Anisha Patel, an attorney at Hill Ward Henderson, was sworn in as president of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division on June 23, 2023. Patel’s term is for one year.
The Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of The Florida Bar has over 23,000 members. All lawyers under age 36 and new Florida Bar members for the first five years in good standing are automatically members.
Patel has served on the Board of Governors of YLD for the past six years. She has worked on many major YLD initiatives, including helping to launch the Legal Accelerator mentoring platform; working on the groundbreaking #StigmaFreeYLD mental health campaign; assisting with the revamping of the Practicing with Professionalism and other Basic CLE courses; chairing the Communications committee for multiple years and launching the YLD’s Yearbook; co-chairing the Inclusion and Equality Committee, which was responsible for the YLD’s signature “#YLDisMe” campaign and leading the creation of the Parental Leave Guide; and working on the “Affiliate Outreach Conference” held in Tampa in February 2022.
Patel plans to address a variety of issues during her tenure, with a focus on professionalism in practice and providing young lawyers and law students with the education and tools they need to exhibit the highest standards of professionalism, remain out of the disciplinary system, and, ultimately, excel in the legal profession. Patel also plans to visit every law school in Florida to share information on the Florida Bar and YLD’s resources to assist law students.
Patel is an associate in the firm’s Litigation Group. She represents individuals and firms in a variety of complex commercial litigation and business-related disputes, in both federal and state court, including partnership disputes, breach of contract actions, professional liability matters, and insurance coverage disputes. Patel also has experience in representing a major tobacco company in smoking and health litigation.