Youth court advocates from across the State today gathered at the headquarters of the New York State Bar Association in Albany for the first-ever statewide New York State Youth Court Conference. Hosted by The New York Bar Foundation, and co-sponsored by the Center for Court Innovation, the Association of New York State Youth Courts, and New York State Courts Access to Justice, the conference consisted of several workshops designed for participants to learn about ways to support, advance and strengthen New York's youth court system.

There are more than 80 youth courts operating throughout New York. Participating teens are trained to serve as jurors, judges and attorneys, and hear real-life cases of their peers involving offenses such as truancy, school fighting, vandalism, marijuana possession and shoplifting. Sanctions from the courts typically include community service, letters of apology, essays and counseling. The courts are overseen by volunteer judges, attorneys, educators, and law enforcement officials. The courts use positive peer pressure to ensure that young people who commit even minor offenses give back to the community and avoid further involvement in the justice system.

Anne Shea Gaza, counsel at Richards, Layton & Finger, has been elected president of the Delaware Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Her two-year term begins Oct. 1. The Delaware Chapter of the Federal Bar Association works to promote the welfare, interests, education and professional growth of the members of the federal legal profession.

A member of Richards Layton’s Litigation Department, Gaza represents local, national and international clients in commercial matters before Delaware state and federal courts.

According to The National Law Journal, the American Bar Association is pursuing a major marketing campaign to appeal to a broader audience, including small-firm lawyers.

Incoming American Bar Association President Carolyn Lamm was so concerned about shoring up the organization's membership and appealing to a broader audience that she started pitching in this year before the beginning of her term.

ABA membership isn't growing at the same rate as the profession, said Lamm, a partner in the Washington office of White & Case. The association doesn't even represent half of all U.S. lawyers anymore, she said.

"There were certain groups of lawyers I didn't think we had enough of," said Lamm, citing solo practitioners, young lawyers and those from smaller firms. Different groups have "different needs in terms of what the association can give them to increase the value of the association and increase the relevance of the association to them."

When the ABA gathers for its annual meeting in Chicago on July 30, the organization's board of governors will weigh a key question: How does the association get membership climbing again? The board will receive a presentation from its marketing consultant Leo Burnett Co. Inc., which was hired in March to aid in spreading the ABA's message to more lawyers. The association has never pursued a marketing effort of this magnitude, said current ABA President H.Thomas Wells Jr.