Trial Magazine

As we ramp up for AAJ’s Annual Convention in Nashville this summer, I feel like I’m still reveling in the afterglow of the Winter Convention in Austin. I love our conventions for the same reasons that I love AAJ. They reverberate with a spirit and energy that’s fueled by the passion of our members.

Coming together is always an important reminder of why I joined AAJ. Joining means becoming part of something larger—a powerful force embodied by the collective voice of plaintiff lawyers united in our commitment to justice. The strength of this organization is amplified by our participation.

Joining this remarkable organization changed my life, and I urge you to share this opportunity with others in your legal community and invite promising trial lawyers to join AAJ. They will be making an investment in their future success. Today, I challenge every current member to take just one step to recruit a new member before Dec. 31. (For information on how to recruit members, email membership@justice.org or call (800) 424-2727, and someone from the Membership Team will assist you.)

During the Winter Convention, we launched the “100 Members in 100 Days” campaign, spearheaded by the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus under the leadership of Chair Jenny Greene. While the number of female members of the association has seen significant growth and women currently make up 22% of AAJ’s total membership, we can do better and continue to strive for greater representation within our organization.

If there are female lawyers in your community who are not AAJ members, invite them to join and lend their ideas and talent to create more opportunities for women in the law. The same is true for all diverse individuals—we must continue to engage and support diverse members of the legal community, and AAJ’s Minority Caucus, LGBT Caucus, and other member groups do just that.

When I first joined AAJ, I attended a membership phone drive where I met people who are now some of my dearest friends in the organization. These drives don’t just expand our ranks—they’re also platforms that foster relationships and an understanding of our organization’s dynamics. If you’ve never attended a phone drive, I urge you to participate this year. Be on the lookout for information as more drives are planned throughout 2024. I promise that it will be an experience you value for the rest of your AAJ journey.

We’ve also launched a campaign to work with state delegates to bring more state trial lawyer association (TLA) members into AAJ. We believe AAJ and the state TLAs are stronger when plaintiff attorneys are members of both organizations.

As part of this effort, all of us should be AAJ ambassadors. Take an interest in the members who join from your state and help them navigate AAJ from the beginning. Mentorship plays a pivotal role in retaining members—it cultivates bonds, imparts knowledge, and nurtures a sense of camaraderie and solidarity. Your time will be an investment in the strength and prosperity of our organization.

As individual members of AAJ, we gain education, friendship, mentorship, and strategies to become better lawyers. As an organization, we increase our capacity to champion the cause of justice, empower those in need, and uphold the principles that define us as advocates for the voiceless.

Our membership initiatives connect us all as ambassadors for the association and everything it does for us and our clients. Please consider inviting one lawyer to join AAJ today. If every member recruited just one person, imagine the power of our amplified collective voice.

Sean C. Domnick is a founder and shareholder of Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and can be reached at sean.domnick@justice.org.