Board approves series of section bylaw updates
The Board of Governors has signed off on a series of bylaw updates for the International Law, Health Law, and Public Interest Law sections.
At a May 21 “hybrid” meeting on Duck Key, the board voted unanimously and without discussion to approve a Program Evaluation Committee recommendation to approve the proposed bylaw amendments.
The changes take effect immediately. Under a new streamlined procedure for section bylaw amendments, Board of Governors approval generally follows Program Evaluation Committee review and recommendation, said committee Chair Brian Burgoon.
International Law Section
At a Program Evaluation Committee meeting the day before, Miami lawyer and International Law Section Chair Robert Becerra said one of the most significant bylaw amendments, to Article II, Section 2, will extend affiliate section membership to licensed professionals in good standing.
Examples include licensed forensic accountants, certified anti-money laundering specialists, licensed private investigators, and international process servers, Becerra said.
The section already offers affiliate memberships to non-Florida Bar lawyers, full-time law students, and law professors, Becerra said. Expanding affiliate memberships could raise revenue for the section, he said.
“These are licensed professionals that we would regularly work with,” he said. “They are often monetary sponsors of the section, they are often providers of our CLE, and they participate in helping us put together our programming.”
Affiliate members may not hold office, serve on the executive council, or vote on any board or executive council election, he said.
Another bylaw change will add a new position of vice treasurer to the officers who serve the section, Becerra said.
Managing the section’s finances has become more time consuming as the section has grown, Becerra said, and adding a new leadership position would give more opportunity for members to advance, he said.
Public Interest Law Section
Orlando attorney and Public Interest Law Section Chair-elect Sally McArthur said the section wanted to update its bylaws following a reorganization of committees to center them around Bar activities instead of individual areas of the law.
One of the most substantial changes, to Article IV, Section 2, would require executive council members to belong to at least one committee and one workgroup, McArthur said.
“We wanted people to know that they would be on a working board,” she said.
Health Law Section
Altamonte Springs attorney Gregory Chaires, a former Health Law Section chair, told the committee his section bylaws required a lengthy overhaul.
“They’re fairly substantive,” he said. “Our bylaws haven’t been changed in 10 years.”
In Article IX, Section (1)(e), a Long Range Planning Committee was created that would be made up of executive council members with not less than four-years tenure, and include a former section chair, a move that will help strengthen section continuity and facilitate long-range projects, Chaires said.
The bylaw changes would also create a “Diversity and Inclusion Committee,” as that is a section priority, Chaires said.
The executive council wanted a mission statement that more accurately reflected the section’s purpose, and one that would attract younger lawyers, Chaires said. To that end, the new mission statement includes the language, “promotion of diversity, inclusion and fellowship for Section members and activities.”
Another substantial change, to Article IV, Section 8, requires mandatory attendance at the executive council’s four meetings a year, Chaires said.
“If you fail to show, then you ultimately will lose your position on the executive council,” he said.
Another bylaw change, to facilitate meetings via remote technology, should make meeting that requirement easier.
“Basically, the idea was just to create a document that was more consistent with the way we do things now,” Chaires said.
