DAYL President’s Page
A Century of Service
by Justin R. Gobert
Happy New Year! The year 2020 is a special one for DAYL as it marks the 100th year of existence of our organization. Very little about the practice of law today, from the use of technology to the makeup of the profession, resembles what it would have been like to be a practicing attorney in the 1920s. Through all of the changes, one thing that has remained constant is DAYL’s mission to serve the profession, by improving the quality of life for young lawyers and to serve the Dallas community through public service.
Throughout the last one-hundred years, DAYL has provided its members with thousands of hours of CLE and networking opportunities, contributed tens of thousands of hours of public service, and raised hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars for charitable causes. Since its founding, DAYL has also helped shape many of the leaders in our community. One of the first presidents of the organization is a name known throughout Dallas, former Mayor Woodall Rodgers. Today, many of the partners at the area’s largest firms, general counsels at Dallas-based corporations, and local elected leaders, from judges to council members, began building their networks through their involvement in DAYL. Our leadership class program, which began in the late 1990s, has served as a model for bar organizations throughout the country.
What began as a small organization with a few events one-hundred years ago has grown into one of the most prominent bar organizations in the country, with nearly three-thousand members and hundreds of events each year. DAYL’s current members owe a special thank you to those members and leaders of the organization that came before us and built the organization into what it is today. I would be remiss if I also didn’t thank our Executive Director, Cherie Harris, for her role. Cherie is entering her 28th year of service with DAYL and there is no doubt that DAYL would not have the level success that it enjoys today without her tireless contributions.
DAYL has a proud history and we will spend parts of 2020 celebrating and honoring that history. If you would like to be a part of those efforts, please e-mail Cherie to get involved.
We will also continue doing the great events that our members have come to expect. If you are interested in getting further involved in DAYL, there is no better time than now to sign up. Take a moment to check out all of our committee opportunities at http://www.dayl.com/get-involved/committees/.
I encourage you to sign up for one today and help begin shaping DAYL’s next century of service to our profession and community.