Annual Judicial Dinner

Each year, in conjunction with Law Day, the Young Lawyers host a dinner in honor of our Local, State, and Federal Judges. This year's event was held at Northridge Country Club, and there were seventeen judges in attendance, our best year yet! With well over a hundred others in attendance, it was a wonderful evening for everyone involved. The Honorable Harry F. Barnes, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas, was the guest speaker, and presented a talk on the importance of the American Jury System. We would especially like to thank our sponsors for the event, Regions Bank, LoisLaw, and Davie Rowe Legal Video. Viva's Flowers also graciously donated the centerpiece for each table. With the support of these sponsors we were able to present a very nice evening in honor of the Judges who work so hard for our community.

Annual Attorney of the Year Award

Each year the Texarkana Young Lawyers Association selects an outstanding member of the local bar to receive the annual Attorney of the Year award. The award is presented to an attorney who represents the very best aspects of o

ur profession. The first recipient of the award was Ron Chaufty. The award is presented at the Texarkana Bar Association meeting each July.

College Hill Elementary Literacy Project

The Young Lawyers believe that literacy is the foundation for success in life. To promote reading among Fourth Graders at College Hill Elementary, each fall, the Young Lawyers purchase each student in the fourth grade a book which the class reads and studies throughout the year. At the end of the school year, we go back and host a pizza party for those students who completed reading the book. We believe that this project is very important because it gives every student a book of their very own, which might represent the beginning of a lifetime love of reading. The 2004-05 book was Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. The 2003-04 book was The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Fifteenth Street Early Literacy Center

Each year in December, the Young Lawyers, along with other volunteers from the community, help to celebrate the end of semester by reading holiday stories to the pajama-clad children who attend the 15th Street Early Literacy Center.

Harvest Texarkana food rescue at "A Taste of Texarkana"

Each August, the YWCA of Greater Texarkana hosts the Taste of Texarkana, which is an exhibition of local restaurants. Following the event, Harvest Texarkana collects the leftover food which would otherwise be discarded for distribution to its 29 beneficiary agencies who help feed the hungry in our area. This effort requires a lot of man/woman power, and the Young Lawyers step up to lend a hand each year.

Law Day Mock Trials

Each year, in conjunction with Law Day, the Texarkana Young Lawyers Association joins with volunteers from the Teen Court of Texarkana to present mock trials to the fourth graders at many area schools. With cases such as "The Big Bad Wolf vs. The Little Pig" and "Snow White vs. The Wicked Witch", in which Young Lawyers play the attorneys and the judge while class members serve as the jurors and the bailiff, we demonstrate the basic principles of the American jury system to the children, and discuss why that system is so important to each of us. Everyone has a good time, especially when it's time to hand down the verdict.

Teen Court of Texarkana

Many Young Lawyers volunteer their time with the Teen Court of Texarkana, a "voluntary youth diversion program designed to allow teenage misdemeanor offenders an opportunity to accept responsibility for their actions by participating in the judicial process and performing community service work." Young Lawyers typically serve as Judges on the Teen Court.