Chair’s Message

We are a couple of months into our 2022 fiscal year and things are off to a good start. 

Our recently published books are available for purchase and sales are going well. The publications are not only timely and relevant, but also provide an excellent resource for both the new and experienced practitioner. You can find the publications and links to purchase them on the Section’s website.

In late September, several of us attended the Section Officers Conference meetings in Chicago. I attended several sessions and a networking event with other Section/Division/Forum officers. Section Member and Chair of the Membership Committee Michael Kamprath was part of a panel on membership and did a great job. There are many opportunities to partner with other Sections/Divisions/Forums and we will continue to look for these compatible partnerships.

For example, the Section partnered with the Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries for several virtual programs during the Forum’s 43rd Annual Conference. The conference was originally planned to include both virtual and in-person sessions, but due to COVID-19 concerns, the event proceeded in a totally virtual format. The transition from a hybrid to a totally virtual format was seamless and I would like to thank the Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries for their partnership. We also had a productive virtual Executive Committee meeting and Council meeting during this time period.

In October, the Section co-sponsored the 35th Annual Land Use Institute at Touro College in New York City. It was a successful conference and we were happy to highlight our Section and some of our members at the institute. Thank you to Section member Patty Salkin, who is one of our Delegates to the House, for bringing that opportunity to us.

We continue to work within our budgetary constraints to offer programming on subjects that are both timely, topical, and relevant to the state and local government law practitioner or those with an interest in our Section. This will include virtual programming and in-person events. 

The ABA’s Mid-Year Meeting in Seattle in February 2022 is scheduled to be an in-person event and we will offer CLE programming and committee meetings with our fellow members. The Mid-Year Meeting will provide a budget-friendly means to meet in-person and will be a substitute for the Section’s in-person Spring Meeting, which the Section has hosted in past years. We will have more information to share soon, but please try to be in-person with us in Seattle from February 11-13. If you are unable to attend in-person, our Executive Meeting and Council Meeting will be made available through electronic/telephonic means.

We are also working on a virtual Spring CLE Meeting format that will offer several state and local government back-to-basics or “SLG 101” programming on topical subjects. If you have any suggestions for a topic, please feel free to share it with me, CLE Director Jordan Lesser or Elizabeth Yang, our Committees Coordinator. We hope to involve most of our committees in the programming. 

Speaking of membership, the ABA continues to work on finding new members and retaining existing ones. Please encourage your colleagues to join or renew their membership in the ABA and the Section. 

There are many reasons to join our Section. In these virtual times, it is important to network with other state and local government lawyers/educators and provide substantive CLE programming to assist us in our work.  There are many colleagues who are looking for a professional organization “home” and the State and Local Government Law Section can be that resource. Please take time to pitch the benefits of our Section to your associates, partners, colleagues, and friends. The Section will also reach out to current and prospective law students to show them the value of Section membership.

In the next couple of months, we expect more books will be released for publication, including a book on the important topic of heirs’ property and the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. Once we have a definitive publication date, the Section will actively promote the book; we will keep you posted regarding what that promotional opportunity will encompass.

Please contact me anytime with comments, questions, or concerns. Thank you all for your efforts on behalf of the Section.