President's Blog, September 2021
Posted: 20 Sep 2021 by Marlene Eskind Moses
IAFL Global persists in its successful operations.
MEMBERSHIP
Our membership continues to grow. We currently have 847 Fellows, 26 Non-Practicing Fellows, 27 Judicial Fellows and 15 Associate Fellows for a total of 915 Fellows.
TREASURY
The cash balance as of August 1, 2021, not including funds held on behalf of the Chapters is $1,165,000. We have an additional $20,000 in the Financial Assistance with Meetings Funds. Thus, the IAFL is in excellent financial shape.
WEBINARS AND CHATS
The European Chapter has planned an outstanding program as part of their AGM on October 1, 2021 at 08:00 UTC (04:00 US Eastern Time). The program will focus on trauma informed practice, maintenance & Lugano and what journalists want from Family Lawyers.
The Asia Pacific Chapter is planning a webinar in memory of our brilliant Fellow Anne-Marie Hutchinson on October 11, 2021 at 07:00 UTC which is 3:00 AM Eastern Time. It is entitled “Remembering Anne-Marie Hutchinson: Keeping the Flame Alight”. This is a joint event with LawAsia. The Talk will feature three topics important to Anne-Marie: Forced Marriage, Surrogacy and International Vulnerable Children.
Webinars and chat meetings during the year continued to engage Fellows and potential Fellows including:
- Hague 40th Anniversary Celebration & Tribute to Anne-Marie Hutchinson
- Asia Pacific Chapter, LawAsia & World Congress webinar on Domestic Violence
- European Chapter Brexit webinar
- Hot Topics in Family Law in Africa webinar
- Virtual Kyiv webinar for new and potential European Fellows
- IAFL and AIJUDEFA Latin American Family Law webinar
CHAPTER ACHIEVEMENTS
The Chapters are active and doing well. Among the many achievements of the chapters are the following:
- USA Chapter - welcome new staff, monthly chat meetings open to all Fellows, recruitment event online, Kentucky Derby meeting for Fellows
- European Chapter - Young Lawyers Award, Lugano Convention, Public Policy Committee, Monthly Chat meetings, Virtual Kyiv recruitment meeting for young and potential Fellows and virtual annual chapter meeting with Education program for Fellows
- Asia Pacific Chapter - AsPacEd newsletter, AP Hours (monthly chats), Joint webinars with LawAsia and the World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights
- Canadian Chapter - monthly chat meetings, donations to Hague, partner with Cambridge Forum for expansion
IAFL ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE LAST ANNUAL MEETING IN JUNE 2020
- Launched IAFL brochures in English, Spanish, Chinese and French
- Surveys of Fellows and potential Fellows by the Communication with Fellows Committee led to development of a strategic plan to:
- Institutionalize the annual survey of Fellows
- Publish a Handbook for New Fellows
- Launch Special Interest Groups focusing on
- Inter-Country Child Abduction & Protection Measures
- Contracts in International Family Law Matters
- Taxation
- Plan for Hybrid Events and Hybrid Executive Committee Meetings
- Consider dues reductions for un- and under-represented jurisdictions
- Consider implementation of provisional chapters in Africa and South America
- Creation of planner for mini and other meetings
- Consider CLE in smaller groups
UPCOMING IN PERSON MEETINGS
We are monitoring the health and safety of locations for our upcoming meetings. Covid-19 is creating varying challenges across the world and the situations are not static.
We understand that the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans and the whole city at this time is under a mask mandate. Reneaux Collins, President of the USA Chapter, has been making spectacular plans to keep us all entertained, educated and socially distant while together in New Orleans.
Our upcoming meeting schedule is as follows:
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - February 16-20, 2022
- Athens, Greece - May 11-15, 2022
- Bangkok, Thailand - July 27-31, 2022
- Marrakech, Morocco - November 30-December 4, 2022
- Venice, Italy - February 1-5, 2023
Please mark your calendars and join us.
I hope each of you stays well and has productive and rewarding months ahead.
Warmest regards and hugs,
Marlene
Marlene Eskind Moses
President
International Academy of Family Lawyers
