TYLA President's Opinion • May 2024
The Final Countdown
(For this year's TYLA projects)
“It’s the final countdown
We’re leavin’ together
We’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown”
—Europe
Please tell me you just hummed that epic riff in your head as soon as you read those lyrics. It should not surprise anyone that “The Final Countdown” was largely based on those first few keyboard riffs. Joey Tempest, the lead singer of the Swedish rock band Europe, wrote the song largely as a concert opener, but the song was an instant success.
Over 30 years after its release, “The Final Countdown” is a staple at sporting events. It is often used as a popular rally and hype song. It is on my running playlist for the same reason. It is a perfect song for that fourth quarter push or the final sprint to the finish line.
We are in the final lap of my Texas Young Lawyers Association presidency, so while my team is working very hard to finalize projects, this was a perfect time for me to recap TYLA’s purpose and some of the specific items we tackled this year.
TYLA was founded in 1930 and later became a division of the State Bar of Texas. TYLA’s automatic membership consists of all Texas lawyers who are licensed 12 years or less on June 1.
TYLA is the “public service arm” of the State Bar of Texas, which includes a lot of different things. Essentially, we assist the State Bar in supporting our newly licensed Texas lawyers, facilitating the administration of justice, fostering respect for the rule of law, and most prominently, advancing the role of lawyers in serving the public. To fulfill this purpose, TYLA organizes programming and develops or maintains projects and resources on a full range of legal topics, skills, or practice issues that lawyers could find helpful in their practices. This year, we also placed specific importance on reconnecting with our statewide local affiliate young lawyer groups.
Outside the Adulting project you read about last month, here are just a few of the other items TYLA worked on this year:
National Trial Competition. Co-sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers, this preeminent mock trial competition involves more than 1,000 aspiring trial lawyers every year.
Pamphlet Development, Updates, or Translations. TYLA developed, updated, or translated over 20 different legal resource pamphlets to assist lawyers in their practice.
Podcasts. TYLA recorded new podcast episodes focused on professionalism and the Texas Lawyer’s Creed and migrated past Ten Minute Mentor content into podcast format.
CLE, Events, and Programming Database. Utilizing past TYLA projects, TYLA updated discussion guides, organized programming, and developed a database of potential resources for local bar associations to use on a local level.
If you have not visited the TYLA website in a while, scan the QR code on this page to check out our many resources! While you do that, I will get back to making sure we finish strong as the countdown begins to the end of this bar year.
LAURA PRATT
2023-2024 President, Texas Young Lawyers Association