Rebecca McRae Langston ’99 chairs the American Association for Justice New Lawyers Division.

Rebecca McRae Langston ’99 began her chairmanship of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) New Lawyers Division at the AAJ Annual Meeting in Chicago in July of 2007. The AAJ was formerly the American Trial Lawyers’ Association (ATLA).
Langston is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and Mississippi College School of Law. Langston has practiced law for 8 years, and is admitted to both the Mississippi and District of Columbia bars. Asked about her appointment, Langston stated:
“Since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be a lawyer like my father. My father took me to my first ATLA (now AAJ) convention when I was 7. It so happens that each summer convention falls on my birthday, so each year, I’ve celebrated my birthday in an exciting city. Through the years, I have wondered what it would be like to attend the convention as a lawyer. AAJ has these color coded badges which reflect your status at the convention. I was so excited the day my status changed and I was sporting the law student badge. Then finally, the lawyer badge. I became truly one of them.
My goals didn’t stop there. I learned of the New Lawyers section and became involved with these amazing people who throughout the years have helped me so much professionally and personally. Again, I found myself envying the leadership and wanting to be one of them. I chose to run for secretary in 2005. Once a person claims the secretary position, they basically rotate up to the Chairman position. I am the first Chairman from Mississippi. When my Chairman ends in July 2008, I will then serve on the Board of Governors of “Big AAJ” for 2 years (2008 – 2010) and will also serve on the Executive Committee of “big ATLA” (2008 – 2009).
At that point, I will be the first Mississippian to serve on the Executive Committee of AAJ. Ultimately, I’m reaching for the top and hope one day I will be the President of AAJ. Between now and then, I plan to run for Chairman of the Women’s Caucus of AAJ. I feel strongly about their goals as well. I would like to encourage and help more working mothers in the legal community to continue to be advocates for the legal profession. One can be a great mother and a successful advocate. It’s just a balancing act, but it can be done (even if you are the mother of 3)!
As Chairman, I am responsible for The NLD’s CLE program at the 2009 convention in Philadelphia. I will be present at all 4 conventions. I will set up membership drives to recruit new lawyers (by the way, “new lawyers” is defined as anybody who has been practicing less than 10 years at the time of the annual (summer) convention). I will also continue to help raise money for political candidates who want to preserve the trial by jury system and protect the rights of victims at the courthouse. I will serve as a liaison to the Board members of AAJ and the Executive committee as well as other Divisions and sections within AAJ.
My goals this year would be to increase membership within NLD. I would like to encourage more women (especially mothers) and minorities to become involved. I want to put Mississippi on the map with AAJ. I want to strengthen our ties with law schools and make sure that every law school in the country has an AAJ chapter set up that law school.”