arm, a 22-member Board of Governors with representatives elected from all different regions of the country. The Board meets three times a year and governs the Division when the Assembly is not in session.
"The Law Student Division has provided me a wonderful experience to meet my peers from all over the nation while honing my leadership skills and advocating for the needs and views of America's over 120,000 law students," said Jeter, who served as Vice-Chair last year. "It has been immensely rewarding to spend over two years of my life serving my fellow students."
Tim Cross is an ABA campus representative at the University of San Diego School of Law. He represents his school at the annual meeting, the regional meeting each Fall and the circuit meeting in Spring.
"We work on and vote at these meetings on various matters of concern to law students which sometimes eventually make it to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration as ABA policy," said Cross. "I also get to represent and promote the ABA on campus and help others become involved and get the most out of their ABA membership. I personally like to try and host an event or two a semester to provide the ABA members at our school a chance to get together and hear speakers on things such as loan repayment."
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Every year student bar association presidents and ABA campus representatives in each of the division's 15 regional circuits elect a circuit governor, who serves as that region's representative to the Law Student Division's Board of Governors. Along with other student leaders, the circuit governor works with ABA leadership on such issues as loan repayment, bar admission requirements, legal education reform and other issues of concern to law students and lawyers.
"For those who are interested in the greater issues effecting the legal profession and law students, the Law Student Division is the perfect place to begin to be involved and to take a leadership role within the American Bar Association," said Cross.
One of the many things the ABA law student division does for students is lobby for them on a wide range of issues, such as loan repayment assistance. How effective are their lobbying efforts?
"Last month, in conjunction with ABA Day — the ABA's national lobbying day — the Law Student Division itself sent a delegation to Washington, D.C. and met with over 30 members of congress, including a large number of important members on Education and Workforce Committees to advocate for federal loan forgiveness programs and an increase in the Federal Stafford loan," said Jeter.
One feature of being a member is the opportunity to take part in nationwide competitions. Students appear before practicing lawyers and judges and can have their research and writing evaluated by professionals. At these competitions they can also win cash prizes.
"The negotiations competition is one such competition," said Cross. "We have sent teams to this competition the last two years. These teams have had great success and have enjoyed competing with teams from all other the nation."
How many law students know about the Law Student Division? Jeter said the Division has about a 20-24% penetration into the overall number of law students nationwide, with membership numbers as low as 9% and as high as 85%. "I would say a majority of law students know about the Law Student Division but getting out the full array of information about what we provide and what we do for students is a challenge that we are continually trying to conquer," explained Jeter.
Networking is a major draw for students to sign up for membership into the Division.
"One of the greatest benefits of being involved in the Law Student Division is the opportunity to make friends in your cohort from across the country who are sharing this incredible 3 year experience of training in the law together with you," said Cross.
But how important is membership in the ABA Law Student Division to employers?
Steve M. Bernstein, a hiring partner at Fisher & Phillips LLP
said he would not place a high degree of significance on affiliation with the ABA student lawyer division or any other related student bar activity. He said membership alone, without a higher level of participation and achievement holds little weight when considering a candidates overall qualifications.Click Here to View the 2015 LawCrossing Salary Survey of Lawyer Salaries in the Best Law Firms
"If, on the other hand, a student established that they were able to maintain a leadership position within that or any similar organization, then we would certainly take that into account," said Bernstein. "This would demonstrate to us that the student is able manage their time effectively, ideally without sacrificing academic performance."
