We are pleased to announce the launch of a new committee - the Committee on Family & Matrimonial Law - and to invite your participation. The committee, which was conceived of and will be chaired by Anthony M. Lise of the firm Weiss, Buell & Bell, will play an important role in ensuring that our association remains responsive to the ever-changing legal landscape affecting our community's relationships and families.
More about the committee, including information on how to apply to become a member, is provided below.
Committee Mission
The committee's purpose is to bring together members who practice, or have an interest in, Family and Matrimonial Law, to address how the laws surrounding family creation, recognition, and dissolution uniquely affect the LGBT community. Although there have, without a doubt, been legal, social and political gains for the LBGT community in recent years, it is important to remember the many ways in which our families continue to be unequal. As important, we, as a legal community, must remember the ways in which we have used and shaped the law, even when it was not on our side, to protect, aid in the creation of, and, when necessary, aid in the dissolution of our families throughout the years.
Historically, the laws surrounding family creation, recognition, and dissolution have been written without considering LGBT families and now, as the rights of the LGBT community continue to grow, it is important that we understand the ways in which our families fit (and may not fit) within this structure, so that we can protect our families and shape the law to ensure it reflects the needs of diverse family structures.
Committee Activities
The Committee on Family and Matrimonial Law, alone, and in conjunction with other LeGaL committees and other community organizations and bar associations, shall:
1. Provide a forum through which matrimonial and family law attorneys, or attorneys with an interest in family and matrimonial law, may discuss, address, encourage, and assist one another in the resolution of the unique ways in which this area of the law affects the LGBT community;
2. Develop the skills of family and matrimonial law attorneys;
3. Formulate professional opinions with respect to family and matrimonial law as it relates to the LGBT community and serve as a resource to other organizations and the government in this area;
