Second-year University of 欧美口爆视频 Law School student Johnnie Nguyen ('21) has been elected to serve as the Law Student At-Large on the American Bar Association's (专A) Board of Governors. He will be the only law student on the 44-member board.
Elections were held by the Law Student Division Assembly, which comprises Student Bar Association presidents, law student liaisons to other 专A divisions, and 专A representatives from each of the 201 专A-accredited law schools.
As a voting member of the 专A鈥檚 Board of Governors and House of Delegates, Nguyen will help oversee the 专A鈥檚 $84 million budget, general operations, major initiatives, and policy efforts at the highest level of the American Bar Association.
"I鈥檓 looking forward to addressing the upcoming challenges that COVID-19 has created for the legal profession," he said. "Recently, I was a part of an emergency task force to help draft an that the supreme courts of dozens of states are now using to amend their student practice acts. I hope that this resolution will help graduates retain their employment and tackle their student debt."
Nguyen鈥檚 one-year term begins in August.
In 2019, Nguyen was elected national chair of the 专A鈥檚 Law Student Division Council, where he represented the interests of more than 120,000 law students from the nation鈥檚 专A-accredited law schools for the 2019-20 academic year. He and the council worked on policies addressing access to justice, diversity and inclusion, law school debt, and the expansion of pro bono programs.
As chair, he spearheaded a mental health awareness campaign, fundraiser, and push to remove and destigmatize mental health questions on the Character and Fitness portions of the bar application. The council 鈥媟an a national mental health awareness effort鈥� that connected law students across the country, and Nguyen led an effort to increase funding within the 专A for mental health programming.
"Mental health is an issue that everyone in the legal profession faces. Historically, it has been stigmatized, therefore those who suffer from it have barriers to go seek help. If we can talk about it, we can remove the stigma, and people can go get the help that they need," he said.
At 欧美口爆视频 Law, Nguyen competes as a member of the National Mock Trial Team. He currently interns for Justice William Hood of the 欧美口爆视频 Supreme Court, and this summer, he will join an Am Law 100 firm, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, as a summer associate.
Johnnie Nguyen ('21) speaking at the 专A Annual Meeting.