For many young lawyers, the easy and immediate answer to the expectation of "getting involved" is participation within the legal community. Whether this is through active membership in the bar association or pro bono projects, involvement in the legal community can help young lawyers develop skills, generate referral sources with practitioners in other practice areas and learn about leads on new jobs.
Young lawyers are often encouraged to pursue extracurricular activities, which, in theory at least, reap quantifiable business benefits. Structured networking groups, for example, are designed to create business referrals. Particularly for young lawyers, however, the benefits of involvement in community and civic organizations provide substantial professional benefits that should not be overlooked. In this article, young lawyers share the contributions they have made and the benefits they have received through participation in charitable projects, leadership programs and other community engagement. Their experiences have been critical to their development as well-rounded counselors who are skilled at serving their clients with both experience and knowledge.
