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Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference Member Newsletter

 

September 2011

 

In This Issue
Annual Meeting Held in Ocean City on September 11-13, 2011
ABA Offers FALJC Members over 50% off Their ABA Dues
FALJC October Luncheon Planned
FALJC Offers Members Thier Own @FALJC.org Email Addresses
Members Approve $5,000 Budget for Technology Plan
ALJ Moves and Appointments
Greetings!  

I'm pleased to send you my first newsletter as FALJC President.  Many thanks to my predecessor Judge Dan Solomon who turned over a solid organization that is on sound financial footing.  Our membership is up, largely due to the Free Trial Membership  program that we instituted last year.  As more ALJs learn the benefits of being a FALJC member (see below) more will join.  If you have any ALJs in your agency that you think might like to take advantage of our Free Trial Membership program, please download the form and pass it along.

 

Our annual FALJC seminar held in Ocean City, Maryland a few weeks ago was quite successful!  We had a large member turnout despite a difficult financial year for most federal agencies.  Planning for next year's annual FALJC seminar is underway and it promises to be another exciting Annual Meeting!  More on that below.

 

If you have any news or information you would like in our next newsletter, please drop Judge James Gilbert a note at [email protected].  

  

Judge Richard A. Pearson, President

Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference

Annual Seminar Held in Ocean City on September 11-13, 2011

 

On September 11-13, 2011, FALJC members and their guests gathered at the Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City, Maryland for FALJC's 48th Annual Seminar and Conference.  Despite initial concerns about agency funding, we had an excellent turnout of over 70 Judges for this year's event.  We all enjoyed the chance to mingle with our colleagues who traveled from all over the country to attend. 

  

On Monday evening (9/12/2011), DOL Solicitor Patricia Smith delivered a well received keynote address.  Departing from the usual program, Solicitor Smith opened the talk up to questions, which resulted in a lively exchange between FALJC Judges and the Solicitor on a wide range of topics.  Solicitor Smith's strong litigation background proved helpful for her encounter with a room full of Judges unafraid to cross-exam this "witness."  Solicitor Smith was poised and professional under some light-hearted pressure from the many Judges who interact with the Department of Labor. 

 

 Pat Smith

Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith with FALJC President Rick Pearson (left) and FALJC immediate Past President Dan Solomon (right)

  


Earlier on Monday, a well attended forum of Chief ALJs discussed the difficulty of dealing with the diminishing resources of federal agencies.  Chief Judges Nancy Griswold (OMHA), Curtis Wagner (FERC), Bob Lesnick (FMSHRC), and Moderator Pete Davenport (USDA), were joined by AALJ President Judge Randy Frye (SSA), and ABA Judicial Division Chair Judge Dick Goodwin (DOT), on the panel. 

 

At the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, the FALJC membership voted to budget $5,000 for the 2011-2012 Technology Plan.  The plan includes a redesign of our website, purchase of a FALJC laptop, HD camera, and projector so that we can videostream our Executive Committee meetings to the membership.  More details on that later.

 

Also included were new member benefits, including each member's @faljc.org personalized email address, and a joint effort with the American Bar Association on reduced dues (see story below for more details).

 

Finally, a proposal by 2012 Annual Meeting Chair Judge Jim Gilbert for the 2012 Annual Meeting in New Orleans was very well received.  Judge Gilbert is working with the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ), and Tulane Law School on a joint conference in New Orleans in September 2012.   

ABA Offers FALJC Members over 50% off Their ABA Dues  

  

FALJC has successfully negotiated with the American Bar Association for a special significant dues reduction for federal ALJs.  Currently, to be a member of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, and the National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary (NCALJ), which is the conference all ALJs belong to under the Judicial Division, the annual cost is $260.00.  However, under the new Group Discount established by FALJC, annual dues are only $105!
 
Your Group Membership includes membership in the Judicial Division and the National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary (a $35.00 value) and your annual ABA Dues (a $225 value) for the low annual cost of $105.  That's a savings of 60%! 
 
ABA Judicial Division Chair Judge Dick Goodwin, an ALJ at DOT, invites all FALJC members to take advantage of this opportunity. 
 
"This is not a one year special, but a newly established group discount that continues year after year," Judge Goodwin explained.  "I cannot recommend strongly enough how valuable this discount is, both for your own professional development as an ALJ, and for your chance to participate in the ABA, which is an active organization with nearly 400,000 members. FALJC and ABA membership are a logical fit as the two organizations have worked closely for many years," he added. 
 
With our own FALJC member Judge Dick Goodwin as Chair, there is not a better time to join the ABA.
 
To take advantage of this Special Group Membership discount, please fill out the attached form and fax or email it to Judge James Gilbert [email protected]  fax (703) 812-1901.
 
Current ABA members who wish to join must also fill out the Group Membership Application.  

FALJC October Luncheon Planned

 

FALJC will return to the Rosslyn Holiday Inn for the first meeting of the 2011-2012 membership year on Friday, October 21, 2011.  The Executive Committee will meet at 11:00 a.m. in the Dogwood Room.  Lunch will be served at noon immediately following the Executive Committee meeting.  A notice with details of the luncheon and the agenda will be forwarded to all members sometime in mid-October.

FALJC Offers Members Their Own

@FALJC.org Email Addresses

 

As part of our Technology Plan 2011-2012, FALJC is offering each member his or her own personalized email address.  Judge Gilbert recently sent out the following email explaining the process.
  

As announced at our Annual Meeting, we are pleased to offer a new FALJC member benefit!

 

FALJC members are entitled to their personalized @faljc.org email address!

 

Each FALJC member in good standing, including our Free Trial members, may request their own @faljc.org email address. Currently, we have set up the new emails as follows:

 

[email protected].   For example, [email protected].  

 

You may use this email in place of your personal or work email addresses. Some of our members prefer not to use their work email addresses, and may wish to have a separate email that identifies them as a member of FALJC.

 

You can access your @faljc.org email account on any computer with an Internet connection, whether at home or work or travel, at www.mail.faljc.org, or through your email software such as Microsoft Outlook, or on your Smartphone. You can also elect to have all of your @faljc.org email forwarded to another email account automatically.

 

Our email and web hosting is done through Network Solutions, which insures that it's safe and virus-free.

 

This benefit is already included in your membership and costs you nothing!

 

If you are interested in obtaining your own @faljc.org email address, contact Judge Gilbert at [email protected] for more information. After your new email is assigned, you will be given detailed instructions about how to access your email, including instructions of how to configure your email software or Smartphone.

Members Approve $5,000 Budget for Technology Plan

 

New Website and Video Technology Planned 

 

At the Annual Meeting the FALJC membership voted to budget $5,000 for the implementation of the 2011-2012 Technology Plan put forward by Judge James Gilbert and Judge Michael Rosas.  Included in the plan, is a redesign of the www.faljc.org website to make it more user friendly.  We are working with Georgetown Web Design on a site that we previewed at the annual meeting.  There is still much work to do before we launch the new website, hopefully before the end of 2011.

 

In addition, at the annual meeting, the FALJC membership authorized expenditures for an HD Camera, a laptop, and a projector which will allow FALJC Executive Committee meetings, and other FALJC events, to be streamed via video over the Internet making it easier for our non DC members to participate in FALJC events.  The theme of the Technology Plan is to reach out to non DC members so that they can participate more fully in FALJC by utilizing the latest technology available.

 

Once in place, we will encourage our membership to attend our meetings from their desktop, and if they have video capability, to participate via video from their office.  We will have more details on this new technology as we begin implementation later this year.

ALJ Moves and Appointments

 

Judge Charles Bullock acting Chief at ITC

 

Judge Charles Bullock was named acting Chief Administrative Law Judge at the International Trade Commission this past summer.  Judge Bullock succeeds longtime FALJC member Paul Luckern.  If you want to congratulate Judge Bullock directly, he can be reached at [email protected]

Do You Have News, Updates, or Information to Share with Your FALJC Colleagues?

 
We are happy to add your information for our next newsletter!  Contact 2d Vice President James Gilbert at [email protected] with your news and information.

Also, send your comments and suggestions for future newsletters to Judge Gilbert.