Message from the Chair: the Return of the Standing Committee

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 41 No. 1
• Publication year: 2019
• Author: Stephen D. Hamilton
• topic: Family Law

Message from the Chair: The Return of the Standing Committee

Stephen D. Hamilton

An important function of the Family Law Executive Committee (FLEXCOM) is to be a representative voice of the 4,000+ members of the Family Law Section. We currently rely on liaisons from different geographic or practice areas to carry out that function. That was not always the case. A brief history lesson will explain why we have liaisons presently.

Standing Committees

Historically, FLEXCOM received input from our section members through the formation and participation of Standing Committees. A standing committee was typically a locally formed group of family law attorneys who would meet and discuss issues relevant to family law. This included, but was not limited to, legislation. Each standing committee had its chair or designated representative then come to FLEXCOM's meetings to inform us as to what the local family law practitioners thought and to broaden our perspective beyond that of the 17 voting members of FLEXCOM. It was a model that worked well and led to excellent communication and participation by family law attorneys at a regional level.

Death By Bagley-Keene

That is, it worked well until the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act of 2004 was...