A Message from the Chair
By Dear Family Law Section Members,
It is an honor to serve as your Section Chair for 2021-2022. Thank you to Mitchell Kelling for her leadership as Chair last year and for all those who served and continue to serve as committee chairs and in other leadership roles. And thank you to Cheyenne Merrigan, our Communities Manager with the NCBA.
This is an important year for our section to come back together (literally and figuratively), as the last year has left so many of us disconnected from our family law colleagues and unable to share in the opportunities that typically bring us together, like CLE (especially the Annual Meetings, which serve as a multiday opportunity for travel and connecting with colleagues across the state), networking, and other section events. At the same time, the clients in our practice area have experienced significant stress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – families in crisis, even more custody disputes, and an inability to get our clients into court in a timely manner to resolve disputes for issues so central to their personal and financial well-being. Family lawyers, as always, act as the problem solvers, counselors, and advocates during these crises, when many have been struggling as well. Those connections with each other and the shared experiences of managing and succeeding in this challenging practice area have never been more critical.
I hope you will join me and our section leadership in making it a priority to reconnect with colleagues in our section and to reach out to the new attorneys who haven’t yet found their connections within our section. Let’s bring new family law colleagues to the table so they can benefit from the opportunities our section offers. Make the most of your section membership and the practice and educational resources. Check out all of the CLE opportunities (no one does CLE better than our section!). Attend social events (we all need this after the last year!). Come to our Section Council meetings (there is no better way to stay up-to-date on family law issues and legislation). Join a committee for a practice area that interests you or something you want to learn more about (you will find the link to sign up on our section’s Community page). Contact a colleague you missed seeing in person this last year. Send an email to a new attorney whom you haven’t met yet and introduce yourself. Take care of each other so that we can better take care of our clients!
And I want to hear from you and find new ways to make our section helpful to you and your practice. Please don’t hesitate to contact me. We will keep you updated throughout the year on those opportunities for connections, CLE, and other section events. In the meantime, mark your calendars for the Fall CLE, which has now been rescheduled to October 21, 2021, and will be in person! Can’t wait to see you all.