Both the Family Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (New York Chapter) and other organizations are comprised of matrimonial practitioners that, by choice, dedicate time to the betterment of matrimonial law and practice. In short, these organizations try to shape the practice of family law, including by keeping the lines of communication open between practitioners and judges. Because family law can have such an immediate, direct impact on the litigants, it is important that the exchange of ideas that flows from keeping those lines of communication open continues into the future.

This author has been a co-chair of the Legislation Committee of the Family Law Section of the New York State Bar Association for nearly a decade now. Much has been written on the topic of waning Bar membership. See, for example, “Survival of the Fittest: As Membership Declines, the New York State Bar Association Targets Lawyers in Other Countries and States” which was published in this Journal in 2019; “With NY State Bar Facing Financial Woes, Members Clash Over Staying at Albany HQ,” also published in this Journal in 2021; and “Knocking on all the doors and rethinking everything: New approaches to bar membership,” published by the American Bar Association in 2018.