Marcella Jayne began her term as chair of the Young Lawyers Section with a focus on supporting attorneys at the start of their careers, according to a June 3 announcement. Jayne said that student debt is one of the biggest concerns for new attorneys.
“It shapes our careers,” she said. “It drives our career decisions; it drives our family decisions… A lot of my colleagues don’t even feel like they can have children, because they feel like they have to stay in these high-pressure work environments that are not conducive to having families, because they have so much debt.”
Jayne plans for the Young Lawyers Section to host a series of programs addressing debt from different perspectives. “[It] will talk about debt from different angles,” said Jayne. “One of them is financial planning. One of them is about debt collection, and really learning the law about that, and consumer protection [and bankruptcy.] People need to know when and how they can discharge their student debt. Fundamentally, what we want to do is help young lawyers come up with a strategy for dealing with their debt – whatever way makes sense in their situation. Because what we don’t want to happen is for young lawyers to be completely burdened and incapacitated by debt, or stuck in jobs that they’re absolutely miserable at, doing things that don’t serve them or their community – just to pay off a debt.”
Jayne also identified work culture and artificial intelligence as issues facing young attorneys. “We have a work culture that is not always conducive to promoting good mental health, promoting good mental health hygiene, promoting families, being accessible to people with disabilities, being inclusive to people of different minority groups,” said Jayne. “We have a lot of cultural problems as a profession, and we haven’t taken mental health seriously enough… I think younger generations are more progressive in this area, but I think we’re improving. There’s a lot of stigma around requesting help for mental health issues or addiction issues.”
Drawing on her own experience as a single mother attending law school at Fordham University’s evening division after moving to New York City in 2014 with two young children, Jayne described how an antitrust scholarship from the New York State Bar Foundation enabled her summer employment at the Federal Trade Commission: “I did not have money to pay rent over the summer… They have a stipend so you’ll be able to pay your rent and you can stay in New York. So that was a huge lifeline…”
Jayne previously worked at Foley & Lardner until March 2025 before starting her solo commercial litigation practice in New York City.
“I want to be a representative for all of New York, not just New York City,” said Jayne.
The New York State Bar Association fosters cultural well-being through initiatives promoting equal access to justice; operates administrative functions out of its Albany Bar Center; includes members from all 50 states and over 100 countries; advances professional success while upholding justice; extends services globally; and supports legislative efforts related to legal access—all according to its official website.
