Elijah in line to lead the Young Lawyers Division
Iris Elijah
The Young Lawyers Division has elected Miami attorney Iris Elijah, a passionate advocate of professional service and chair of the division’s Inclusion and Equality Committee, as the president-elect designate.
Shortly after the results were announced, Elijah described herself as “thrilled, and still in shock.”
“Ever since I came to the YLD board, I was hooked, from the service, to the people on the board, to the dedication to young lawyers,” she said. “It’s absolutely an honor to continue the YLD programs and the visions of the presidents that I have served under.”
Elijah will succeed YLD President-elect Todd Baker in June, when Baker takes an oath to replace outgoing YLD President Adam White. Elijah will succeed Baker as YLD president in June 2022.
An associate general counsel for Florida International University, Elijah has been a government lawyer since graduating FIU College of Law in 2011, including stints with the state university system’s Board of Governors and Florida A&M University.
A bar leadership position is something Elijah, a first-generation lawyer, couldn’t have imagined as a high school student.
“I struggled to find a place in the practice of law, I really did,” she said. “Because I never met an attorney, ever, until I attended law school.”
She has since dedicated herself to promoting diversity and inclusion in the profession, and credits Inclusion and Equality Committee Vice Chair Anisha Patel and “amazing committee members” for their work advancing the #YLDisME campaign. Like many women lawyers and lawyers of color, Elijah has known the sting of arriving early for a court proceeding, only to be mistaken for a paralegal, court clerk, or even a defendant.
Elijah has served on the board of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and is an active member of the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association. A graduate of the Bar’s Leadership Academy, she serves on the Leadership Academy Committee.
“I got involved in Leadership Academy and that’s when I realized the Bar is made up of people who have the opportunity to volunteer their time and direct where the Bar is going, which means that there is space for me,” she said.
Elijah was first appointed to the YLD Board of Governors in 2016 as a representative for the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. She was first elected to the YLD board in 2018 as a representative of the 11th Circuit. She credits White with making diversity a priority, a goal she said has contributed to an unusually diverse YLD board.
“The YLD has done a really good job thus far, a variety of things, of recruiting and then retaining people, and then pushing them through leadership, whether it’s president, or a committee chair,” she said.
After leading the #YLDisMe campaign this year — the division’s lead project — Elijah is a natural choice for president-elect designate, White said. The campaign is designed to highlight the division’s diverse members to foster inclusion, and includes video testimonials from lawyers who represent diverse and underrepresented groups.
“Since joining our board, Iris has been a standout member,” White said. “Iris’ leadership, work ethic, and desire to make our profession better leaves the YLD in good hands for the years to come.”
Baker agrees.
“Iris has already done so much for the YLD and young lawyers,” Baker said. “I am excited to see her grow into this new role where I have no doubt she will make an even greater impact.”
