Great Time to Get Involved (“easy, medium, large, and easy again” edition)

By: Jessi Fierro, Chair, CLA Board of Representatives

A new year can be such an invigorating and reflective time. As you ponder and scheme for what you hope to achieve this year, we have opportunities to get actively involved in CLA that would suit a range of time and interest levels:

1. On the easier end, we invite all CLA members and leaders to start the year strong with one (or both) of Simon Sinek’s Books: Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team (recommended), or Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (for more background). Then, join our Grow Your Leadership Book Club discussion on March 17, 2026, to talk about drafting and refining our “why statement,” which prompts in the book were most helpful or challenging, where we need why (Work? Volunteer efforts? Other areas?), and more. Join us for discussion even if you don’t finish the book! Register today.
2. For more “medium” involvement: What do YOU want to hear about or tell others about at the 2026 Annual Meeting in San Diego October 22-24, 2026? We are seeking your suggestions for topics and presenters now through February 6. Our Program Committee has already been brainstorming some fresh and exciting ideas for making this year’s conference a not-to-miss event for attorneys, CLA volunteers, our colleagues, newer attorneys, law students, and families. We have a few surprises in the works you won’t want to miss, but we want to hear from you: What’s new and fascinating that your fellow lawyers need to know about? Let us know!
3. For those ready to take the plunge into something bigger at CLA, the application period to join an Executive Committee is open now. Each of CLA’s practice area sections (Antitrust, Business, Litigation, and more) has an Executive Committee of volunteers who plans the section’s activities throughout the year, from webinars, conferences, scholarships, legislative review, and more. What’s the time commitment for an ExCom? This depends on the person and the section, but generally there are 8-10 meetings per year of 2-4 hours, mostly on zoom (you can probably multi-task for some of it, if needed), and you put some time into one of your section’s programs (conferences, webinars, publications, student programming, etc.).  The benefits?  It’s incredibly rewarding, and you’ll collaborate with fabulous people who are at the forefront of our profession. Applications are due March 1, and the application and more information are available here.
4. And a quick boomerang back to easy: spread the word. Let a colleague, law school buddy, or others know about these opportunities. Remind folks to renew or start their membership to support these volunteer-driven efforts.

CLA is at its best when we show up, and that can look different ways for different people at different times. I am grateful for all of the time, creativity, and energy volunteers (like myself!) put into making this organization effective and impactful. Those efforts serve the present and future of our profession – and that, in turn, serves the various communities and causes we serve.

We look forward to seeing you around CLA in 2026, and we look forward to seeing all that our CLA membership community accomplishes at CLA, in their careers, and beyond in the coming year!