Fall 2021 YLS Resource Guide: Tips for First Year Lawyers

FALL 2021 Publication Chairs: Nancy E. Musick Sunny M. Dharod

Resource Guide: Tips for First Year Lawyers A Note from the President

Hello, my name is Rick Davis and I want to welcome all our new lawyers to the Kansas Bar Association (KBA) and the Young Lawyers Section (YLS). For those of you that don’t know me, I graduated from Washburn in 2012, and then went to work for a firm out of Wichita, which eventually lead me to a brief stint in south Florida.

I returned to Kansas in 2015, where I started my own law firm, which was the precursor to my current firm and title company in Overland Park. I now have the privilege of rounding out my time as a “young lawyer” as the president of the KBA YLS. As you progress throughout your career, you will undoubtedly find that many things are not what you thought in law school. At times you will love your work, and others you may question if you entered the right profession. It is for those harder times that I encourage you to become involved with the KBA and the YLS.

In this Edition:

Page 1: Welcome from YLS President, Rick Davis

Since returning to Kansas, I have become a bit of a “bar junkie” serving in leadership roles within the YLS, the KBA itself and with the American Bar Association (“ABA”). As a result of this involvement, I had the unique opportunity to push through one of the biggest changes to the ABA Young Lawyers Division, which expanded the definition of a young lawyer to include all lawyers in the first ten years of practice. This change was motivated by the change in the demographics for young lawyers now as opposed to fifty years ago.

We can all agree, however, that demographics are not the only things changing. The advent of the internet and websites such as Legal Zoom has changed the marketplace for legal practice. Similarly, technology such as document automation has changed how we staff law firms and work on cases.

As a young lawyer, you can shape how the Kansas legal profession adapts to these changes. Moreover, the KBA provides different resources than most other lawyer organizations as we have a full-time legislative services director who is responsible for advocating for changes to laws, rules and regulations that relate to the legal profession.

Page 6: Helpful Tips for New Lawyers

Whatever your interests or practice areas, I encourage you to get involved with the KBA and YLS so that you can have a voice in the direction of our profession.

Moreover, in addition to our lobbying efforts, the KBA also provides great opportunities to meet lawyers throughout the state, attend continuing legal education classes with Kansas lawyers, and stay informed on the happenings within the Kansas legal community.

Page 7: Connecting Kansas: Dodge City edition, Interview with Paige Bangerter

If you are interested in getting more involved with the KBA YLS or if you just have questions about the

Page 2: Research & Writing Tips for New Lawyers Page 4: Advice for New Lawyers

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association, I encourage you to reach out to me anytime at rick@rickdavislegal.com. Young lawyers have a chance to determine the future of this profession and I encourage all of you to join me on this journey.

Rick Davis is the current president of the Young Lawyers Section of the Kansas Bar Association. He is also the founder of rickdavisLEGAL, where he currently practices law.

Research and Writing Tips for New Lawyers

By Chris Carey & Nancy Musick

Congratulations! You did it! You finished law school, passed the bar, and secured your first legal job. As you start the next phase of your career, it may surprise you to learn that practicing law is nothing like law school in one key respect: most communication occurs through writing.

Whether you’re writing briefs, research memos, or emails, lawyers must be able to research and write efficiently. In this article, we’ll help you adjust to this new reality by providing a few tried-and-true tips you can use today to improve your legal writing and research skills. Follow these simple tips and you’ll avoid some of the easy mistakes we made in our first two years of legal work.

Research Tips 1. Google it!

Westlaw and Lexis don’t have all the answers. Often, others have posted helpful articles about common legal issues online. If you skip Google, you’ll miss these resources!

2. Track your research efforts.

Compile your research in a Word document so you know where you’ve searched and what you’ve tried. For each cite you find, copy, and paste important quotes into the document so you can easily reference them later. You can also organize cases by using the folder system on your search engine of choice.

3. Watch Out for Rabbit Holes.

As you research, periodically step back and compare what you’ve found with what you were supposed to find.

If you’ve been asked to look at adverse-possession cases and you’ve been reading about closely held corporations, something has gone horribly wrong. Check in often so you use your time and effort efficiently.

4. Ask for feedback along the way.

If your initial research efforts are coming up short or you think you may be off track, don’t be afraid to follow up with the attorney who assigned the project. Unlike law school, the practice of law is collaborative! So, save yourself the headache and ask for feedback when you’re stuck.

5. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

One of the primary ways a young lawyer gets off-track is by not communicating effectively and setting realistic deadlines. If the assigning attorney doesn’t know how the project is going, or that you’ve had a family emergency come up, or that you uncovered 25 new cases that must be read and synthesized to complete the

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project, she may get frustrated when you turn in a project late without explanation. So, if you think you’ll need more time, ask for it early and explain the situation. You can avoid a lot of frustration this way.

Writing Tips 1. Accept that you are not a good writer—yet.

Writing is our craft, and mastering it requires hard work that doesn’t stop when you graduate. Becoming a good writer is a lifelong process. We all have room to improve, no matter our experience level. You’re just starting out, and it’s okay that you have a lot to learn. So go learn it.

Be open to feedback and be intentional about improving your writing. If you’re reading this, you’re already taking a step in the right direction! A good next step would be to start reading books on legal writing. Two we recommend (if you haven’t read them already) are The Winning Brief

by Bryan Garner and Point Made by Ross Guberman.

2. Read good writing.

When you read great legal writing, you absorb a lot of good habits through osmosis. So, here’s an easy tip: spend 15 minutes a day over lunch reading Supreme Court briefs written by excellent brief writers. Our favorites include Lisa Blatt, Pamela Karlan, Paul Clement, Neal Katyal, and Jefferey Fisher. (This exercise also works with opinions by your favorite Supreme Court Justice.)

But when you do this, don’t read for substance.

Whatever writing you choose, read it with intention and focus on what makes the prose persuasive. Notice how the author uses transition words, varies their sentence lengths, and patterns, and avoids legalese. How is the argument organized? In other words, pay attention to what makes the writing so good. When you read with intention, you’ll naturally pick up tricks and tips you can apply to your own writing.

3. Work smarter, not harder.

Brief Catch, or similar programs are a nice shortcut.

Brief Catch is a legal editing tool that scans your document and provides suggestions to improve your draft, and it is used by many state and federal courts (including a few Supreme Court Justices).

You can also use Westlaw or Lexis software that lets you upload your brief for a cite check and other review.

Take advantage of these resources! And don’t forget about resources outside the legal research realm. For example, Grammarly has a Microsoft Word add-in that functions like a supercharged spellchecker with advanced grammar features. And speaking of spellcheck, did you know that Microsoft Word has lots of advanced editing features? Be sure to turn on these features (click here to see how) to unlock Word’s full editing potential.

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Edit. Edit. And then edit again.

Of course, while technology is helpful, you shouldn’t rely on it for all your editing needs.

Nothing beats a final check on paper, so print off your draft and read it out loud. You’ll be shocked at how much you will catch this way. And if you can’t print, use Word’s “Read Aloud” feature under the “Review” tab.

5. Control the things you can control.

At this stage in your career, you’re most likely writing for other people. And that means you can’t control how the final editor will perceive your work. That’s okay; it’s just part of the process. But you can control a few things, especially your formatting and Bluebooking. We know, we know, Bluebooking is for nerds. Just hear us out: Bluebooking is one thing that you can control and master right now. Plus, if your Bluebooking is sloppy, people will assume that your research is, too. The same goes for formatting, so make sure your work is consistent, free of small errors, and pleasing to the eye. Need help? Ask a legal assistant or another colleague for an example you can work from.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, we hope it helps jump-start your journey to becoming a great legal writer!

Chris Carey is a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Before clerking for the Tenth Circuit, Chris clerked for the Kansas Court of Appeals. Chris graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2019.

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Nancy Musick is an attorney with Foulston Siefkin LLP. Before working for Foulston, Nancy clerked for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Nancy graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2019.

Advice for New Lawyers

By Paige Bangartner

(From a new lawyer, for free and you get what you pay for) Truth be told, I cling to the title of “new lawyer.” The adjective “new” ameliorates some of the expectation of perfection that the title “lawyer” suggests. Because I have only been practicing law since April of 2020, I believe the adjective still very much applies to me (I often refer to myself as a baby-lawyer). However, as I progress through my second year of practice, gradually knowledge and experience have wormed their way into my practice and life. I will never pretend to possess a fount of wisdom.

However, I have benefited to such a large degree from the advice and wisdom of others, I feel compelled to pay it forward in whatever granular way possible. I hope this short list helps other baby-lawyers mature into their practice of law.

Develop Your “Third Thing:” Someone (I cannot for the life of me remember who, but I wish I could credit them!) told me that everyone should have a “third thing”. Your first thing is your faith/family, and second thing is your work. Most people stop there, but life is too short to not have a third thing, a thing that just makes you happy. This is the first time in a long time you are not in school, you are making money again, you have (slightly) more free time. So, start making your daydream a reality! Always wanted to run a triathlon? Start training for one. Been dreaming of playing the perfect game of golf? Get some clubs and get out there and practice. Your grandpa’s old ‘67 Chevy gathering dust in the garage? Start YouTubing and figure out how to get it joy-riding again. Always wanted to turn your car into essentially a compact camper van? Do it and hit the mountains this weekend sister, they are waiting for you!

Ultimately, having joy in your life will increase your productivity, and prioritizing your “third thing” makes it a little less traumatic to no longer have spring break.

Do Not Let Your Lack of Experience Hold you Back: Apply for positions, jobs, and leadership roles even if you lack experience. The worst thing possible is rejection, and is that really that bad? No. No matter what your anxious gut tells you, rejection is not that bad. And how will we ever learn to run if we never try to walk? Imposter syndrome is a real thing, but trust me, you know more than you think you do. Remember, a law license is really a “license to learn.” No one knows it all, but thanks to law school you have the skills to figure it out for your client.

Even lawyers who have been practicing for a long time still have to look things up. Life as a new attorney involves a lot of “Well, I guess I can try.” When you step out and just try something, most of the time you will find that it is not as hard as it looked. Or maybe it is quite difficult, but you possess the skills and resources necessary to tackle the challenge. Do not sell yourself short. You now have a very fancy degree, you finally passed the bar exam, and you are the pride of your family and friends, so do not let fear of the unknown hold you back. For baby-lawyers, pretty much the whole world of law is an unknown, so if you never leave your comfort zone you might find yourself stuck in a very cramped space. But even though everything is unfamiliar to us “new lawyers,” we do have

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the education, energy, tenacity, and dare I say chippiness to tackle pretty much anything. Trying usually becomes doing. So, go for it. You’ve got this.

Do Not Be Afraid to Ask for Help: Related to the above point, you truly do not know what you are doing all the time. That is okay, but make sure you find out what you are doing before you commit malpractice (yikes!). Malpractice is a huge bummer to contemplate, but you are doing plenty of new things as a new attorney, and it is perfectly normal to need help. I know as lawyers we tend to be a prideful bunch, but pride comes before a fall. Help is available all around you; you just need to be humble enough to ask for it. This thankfully is not law school where the professor has forbidden students to work together. This is real life (what a relief!) and in real life you get to ask for help when you need it. Join list serves, send emails with questions, call up a mentor, call up the clerk’s office, etc. etc. The point is, no one expects you to know it all, but many people do expect you to figure it out. The good news is you do not have to figure it out alone.

Ask Tons of Questions: Who cares if you are annoying? (No one thinks you are.) You must accept that as a new lawyer you are on a huge growth curve. You may know how to write a motion for summary judgment (thank you Lawyering Skills), but be honest, you do not know how to file it. You do not even know where you should park at the courthouse. The good news is the world is mostly full of kind people who would love to help you. So do not hesitate to ask. There is no shame in being the new kid.

On a related note, to asking for help, find good mentorship and use it. I would be lost without my army of mentors. If speed-dial were still a thing, my mentors would be on speed-dial. I cannot recommend mentorship enough. Get a mentor.

Get Involved: By getting involved I mean join bar associations, volunteer to help with events and projects, and attend young lawyer lunches no matter how high your in-tray pile gets. These networks can be life-changing and eyeopening, not to mention fun. Your fellow lawyers are your greatest resource and best source of support as you embark on the odyssey that is a life in the practice of law. Some days you will need their energy and excitement to reignite your passion for the work.

Joining groups like this will also give you an opportunity to meet and learn from legal professionals that you might otherwise never cross paths with. I treasure the relationships I have formed with judges and fellow attorneys with whom I have had the privilege of tackling bar-association projects. I look forward to our monthly Zoom meetings because I know that in every meeting, I will hear about the great work they are doing, and my own drive will be reinvigorated.

In addition to diving into the legal community, I would encourage young lawyers to invest in their cities, towns, and counties. Here in Kansas, many of us come from tight-knit communities. You may be one of few lawyers in your town. Because of that, you may be sought after early in your career to serve on local boards or lead local projects. You may even be asked to campaign for local government. I would encourage you to get involved in your local community. Your education, and training in reasoned argument, will add a valuable perspective to any project. Many of our Kansas towns desperately need their legal professionals to step up and take the reins on important local endeavors. What a privilege and an honor to possess skills and resources valuable enough to make an impact on entire communities so early in our career.

Do not be afraid to use your skills. Get involved.

Work Hard and Be Nice: Even though we are baby-lawyers, that is not an excuse to be rude. Work hard and be nice. This is an adversarial profession, and of course that involves competition, but please keep it confined to friendly competition. This is an awesome job, but it is just a job. Do not make it personal and do not take it personally. Liking to win and being a

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jerk are distinct personality traits, so be sure to keep them separate. To put it more eloquently, we are all professionals. I believe cordiality and mutual respect will win the day, not only for your relationships with your fellow lawyers, but also likely to help you achieve better results for your clients.

Remember, paralegals and clerks run the show. If you are ever rude to a paralegal or a clerk, everyone will know and everyone will hate you forever. Never be mean to a paralegal or a clerk. Paralegals usually know their lawyer’s schedule much better than the lawyer herself does. If someone’s paralegal doesn’t like you, good luck getting an appointment on the calendar. They have the power. Also, most people trust their paralegal with their life. If you are discourteous to a paralegal, the attorney is not going to respect that attitude, and will likely be way less willing to work with you.

Do not limit yourself to just being friends with lawyers.

Besides being super snobbish and annoying, you would really be missing out on the other amazing people working in the legal world. You will see them all the time anyway, so I would highly recommend getting to know and becoming friends with clerks, bailiffs, paralegals, and other court and firm staff. These are the people with the real keys to the kingdom. They know everything and everyone and are the coolest, chillest people at the courthouse. Something that I find awesome about my relationships with people in these positions is that the relationship is never adversarial. I can respect the prosecutor all day long, but I know sometimes he wants to choke me. The clerk hopefully doesn’t ever feel that way about me.

Being a lawyer is super awesome. I hope you think so too. Happy maturing, fellow new-lawyers. Bon voyage.

Paige Bangerter has her own law practice in Dodge City, Kansas. She graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2020. Paige serves as one of District 9’s representatives for the Kansas Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

“Be professional—courteous and truthful always.

Remember we practice the law—no one is perfect.

Work hard, but work as a team.

Love what you do, be passionate about it.

Have fun and welcome creative solutions.

Respect history’s lessons.

Love your family and make time for them.

Give back to the community in service and profits.

Forget insults.

Have a sense of humor.

Keep brewed coffee on the warmer.

Keep beer in the refrigerator.

Keep popcorn in your drawer.

Honor the law.”

- John Jurcky Kelsy E. Allison, District 1 Representative MVP Law •

“Do not be afraid to ask for help. You are not supposed to be an expert out of the gate and your colleagues are ready to help you! You are always going to be learning, but especially in the first five years of practice, you should be soaking in all the information.”

Danielle Atchison, District 1 Representative MDIVANI Corporate Immigration Law •

“Practice like and be an attorney that you would want to have a case with.”

Joe Aker, District 6 Representative Hampton & Royce, L.C. •

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“Do not try to do everything on your own…it is always better to ask for advice when a problem

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comes up then to try to solve it by yourself.”

Meredith G. Ashely, Mock Trial Committee Wiedner McAuliffe “Know your limits, set healthy boundaries, and most importantly, do not be afraid to ask for help if you need it.”

Jakob Provo, Mock Trial Committee Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska LLC

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“COMMUNICATE! Be honest about deadlines, expectations, the process, etc.”

Lauren Hughes, YLS President-Elect Wise & Reber, L.C. •

“Always treat your staff well; Take good notes; Know that clients don’t always need a lawyer; you don’t know what someone is privately going through, always be courteous and professional.”

Ashely Comeau, District 10 Representative Jeter Turner Sook Baxter, LLP •

“Being humble enough to ask and gracious when you receive help will go a long way in making a good first impression.”

Timothy A. Pullin, Legislative Liaison Wallace Saunders •

“Do with confidence. You know more than you think you do!”

Ashley McGee, District 4 Representative Lyon County Attorney’s Office •

Connecting Kansas: Dodge City edition

Interview with Paige Bangerter Nancy Musick, interviewer

Q: A:

So, Paige, tell me where you are from.

I am from Dodge City, KS.

Q: Okay, you grew up and went to high school in Dodge City?

A: Yes. I was born at Dodge City Regional Hospital, I went to elementary school in Dodge City, and middle school in Dodge City and high school in Dodge City.

Q: A:

Where are you practicing law right now?

In Dodge City.

Q: What kind of law are you practicing?

A: I mostly do indigent criminal defense. Then I also do some indigent juvenile defense. Also, I’m on the appointment list for Child in Need of Care cases where I mostly represent parents in those cases. Then occasionally I’m a Guardian et Litem for kids. I would say about 95% of my practice is appointed work and then I have a very small private practice. I’ve helped people with some real estate, and just little things that come in the door. Mostly I focus on criminal defense and then I really like the appointed work, so I’ve kind of found myself just doing that more and more.

Q: It sounds like you are in a solo practice, is that right?

A: Yep, yep, just little ole me.

Q: You said you’re from Dodge, you grew up in Dodge, you’re practicing law in Dodge, but what drove your decision to go to law school and leave Dodge to do that?

A: Okay, I’ve always loved Dodge City, I’ve always loved Kansas and Western Kansas and I knew that I wanted to move back to Kansas, but when I was in undergraduate school I went to Wheaton College in Chicago, just because I felt like I needed to get out a little bit and experience more life. I majored in Political Science, but I also studied Urban Studies there and I learned a lot about poverty and community and big structural things that contribute to why people are experiencing the hardships that they are experiencing, and that was really drawn to the justice system.

I read Brian Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy, which I would recommend to anybody. That was a big motivating factor for applying to law school because I do come from somewhat of a family of lawyers.

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When I was thinking about being drawn to law, and I was really done with Chicago. I was ready to be back in Kansas, and back to Dodge City. I always loved Dodge and coming back to Dodge was always on the table because I just love where I’m from.

So, the thing that held me back from just being gung-ho about moving to a small, a smaller town, Dodge isn’t super small, but a smaller town, was I felt like I maybe couldn’t get the same level of intellectual stimulation or mentorship or just the same amount of opportunity professionally that I was looking for. So, I wasn’t really gearing my legal education or the kinds of internships toward returning home because I just thought, “maybe I will return to Dodge City eventually but right now I need more structure, I need more opportunity.”

But then I graduated, took the bar exam, and then the world changed because of COVID-19. I was already living in Dodge and basically through various events had the opportunity to reconsider what I was doing with my life, and I think a lot of people had a similar experience with COVID-19, and for me life seemed a lot shorter and it also really challenged the assumptions that I was operating under. With everything going remote and so many people working from home, I was like, well why can’t I live in Dodge City? I really redefined what success means to me. Being in my home community, somewhere that I could really make an impact. Going out on my own was something I would have never consider before the pandemic. But, after the pandemic it was like, alright, what is really important to me? What drew me to this profession was poverty and seeking justice for people. I felt like I could do this best in my hometown and I felt like I had the most support in my home town.

Q: What is a typical day is like for you?

A: The great thing about being on my own is that I get to set my own hours. I can work late into the night if want to, I can wake up early in the morning if I want to. I am in court a lot, I think that is just my practice area influencing the way that I spend time, more than being a solo practitioner influences that. But, because of my practice area, I’m in court 4 to 5 days a week, and most of my time is spent preparing for those hearings, writing

motions for those hearings, talking to clients, appearing at those hearings. Then I also go to another county, so there is some driving involved as well. A typical day would be waking up, and getting to work around 8, definitely in time to prepare for whatever my earliest hearing is, go to that hearing, have some calls, have meetings with clients, go to another hearing, prep for the next day and answer emails. Hopefully not get too behind on emails.

Q: You mention that you are really connected to your community and that you have family members who are lawyers, but where do you go when you need a mentor or when you need advice?

A: I go to a lot of different places, which would be something that I recommend to any baby lawyer. But one thing I recommend to anyone who wants to go out on their own, never ever stop asking people for help and advice. I have like 15 different people that I can call, and that I do call on a very regular basis.

One of the first things that I did when I started practicing was, I found other lawyers in my practice area, other lawyers that were doing the kind of work that I wanted to do. And I asked them, “Would you mind if I came by your office?” And then when I was at their office I asked them, “Would you mind if I call and email you all the time asking questions?” and have 100% received the answer “yes” from that. I think people want to share whatever wisdom or experience that they’ve gained. I’ve also joined some bar associations.

Joining bar associations is a great source of mentorship because you are just so connected to other people and lists of other lawyers Q: Speaking of advice, you said the COVID-19 pandemic gave you time to reflect on what your personal values are and how you could design a work for yourself that was really in tune with your personal values and your reason for pursuing this profession.

What advice do you have for a young lawyer, who is just starting who wants to bring her work and values together?

A: I read a book that was actually part of curriculum in Professor Jennifer Schmidt’s class, that is called Springboard. I would recommend that to any baby lawyer or new professional that is trying to

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define what is important to them and how to create a career that aligns with that. Otherwise, take some time to reflect on your values. Before I started my firm, I read a lot of books, I think it was close to 20 books that were all about being a solo practitioner and practice management, and mental health, also just success in general and defining success for yourself. That was a valuable time.

immigrate here. That has created a really rich culture. In September we have an international festival where we just celebrate all of our immigrant cultures and the whole downtown is blocked off for international festival activities. I think that is definitely something people don’t assume from Dodge City. We do have a really cool oldwest-history that we are very proud of and we preserve, I think pretty well, but we also have all of this new life and new blood pouring in and its awesome and really dynamic and great place to visit and live.

Q: Tell me what your dream is for your law practice. How will it grow? How will you change?

A: I think that I always hope that my law practice will be a vehicle for the community to be better. Any community that the practice touches, I would hope my practice has some kind of positive impact on that community. In five years, I would also hope to have some physical representation of the value of community reflected in my practice. And by that I think I mean I really want to have an office in downtown Dodge, to kind of show that is a great place to work and be.

Q: What is one thing you think people misunderstand about a smaller town law practice?

A: Definitely the thing that I misunderstood about it, was that I thought that I would not have the same access to opportunity that I would have in a bigger city. And I do think there are some drawbacks, like I don’t see my law classmates very often. But there is also no lack of opportunity for people seeking opportunity no matter where you are. It is much less isolating in fact than I thought it would be.

Q: What is one thing about Dodge City that you think people should know?

A: Just one thing?! Well, Dodge is basically an international city with a small-town feel. We have so many people form literally all over the world who

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE KBA’S YLS? VISIT:

WWW.KSBAR.ORG/PAGE/MEMBERSHIP

OR CONTACT:

YLS PRESIDENT, RICK DAVIS: RICK@RICKDAVISREALESTATE.COM YLS PRESIDENT-ELECT, LAUREN HUGHES: LHUGHES@BWISECOUNSEL.COM OR YLS SECRETARY, MORGAN GEFFRE: MGEFFRE@FOULSTON.COM

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