ARTICLE I: IDENTIFICATION

1.1 NAME. This Section shall be know as: Family Law Section and shall be hereafter designated simply as "The Section".

1.2 PURPOSE. This general purpose of the Section shall be the promotion of the objects of the Maine State Bar Association within the particular fields designated by the name of this Section. To that end, it shall be the purpose of this Section:

1.3 To seek improvements in the law and the legal profession as related to family structure, divorce and separation, support and alimony enforcement, adoption, the rights of children, and related areas of domestic relations and family law and to promote programs of education relating to these areas, and to undertake any activities related to these goals.

1.4 LIMITATIONS.These Bylaws have been adopted subject to the Bylaws of the Association, and particularly Article XV thereof.

ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP

2.1 ENROLLMENT. Any member in good standing of the Association shall, upon request to the Secretary of the Association, be enrolled as a member of the Section.

2.2 THE MEMBERSHIP. Members so enrolled pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall constitute the Membership of the Section, until such time as he/she shall no longer be a member in good standing of the Association, or shall request disenrollment from the Section.

2.3 DUES. There shall be no dues for membership in the Section

ARTICLE III: SECTION ORGANIZATION

3.1 COMMITTEES. This Section is authorized to establish, or to empower the Chairperson of the Section to establish such standing committees, as it may deem necessary and desirable to promote effectively the activities of the Section within the jurisdiction of the Section. In establishing a new committee, the Section shall state the area of its proposed activities.

3.2 CHAIRPERSON. The Chairperson shall announce the membership and the Chairperson of each standing committee of the Section for the following Section year no later than the business meeting held during the Annual Meeting of the Section.

ARTICLE IV: MEETINGS OF THE MEMBERSHIP

4.1 ANNUAL MEETING. The Section shall hold an Annual Meeting of members in conjunction with either the Annual or Summer Meeting of the Association. The Section may hold other meetings of members throughout the year. The notice requirements for such meetings shall be the same as for the annual meeting. 4.2 QUORUM. The members of the Section present at any meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

4.3 CONTROLLING VOTE. Action of the Section shall be by majority vote of the members present.

4.4 VOTING ELIGIBILITY. Any member of the Association and the Section whose god standing can be certified by official Association records for thirty days prior to the time of voting shall be eligible to vote.

4.5 NOTICE. Notice in writing of the place and time of the meeting shall be mailed no fewer than seven or more than forty days to each member entitled to vote at the meeting. In lieu of a separate notice, the notice may be printed in an issue of the Maine State Bar Association Bulletin mailed to each member entitled to vote. A brief statement of the purpose of the meeting shall be included.

4.6 AGENDA. Among the matters of business to be transacted at the annual meeting of the membership shall be election of the officers. The agenda shall consist of other matters as decided by the Chairperson.

4.7 MAIL VOTING. The Chairperson may direct that a matter be submitted to the members of the Section for vote by mail. In that event, binding action of the Section for vote by a majority of the votes received from members in accordance with rules fixed by the Section.

ARTICLE V: OFFICERS AND MEETINGS OF OFFICERS

5.1 OFFICERS. The officers of the Section shall be the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, the Secretary, and the Immediate past Chairperson.

5.2 CHAIRPERSON. Th Chairperson (or vice-Chairperson in the Chairperson's absence) shall preside at all meetings of the Section and all meetings of the Offices. The Chairperson shall appoint: the Chairpersons of CLE programs and the members of the Committee assisting those Chairpersons in the development of the CLE program curriculum; the membership of the committee working on legislation drafting or other committees established by the Chairperson or the Section. The Chairperson shall superintend the performance of all activities of the Section. The Chairperson shall keep the Association Board of Governors duly informed and carry out its decisions. The Chairperson shall perform such other duties and acts as usually pertained to the office or as may be designated by the Association Board of Governors. The Chairperson shall attend and participate in the meetings of the Officers.

5.3 OFFICERS. The Officers of the Section shall be the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, the Secretary, and the Immediate Past Chairperson.

5.2 CHAIRPERSON. The Chairperson (or the Vice-Chairperson in the Chairperson's absence) shall preside at all meetings of the Section and all meetings of the Officers. The Chairperson shall appoint: the Chairperson of CLE programs and the members of the Committee assisting those Chairpersons in the development of the CLE program curriculum; the membership of the committee working on legislation drafting or other legislative matters for the Section under the superintendence of the Section Vice-Chairperson; the Chairperson and members of any other committees established by the Chairperson or the Section. The Chairperson shall superintend the performance of all activities of the Section. The Chairperson shall keep the Association Board of Governors duly informed and carry out its decisions. The Chairperson shall perform such other duties and acts as usually pertained to the office or as may be designated by the Association Board of Governors. The Chairperson shall attend and participate in the meetings of the Officers.

5.3 VICE-CHAIRPERSON. The Vice-Chairperson shall carry out the duties of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson shall be in charge of the Section's activities concerning legislation, and shall be the Section's liaison with the legislature. The Vice-Chairperson shall superintend the performance of all Committees of the Section, which are working on drafting legislation or other legislative matters for the Section. The Vice-Chairperson shall attend and participate in the meetings of the Officers.

5.4 SECRETARY. The Secretary shall be the liaison between the Section and the Bar Association staff regarding the retention and maintenance of books, papers, documents and other property pertaining to the work of the Section in the custody of the Association. The Secretary shall assist the Chair in matters of Continuing Legal Education. The Secretary shall attend and participate in meetings of the Officers and shall record the Minutes of such meetings.

5.5 IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRPERSON is a non-elective office consisting of the person who was the Chairperson of the Section immediately before the current Chairperson of the Section. The Immediate Past Chairperson shall provide advice and consultation to the Chairperson (or Vice-Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson) concerning the carrying out of the Chairperson's duties. The Immediate Past Chairperson shall attend and participate in the meetings of the Officers.

5.6 MEETINGS OF OFFICERS. The Officers may meet at times called by the Chairperson or by two Officers. The Officers may meet: to assist the planning of Section meeting agenda; to discuss CLE matters, legislative matters, or other Section matters or problems, and to formulate recommendations for action on these maters or problems at Section meetings; to formulate recommendations to the Section concerning the election of Officers; to provide peer review or assistance to any Section Officer in the carrying out of his/her duties; and to take action on behalf of the Section, if necessary between Section meetings. Meetings of Officers shall be generally conducted in person with reasonable advance notice to the Officers. In emergency situations, meetings may be conducted by polling the Officers by telephone. Any action or recommendation by the Officers shall be done by majority vote. All such actin or recommendations shall be recorded by the Section's Secretary and be available to the Section membership. All actions taken by the officers on behalf of the Section, with respect to matters of legislation and major substantive policy, shall be subject to Section ratification.

ARTICLE VI: ELECTIONS

6.1 Elective officers. The membership shall elect a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary.

6.2 TERM OF OFFICE. All officers shall serve a term of one year. The term of office shall begin on February 1 and end on January 31, at midnight, of each year. If at the close of any term of office a successor has not been elected, then the term shall be extended until a successor shall have been elected.

6.3 NO INFERENCE OF ASCENDANCY. As the functions of each elective office are substantively different, the election of an Officer shall not imply that the person elected will or should automatically ascend to a different elected office in a succeeding election.

6.4 ELIIBILITY FOR OFFICE. Any member of the Association and the Section whose good standing can be certified by official Association records for thirty days prior to the time of election shall be eligible for office.

6.5 NOMINATIONS AND VOTING. Section members shall elect their officers at the meeting of the Section held in conjunction with the MBA winter meeting, or at a meeting held no later than January 31 of each year.

Any action by this Section must be approved by the Board of Governors of the Maine State Bar Association before action can be effective as the action of the Maine State Bar Association. Any resolution adopted or action taken by the Section shall, upon request of the Section, be reported by the Chairperson to the Board of Governors for action by the Association. In all respects, Article XV of the Association Bylaws shall govern.

ARITCLE VIII. AMENDMENTS

These Bylaws may be amended at any annual or other meeting of the Section by a majority vote for the Section present and voting.

Adopted: February 23, 1993