The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is an organization of the nation's top matrimonial attorneys whose practices concentrate on marriage, divorce, annulment, custody, child visitation, property valuation, property distribution, alimony, and child support.

The Academy was founded in 1962 "to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the cause of matrimonial law to the end that the welfare of the family and society be preserved."

Today the Academy is recognized as the pre-eminent family law association in America with more than 1,500 fellows. The Academy has chapters in 29 states, including Missouri, which conduct local continuing education programs, participate in the legislative process and engage in a variety of other activities to serve the public and to improve the practice of matrimonial law.

There are 36 Fellows of the AAML in Missouri. They are the premier family law attorneys in Missouri.

EXPERTISE AND PROFESSIONALISM

Fellows of the Academy concentrate their practices in family and matrimonial law, a specialty that involves all aspects of premarital agreements, dissolution, annulment, child custody, property valuation and division, and child and spousal support. Academy Fellows are recognized by their colleagues and by the judges where they practice as leading experts in the field. Each Fellow must demonstrate by personal conduct a professional and ethical commitment to his or her clients and to the betterment of society in resolving what are often intensely emotional and complex family problems. By demonstrating the highest standards of matrimonial practice, Fellows of the Academy have led the way for the remainder of the matrimonial bar and have helped improve the quality of family law practice throughout this country for attorneys and litigants alike.

PROGRAMS AND BENEFITS

Professional fellowship is a key benefit of Academy membership. The national Academy meets twice yearly. Each November at the annual session in Chicago, there are committee meetings, educational programs, elections of officers anad board members, and social events. Each March, the Academy holds its midyear meeting at various locations throughout the United States.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

The Academy has achieved national recognition by pioneering in-depth studies of such issues as child custody, taxation, estate planning, property valuation with a degree of sophistication that is seldom available to the occasional family law practitioner. Through in-depth programs, the Academy has developed the most effective procedures for resolving custody, support and enforcement matters. Experts from various fields are frequently called upon as guest speakers and panelists to provide a cross-fertilization of ideas that enhance the expertise and broaden the perspective of the family law practitioner.

PUBLICATIONS

The Academy is particularly proud of its Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers which is published annually in cooperation with the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Each issue of the Journal concentrates on a single subject such as child custody or retirement benefits. Each topic is explored in depth by the authors.

This unusual format results in a publication recognized throughout the United States as a source for the most complete coverage of specific topics in family law. The Journal contains both original articles drafted by Academy Fellows and digests of articles on the same subjects from other publications.

The Academy published The Bounds of Advocacy in 1991 and revised it in 2000. This publication presents goals for fair play for laymen and lawyers involved in family law cases. While these goals are aspirational, they epitomize the conduct of Academy Fellows in their individual practices. The Bounds of Advocacy is widely recognized as the first effort by a specialized bar association to establish goals for an entire area of practice. It has been cited nationally in law school ethic courses and legal literature. At least two states have adopted The Bounds as part of their state ethics codes.

A later publication, The Divorce Manual, A Client Handbook, was written for clients contemplating divorce. The handbook provides clients with a realistic overview of what to expect in the divorce process.

In 1995, the Academy published a booklet entitled Representing Children, Standards for Attorneys and Guardian-ad-Litem in Custody or Visitation Proceedings. This publication delineates procedures to be followed by guardians and attorneys for children in matrimonial actions where the best interests of the children may conflict with those of their parents. The role of the attorney as guardian has never been explored as comprehensively as in this Academy publication. It has served as a guide to guardians and attorneys for children throughout the nation.

The Academy developed a Model Relocation Act. With our society more mobile, many more cases involve the relocation of custodial parents and proceedings brought by or against the custodial parent to permit or deny such relocation. The Model Act includes stringent notification requirements, outlines the factors, which the court should consider in making its decision, and sets forth alternative "burden of proof" and presumption language for states to consider.

The Academy has launched a national public awareness campaign to counter the profound effects of divorce on our nation's children. This awareness effort features Public Service Announcements, a free "how-to" booklet - Stepping Back from Anger: Protecting Your Children During Divorce - and an instructional video. All are aimed at parents in the throes of divorce and intended to assist children.

The Academy has also published Making Marriages Last - A Guide to Preventing Divorce.

As a professional service, the Academy maintains and publishes a list of its certified Fellows to assure the availability of qualified expert matrimonial counsel throughout the United States. This roster of Fellows, updated each year, details the experience and qualifications of each Academy member. It also identifies those Fellows who have been recertified by the Academy based on their participation in continuing legal education over the preceding five years.

LOCAL ACTIVITIES

Academy Fellows regularly volunteer their expertise in the family law area for civic, legislative, educational and social groups and for the media. Academy Fellows have been in the forefront in developing and promoting legislation in many states and in Congress, resulting in a revolution in divorce laws in the past twenty years. Often, the Academy offers suggestions about proposed state and federal legislation, which reflects the experience of those who specialize in family law.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP

To be a Fellow in the Academy a lawyer must:

Be recognized by the bench and bar in his or her jurisdiction as an expert practitioner in matrimonial law.

Admitted to the bar 10 years, with 75 percent of his or her practice in matrimonial law, subject to exceptions in certain geographic areas and other exceptional circumstances.

Have state family law certification if it exists. Where it doesn't exist, must have completed 15 hours of continuing legal education in each of the previous five years.

Pass national examination and oral or written examination on state law on wide-ranging issues pertaining to matrimonial and family law.

Be interviewed by a state board of examiners as well as be passed upon by other matrimonial law practitioners in the state.

Aspire to the ethical standards set forth in the "Bounds of Advocacy" as well as state bar rules of professional conduct.

Demonstrate involvement in study or improvement of matrimonial law, such as publishing articles or continuing education presentations.

TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION

Fellowship in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers represents both recognition of achievements in family law and a commitment to the highest standards of practice in the field.

Those seeking further information about membership may contact the Academy office in Chicago listed below or visit the Academy web site at http://www.aaml.org.

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
50 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2040
Chilcago, IL   60601
(312) 263-6477