Message from the Chair

Vanessa Kirker Wright

Our Readers’ attention is urgently requested!

As I write, there is an important controversy brewing in the Legislature that could spell the elimination of the Sections within the next two or three years.

First, a bit of history. By statute, the Sections are required to be "self-funding." That means that none of your "basic bar dues" (about $430 these days) is used to fund the Sections’ work. The Sections charge $95 a member, and we "earn" money by putting on low-cost educational seminars, self-study MCLE articles, and ads in our Family Law News. The Family Law Section has about 4,000 members. The Sections are charged when we use the State Bar staff and contractors to help us organize our educational seminars (on-line and in-person), and set up our meetings, and help us create our fabulous scholarly publications and for some capital costs. That charge is called our "allocation." It is about $55 per member at this point.