Nominating Committee Seeks Candidates for Bar Association Offices
7.27.2021
The Nominating Committee invites members of the New York State Bar Association to submit recommendations of themselves or others for consideration in developing its slate of nominees for association offices beginning in 2022.
Members wishing to become an officer or member of the NYSBA Executive Committee should review Article VIII of NYSBA’s Bylaws describing the Nominating Committee and nominations for office.
As part of the selection process, candidates for the offices of president-elect, secretary, and treasurer may be required to appear in person before the Nominating Committee at its meeting on September 13 in New York City and at its meeting on October 29 in Cooperstown. Candidates for the office of member-at-large of the Executive Committee may be required to appear in person before the Nominating Committee at one of the two meetings. No appearance before the Nominating Committee is required for the positions of vice president, elected delegate (three for each judicial district), the one member-at-large recommended by the Section Delegates to the House of Delegates, and the member-at-large recommended by the Young Lawyers Section.
Offices for Nomination
The Nominating Committee is accepting and will be interviewing candidates for president-elect, secretary, treasurer, members-at-large of the Executive Committee – two (please indicate if you are seeking a regular seat or diversity seat). At least one of these members-at-large is selected to further ethnic and racial diversity in the association and must come from a judicial district other than the Seventh Judicial District, since there currently is a member-at-large selected to further diversity from that district.
Other Offices
The Nominating Committee does not decide on the names of the vice-presidents and the elected delegates that are presented to the House of Delegates for election at the Annual Meeting. (See NYSBA Bylaws, Article VIII § 1(A)(3).)
Similarly, the Nominating Committee does not decide on the names of the one member chosen by the Section Delegates to the House of Delegates and the one member chosen by the Young Lawyers Section to fill the position of members-at-large to the Executive Committee.
Therefore, candidates for these positions are not required to appear before the Nominating Committee. (See NYSBA Bylaws, Article VIII §§ 1(A)(4) & 1(A) (5).)
However, the Nominating Committee does encourage anyone interested in these positions to contact the vice-presidents of their respective judicial districts and/or the chairs of the Section Delegates to the House of Delegates and Young Lawyers Section to determine deadlines and such criteria as may be established for consideration to fill the positions of a vice-president, elected delegate, or Executive Committee member-at-large from the Section Delegates to the House of Delegates or Young Lawyers Section. For relevant contact information, please email your request to NominatingChair@nysba.org.
Special Eligibility Criteria for Candidates
A candidate for president-elect must have served as a member of the House of Delegates within five years preceding the time of nomination but need not be a member of the House at the time of nomination for office.
Nature of Service
The nature of service for NYSBA offices is described in the association’s Bylaws (www.nysba. org/bylaws).
The president-elect, secretary, treasurer, 14 vice-presidents, and 11 members-at-large serve on the Executive Committee and in the House of Delegates, which manage the business and activities of the association and generally meet quarterly. They also serve as liaisons to NYSBA committees and sections.
The president-elect chairs the House, assists the president, and becomes president on June 1 of the following year. Persons serving as president and president-elect will receive a stipend of $75,000 and $37,500, respectively.
The secretary keeps a record of House of Delegates and Executive Committee meetings. The secretary also chairs the Resolutions Committee and serves as a liaison to the Section Delegates to the House of Delegates.
The treasurer serves as an ex officio member (as does the president-elect) of the Finance Committee, which oversees the financial affairs of the association and meets approximately four times per year. The treasurer presents NYSBA’s financial report at each House meeting.
Timetable for Submitting Recommendations
Members who are seeking office may place their names before the Nominating Committee by self-declaration or nomination.
Candidates for president-elect must submit their declarations of candidacy to the Secretary by no later than Sept. 1, 2021.
Candidates seeking all other offices are strongly encouraged to file a declaration of candidacy and submit all background materials by Sept. 1, 2021 to ensure adequate time for review by the Nominating Committee.
In making nominations, members are encouraged to keep in mind the association’s diversity policy, which was adopted by the House of Delegates in November 2003.
The policy emphasizes the commitment to achieving diversity in the “membership, officers, staff, House of Delegates, Executive Committee, sections and committees and their respective leaders. Diversity is an inclusive concept, encompassing gender, race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age and disability.”
Submissions must include a current curriculum vitae or resume; a maximum of five letters of support; a written statement of no more than 500 words setting forth the reason for seeking office; and a disclosure of any public professional discipline, sanction, and/or contempt finding by a court. Please direct this information to Michael Miller, Chair, Nominating Committee, New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, or by email to NominatingChair@nysba.org or by fax to 518-463-8527.
Timetable for President-elect Candidates’ Statements for Publication
Each candidate for president-elect is invited to submit a 500-word statement for publishing online and in the NYSBA Weekly. For more information, please contact Chief Communications Strategist Susan DeSantis at sdesantis@nysba.org.
