Florida Bar YLD wraps up record-breaking year under President Anisha Patel’s leadership

Florida Bar YLD wraps up record-breaking year under President Anisha Patel’s leadership

Anisha Patel: “The goal this year was really to reach as many people as possible. It was really trying to get people engaged with the Bar, and it was a goal of mine to really highlight professionalism.”

Unfailingly polite and perpetually upbeat, Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division President Anisha Patel is wrapping up a year leading the 28,000-member division on an unusually high note.

“We had a productive year,” Patel deadpans. “Our board was raring to go the moment the Bar year started.”

At a meeting closing out the Bar year last month, after Patel ticked off an exhaustive list of projects in her final “YLD President’s Report,” the Board of Governors burst into applause.

President Scott Westheimer halted the meeting to thank Patel profusely, and to praise the division for exceeding its “workhorse” reputation.

“You are one of the highest quality presidents I have ever seen,” Westheimer said.

In a recent interview, Patel enthusiastically recounted the highlights.

A “Virtual Summit” began as something that she and her board members initially thought would offer three or four hours of free CLE and feature a handful of expert presenters.

Patel and her colleagues generated so much interest, the Virtual Summit snowballed into more than 30 hours of free CLE with 52 presenters.

“Everything was free, we had Supreme Court justices participate, and we (attracted) more than 1,000 people,” Patel said. “We haven’t seen those numbers — ever.”

Patel decided the YLD couldn’t stop there.

“We decided to do a second one, because we saw the value in collaborating with The Florida Bar sections,” she said.

A second “mini” summit featured 11 free CLEs, produced by Florida Bar sections. It attracted more than 800 registrants.

That was followed by six “Practice Series” webinars, which focused on managing a case, and giving Bar sections another opportunity to raise their profile.

Featuring family law, personal injury, business litigation, ethical billing practices, guardianship, and labor and employment components, the series attracted another 1,200 registrants.

Along the way, the YLD re-recorded all 13 basic skills courses listed in the Standing Board Policy 6.22. Three remain in editing or production, and will be available June 30, Patel said.

At one of the biggest YLD events of the year, the Affiliate Outreach Conference, the division offered a new “Professionalism Session,” that offered CLE credits for young lawyers, and a law student program with a separate, newly created curriculum. Attracting more than 200 young lawyers, the AOC raised a record $36,000 in sponsorships.

By the end of the Bar year, the YLD raised $75,000 in sponsorships.

Patel is especially proud of another new YLD initiative, the “36 Under 36 Professionalism Awards.” In its inaugural year, the project drew more than 200 nominations.

Several years in the planning, Patel said the project’s title was suggested by a colleague, former YLD President Santo DiGangi, who now serves as a judge in the County Civil Division in the 15th Judicial Circuit. The name is a play on Florida Bar YLD membership, which is open to all lawyers 36 or younger, or who are within five years of Bar admission, Patel said.

“The goal this year was really to reach as many people as possible,” she said. “It was really trying to get people engaged with the Bar, and it was a goal of mine to really highlight professionalism.”

Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz sent personal letters of congratulations to each of the 36 Under 36 Professionalism Awards winners, Patel said.

“We’ve had wonderful participation by Supreme Court justices,” she said.

While she was serving on YLD Board, Patel learned that some law school students were beginning to feel ignored by the YLD. When she became president, Patel was determined to visit as many campuses as possible.

“I think it’s important for young lawyers to hear about the YLD, and The Florida Bar, and all of these free resources while they are in law school, so that when they do graduate and transition to the practice of law, that they already have a built-in support network that they are aware of.”

This year, the YLD logged 11 campus visits and met with more than 400 students. A 2014 Stetson College of Law graduate, Patel recalls meeting her first YLD president when she was a 1L.

“So, I wanted to make sure that students today are getting the same opportunities that I did,” she said.

Directing those efforts, and more, couldn’t have been possible without a lot of collaboration, Patel stresses.

“Going into this, I was willing to work as hard as I possibly could, and my board was willing to do the same,” she said.

A wife and mother of two — a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter — Patel says much of the credit for a successful year is also due to children who were “willing to go along for the ride.”

“They are YLD representatives in their own right. Since they have been born, they have been to every YLD meeting with me, they have not missed one,” she said. “Obviously, I have a very supportive husband.”

Patel managed to fulfill her YLD and family responsibilities without ignoring a busy practice with Hill Ward Henderson in Southwest Florida.

The firm has long supported her Bar service work, Patel said.

“I have a very busy practice, and this year, I made shareholder, which I am very, very proud of,” she said.