Alaska Bylaws. Bar. Asso., art. VII

As amended through November 12, 2024

Article VII - Committees and Sections

Section 1. Committees.

(a)Standing Committees. The Board shall define the powers, duties, functions, and scope of each standing committee in its Standing Policies. The President, subject to Board approval, shall appoint eligible Bar members to fill all vacancies or expired terms on standing committees and shall name and designate the chair of each committee. Committee members shall serve staggered, three year terms. Committee members may be reappointed for successive terms. The Board may appoint additional members to a committee, remove members from a committee for good cause, or dissolve a committee when it considers the work of a committee has been completed or when it considers that a committee is no longer necessary. Each committee may select such other officers as it considers advisable and may designate subcommittees from among its membership. Each committee shall meet at such times and places as may be designated by its chair. The Association's standing committees are:

(1) the Bar Polls and Elections Committee, a nine member committee responsible for polling the membership on subjects submitted to the Association membership by the Board and for the tabulation of the results of all elections and advisory opinion polls conducted by the Association;

(2) the Continuing Legal Education Committee, a 15 member committee responsible for presenting legal education seminars to the membership, and includes one Judicial representation and two Young Lawyer representations serving staggered 2-year terms.

(3) the Ethics Committee, a nine member committee responsible for the issuance of opinions providing guidance to Association members in complying with the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct;

(4) the Historians Committee, a 12 member committee responsible for preserving the unique history of the Alaska Bar;

(5) The Law Related Education Committee, a committee responsible for presenting programs and producing publications to aid the public in understanding of the law and the legal system; the committee is divided into subcommittees in the communities of Anchorage (12 members), Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Mat-Su and such other communities as the president sees fit to appoint;

(6) the Legal Educational Opportunities Committee, a 10 member committee responsible for the oversight of State funds for legal education, tutoring assistance to failing bar examinees, and oversight of the impact of Bar admission standards on minority applicants;

(7) the Statutes, Bylaws and Rules Committee, a 12 member committee responsible for drafting proposed revisions of the statutes, bylaws and rules which govern the activities of the Alaska Bar Association;

(8) the Pro Bono Service Committee, a 9 member committee responsible for identifying and promoting activities which would facilitate the provision of pro bono services and encourage all attorneys to provide pro bono service; at least three of the members shall be from communities from outside of Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks;

(9) the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct, a 9 member committee responsible for reviewing suggested amendments to the ARPC and making recommendations for amendments to the Board of Governors;

(10) the Lawyers' Assistance Committee whose members provide services to members of the bar, their families or business associates when it appears a Bar member is suffering from substance abuse.

(11) the Committee for Fair and Impartial Courts, a Committee responsible for recommendations to the Board for activities that the Bar can undertake to explain and promote the concept of judicial independence, and to undertake to educate the public about and promote the concept of judicial independence.

(12) the Committee on the Practice of Law, a Committee responsible for gathering information concerning the unauthorized practice of law, educating the public and the membership about what is the unauthorized practice of law, and recommending to the Board of Governors policy and rules changes concerning the protection of the public from the unauthorized practice of law; and,

(13) the Committee on Diversity, a Committee responsible for researching, developing and executing plans for increasing the diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation within the Bar and of the Bar members who participate in activities of the Bar Association and of the profession. Increased diversity in the Bar will improve access to justice for the community of Alaskans, especially for Alaska Native and rural populations that have traditionally been underrepresented. The committee shall consist of no fewer than nine members, and the membership shall as diverse as possible.

(b)Special Committees. The President may appoint special committees with limited purposes and of limited duration. The terms of membership on such committees shall be established by the President at the time the committees are appointed.

(c)Committee Actions Endorsed. No action, report, or recommendation of any standing or special committee is binding upon the Association unless first approved by the Board.

Section 2. Reports of Committees. All standing and special committees shall render to the Board those reports as from time to time that are requested by the President or the Board. Written annual reports shall be delivered to the Board at least 30 days before the annual business meeting, and a written or oral report shall be presented to the membership at the annual business meeting.

Section 3. Substantive Law Sections. The Board shall establish substantive law sections in areas pertinent to the practice of law and shall define the powers, duties, functions and scope of each section in its Standing Policies.

(a) Membership and fees requirements are as follows:

(1)Attorney Membership and Fees. Attorney membership in each section is open to all active and inactive members of the Alaska Bar Association in good standing. $5 of a member's annual membership fee will be allocated to the budget of the first section joined by that member. A member may join additional sections at a registration fee to the member of $15 per additional section joined per year.

(2)Informational Membership and Fees. Non-voting section membership is available at the discretion of each section to any person who is not a member of the Association, but who subscribes to the informational and educational objectives of the section. Informational section members may not serve on the executive committee of any section. There is an annual $15 membership fee assessed for each section joined by an Informational Member.

(b)Section Executive Committees. Each section shall be administered by an executive committee of at least five members elected from the section's attorney membership to serve staggered three year terms. The executive committee shall annually elect, by September 30, a chair, and may elect such other officers as it deems advisable from the membership of the executive committee. Each executive committee shall meet at such times and places as may be designated by the chair of the section. All executive committees shall file with the Board such reports as from time to time shall be requested by the President or the Board. A written annual report shall be delivered to the Board at least thirty (30) days before the annual business meeting.

(c)Annual Section Meeting. Each section's executive committee will schedule an annual meeting of the section membership to hear the annual report of its executive committee and discuss issues and developments pertinent to the section's area of law. The annual meeting will be held at a time and location determined by the executive committee.

(d)Continuing Legal Education Commitment. At least as frequently as is required by the Bar's Continuing Legal Education Committee, each substantive law section in conjunction with the Bar shall be responsible for sponsoring a continuing legal education seminar.

(e)Annual Section Chair/Board Meeting. At each annual convention of the Association, the chairs of each section, or their designees, shall meet with the President-Elect or the Board to discuss section activities and evaluate section needs.

(f)Section Actions Endorsed. No action, report, or recommendation of any section is binding upon the Association unless adopted and approved by the Board.

Alaska Bylaws. Bar. Asso., art. VII