Parsons Behle & Latimer (Parsons) congratulates Parsons’ attorney Alex N. Vandiver on her appointment as president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Utah State Bar (YLD). After having served as president-elect for the past year, Vandiver will serve as president for one year beginning August 2025 followed by an additional year as immediate past president. In total, Vandiver has served in a role with the YLD for five years to date, including as chairperson of the social committee, something Vandiver says is her passion. She was recruited into the YLD, by then-president Scotti Hill, immediately after graduation from the S.J. Quinney School of Law.
A litigator at Parsons, Vandiver focuses her practice on business and commercial litigation, construction litigation and plaintiffs personal injury. She says, “I love the YLD, and I want to see them continue to grow. It is important for young attorneys to have a community.” The YLD supports attorneys under 36 years of age or who have been admitted to the Bar for 10 years or less – whichever comes later. The YLD provides education, mentorship and engagement in the legal community to young attorneys.
As Chairperson of the YLD Social Committee, Vandiver was faced with the uphill challenge of reviving the YLD’s in-person social functions after the COVID-19 lockdowns. With what she calls a community effort and excellent support from the Board, particularly from her dearest friend and now the YLD’s President-Elect Nicole Johnston, Vandiver and her peers reinvented the YLD’s social events, making them family friendly. The YLD’s two annual events attendance has grown and re-energized the division, such as the Winter Gala at the Living Planet Aquarium drawing up to approximately 250 and the Spring Social at the Tracy Aviary bringing in up to approximately 300. These events provide not only an attorney-to-attorney networking opportunity but provide the same for attorney families to meet, mingle and bond according to Vandiver.
As President, Vandiver says she will remain focused on the social aspects of the YLD as well as CLEs and pro bono opportunities for members. “Community is the most important thing,” Vandiver says but also reinforces the importance of pro bono programs such as the “Wills for Heroes” program in which five to 15 attorneys spend about five hours on a Saturday, potentially traveling the length of the state, to provide legal wills for first responders, free of charge. “As lawyers, we have a responsibility to give back to our community at-large with our skills and time,” Vandiver says. Other CLE programs for the past two years have focused heavily on mental health, which Vandiver praises former YLD President Ashley Biehl for instituting and will continue to honor for the benefit of YLD’s members. Vandiver also expressed her pleasure that fellow Parsons' attorney Anna Paseman will serve as treasurer on the YLD's board this year.
Parsons commends Vandiver for her dedication in continuing to strengthen and grow Utah’s next generation of outstanding attorneys. We thank her for her leadership.
