Committee Leadership Appointments

2021-2022 Committee Leadership & Liaison Appointments

Chair-Elect Candace B. Peeples will appoint committee leaders for the 2021-2022 bar year this spring, and we welcome you to apply or recommend a colleague for application.  Please note: anyone seeking appointment by the Chair-Elect, including those interested in retaining their current position(s), must complete an online application.

2021-2022 Section of Family Law Leadership Appointment Application

2021-2022 Section of Family Law Appointment Recommendation

We are accepting applications and recommendations through Thursday, April 15, 2021. 

Committee Chairs & Vice-Chairs

The Section of Family Law has 20+ committees focused on different areas of family law, as well as administration of the Section; many of these are open-enrollment committees, meaning any Section member is eligible to join.  We appoint Chairs, Co-Chairs, and/or Vice-Chairs who will be tasked with leading each of these committees.  Depending on the committee you are appointed to lead, your duties may include:

1. Attendance at your committee meetings and the Committee Leaders’ Meetings next year in conjunction with the Section's CLE Conferences which are:
   
   Fall CLE Conference Orlando, FL., October 6-9, 2021
   Spring CLE Conference New Orleans, LA, April 20-23, 2022
   
   
   Please Note: There is no reimbursement for committee leaders.  If you are unable to attend a meeting, please make sure that the committee vice-chair or another committee member will conduct your meeting and take minutes. Someone must be there to run the meeting.  (Committees are not required to meet at the Section’s Annual Meeting held in August.
   
2. Submission of committee status reports for the Section Council’s Spring Meeting Agenda Books. Report forms will be distributed approximately one month prior to the meeting.
3. Facilitating the submission of CLE proposals by your committee’s members.
   
   CLE Production Note: When the CLE Committee selects a topic relevant to your committee, you will become the producer of the CLE and must work with the CLE Committee to suggest speakers and finalize titles, descriptions, and educational materials. Due to the advance planning of CLE topics, you may have CLE duties for Spring 2021 and/or Fall 2022.
   
4. Organizing communication with your committee’s members by using the committee’s community throughout the year. 
5. Coordinating the posting of relevant materials on the Committee’s webpage by committee members. The Committee’s webpage serves as a home for all substantive area knowledge sharing.
6. Completion of a Committee Corner “hot topic” article for the e-newsletter.
7. Producing a Brown Bag teleconference.

Please read through the Committee Description & Responsibilities page as some committees leadership appointments require additional responsibilities. 

Publication Boards

The Section of Family Law has 2 flagship publications: our magazine, Family Advocate, and our scholarly journal, Family Law Quarterly.  We also have a robust book publishing program (visit our Books page to see a complete listing of Section titles).  These publications are driven by the hard work of our publication boards devoted to each arm of Section publishing. 

As vacancies arise on these boards, we love to add new, interested members to the ranks.  Board member duties and meeting commitments vary based on the publication board.  These positions are reimbursed for attendance at board meetings based on our Section Reimbursement Policy.

Please see our Editorial & Publications Board Responsibilities page for more information. 

Liaisons

In order to broaden the reach, and enhance the work, of the Section of Family Law, we have almost 30 different liaison positions to other ABA entities or outside entities related to the practice of family law.  These positions vary in expectations and scope but are centered on sharing important updates and information between different entities. Responsibilities include: 

1. Bring ABA Family Law Section items of interest (i.e., resolutions, projects, CLE programs, publications) to the attention of the entity's leadership.
2. Bring items of interest from your liaison entity to the attention of the Family Law Section Officers and interested committee chairs.
3. Submit a liaison report for inclusion in the Section of Family Law Council Agenda Books for the Spring Council meeting.

Please see our Liaisons page for a list of entities to which we appoint liaisons and their responsibilities.

Other Important Information

2021-2022 Family Law Conferences

Many of our leadership positions require attendance at our family law conferences, and even those positions that do not require attendance are encouraged to attend.  These are the conferences for the 2021-2022 bar year:

Fall CLE Conference, Disney's Yacht & Beach Club, Orlando, FL., October 6-9, 2021
Spring CLE Conference Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, LA, April 20-23, 2022
Annual Meeting 2022, Hotel TBA, Chicago, IL, August 3-9

Deadlines & Notifications

As highlighted above, all applications and recommendations are due Thursday, April 15th, 2021; the online applications will close at 11:59pm on that day.  As a reminder: all individuals seeking appointment, including those who want to stay in their current leadership role(s), must complete and submit the online application.  Appointment emails will be sent in June 2021 to those who have been selected to serve by our Chair-Elect.

Questions?

Should you have any questions about the application process or available leadership positions, please contact Danielle Pruger at danielle.pruger@americanbar.org or 312.988.5149.