DAYL’s Outstanding 2013 Director and Committee Chair

March 2014 Dicta
by Sarah Rogers, DAYL Immediate Past President

Each year, DAYL recognizes two of its leaders who have gone above and beyond in their leadership, service and dedication to DAYL’s members and programs. It is my honor to recognize Andy Jenkins as the Outstanding Director for 2013 and Chris Simmons as the Outstanding Committee Co-Chair for 2013.

If you attended a DAYL event last year, chances are you saw Andy Jenkins. Not only was Andy present at a large number of DAYL events, but he also made significant substantive contributions to DAYL last year as well. Andy was elected to the Board of Directors and served his first term on the board in 2013. Andy served as the Board Liaison to the Ask-A-Lawyer and Solo and Small Firm Committees and he also served as a committee co-chair on the CLE Committee and on the Technology and Communications Committee.

To say that Andy attended a lot of DAYL events in 2013 is an understatement. Each month in 2013, Andy usually attended at least four or five DAYL events in addition to several committee meetings. Often times Andy assisted at the monthly socials by working at the check-in table, he obtained speakers and moderators for CLE programs, he organized committee meetings and contributed ideas for new DAYL events, he worked to lay the framework for DAYL’s upcoming new website…you name it – Andy did it. Not only did Andy put in countless hours to ensure DAYL’s programs and events were successful, but he also went out of his way to make it a meaningful experience for our members – meeting new members, connecting them with other members, encouraging others to attend DAYL’s events, and soliciting feedback to make our events even better.

DAYL is incredibly fortunate to have Andy Jenkins on its Board of Directors again in 2014. There is no doubt in my mind that DAYL is a better organization because of the contributions Andy Jenkins has made to it. Please help me in congratulating Andy Jenkins for being the 2013 Outstanding Director!

As we all know, DAYL’s many programs would not be possible without the hard work of our committee co-chairs. In 2013, there were a number of DAYL Committee Co-Chairs who dedicated their time to ensure DAYL maintained its exceptional programs. There was one co-chair who truly went above and beyond and that person is Chris Simmons. Chris served as a committee co-chair of the Equal Access to Justice Committee and on the Judicial Intern Committee and has done so for several years. Chris has been instrumental in helping organize the annual Equal Access to Justice Wine Tasting benefitting DVAP. Chris obtained sponsors, developed the invitation and printed materials, and coordinated the logistics of the event.

In addition to his work on the Equal Access to Justice Committee, Chris spear-headed the DAYL’s Judicial Intern program. Last year, we had a long-standing co-chair who has organized that program for many years step down. Chris truly stepped up to the plate and took the lead on this committee. Chris organized in excess of 130 applications DAYL received from law students across the country and distributed those applications to all of the participating Judges. Chris then helped coordinate the selection process with over 30 participating Judges to ensure that each student was selected only once. Even after the students were placed, Chris’s work did not end there.

Chris helped organize the annual DAYL Judicial Intern luncheon for all of the students and judges during the summer. He also organized additional programming put on by DAYL members for the law students several times throughout the year. The amount of time that Chris put forth on behalf of DAYL to make the Judicial Intern program a success in the eyes of the students, the Judges and our members is incredible and we are so grateful for all of his work. Please help me in congratulating Chris Simmons for being the 2013 DAYL Outstanding Committee Co-Chair!