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Section Membership
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Together with the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, the Section offers a reduced, combined membership for procurement attorneys in government service. The Section also has funds available to assist active committee members who require financial assistance (e.g. travel support) to attend Council meetings and present the work of their committees.
Please see our Member Center for more information on ABA and Section Membership.
A Special Note to the Lawyer in Uniform
There comes a time when all military lawyers make the transition to a second career. At that time, your professional contacts will prove as vital a resource as the breadth and depth of your legal skills. As you leave active duty and begin your second legal career, you will fully appreciate the friendships you have built during your military career and as a member of the ABA Section of Public Contract Law. Because the Section is comprised of both civilian and government/ military attorneys and procurement officials, you have an unprecedented opportunity to network with your peers in both professional and social settings. These contacts will prove to be a valuable resource when you are confronted with difficult legal issues and will follow you as you change your hat to the civilian sector as a source of obtaining leads and support.
How to Become Active in the Section Committees
- Join one of the more than 40 section substantive committees by writing the section chair with a copy to the section office in Chicago. Call the committee chair to find out whether your committee is involved in a special project and what priorities or needs it faces.
- Contribute items from newspapers, services, advance sheets, etc. to the Committee Chair so they can be shared with other committee members.
- Volunteer to serve on a subcommittee to study and report about a new bill, treaty or development in the law.
- In consultation with the committee chair, organize a committee program and/or offer to be a speaker.
- Ask a friend or acquaintance, who is prominent in the field, to participate on a committee program or project.
- Contribute ideas for programs/projects to the committee chair, perhaps sending the clipping or report which served as the inspiration for your suggestion.
- Identify an issue of importance in your committee's jurisdiction, and propose to your committee chair a program or study of that issue.
General Activities
- Attend the Fall, Midyear, Spring and/or Annual Meetings of the Section to keep up with Section activities, issues and projects.
- Offer your assistance to the Chair of the Membership, Programs or Publications Committees.
- Volunteer to speak or to organize a CLE Institute.F Offer to act as membership coordinator for your region.
Publications
- Send a letter and resume to the Publications Chair, volunteering to help edit new Section books.
- Volunteer to assist the editor or the Procurement Lawyer newsletter or the Public Contract Law Journal.
- Send your ideas for new book titles to the Publications Chair and volunteer to organize a committee to put it together.
Liaison
- Offer to be the liaison person for the local bar association in your area.F Promote joint projects, membership solicitations and program with other bar association by informing the appropriate committee chair when an opportunity for cooperation comes to your attention.F Offer to organize a social gathering at one of the Section's quarterly meetings for Section members and guests.
Meetings
- Volunteer to assist with a mini-program or a quarterly program by writing the appropriate meeting chair.
- Help organize the program and identify potential speakers.
- Make suggestions and seek out suitable facilities for meetings, programs and social events.
- Cultivate contacts with local bar associations and student law societies.
- Make available facilities and personnel from your office to assist in running a program.
Other Suggestions
- Volunteer to assist in activities of a subcommittee or Task Force by writing to the director of the project.
- Offer to organize a two-hour career counseling program on Public Contract Law for students at a local law society or law school by writing to the Law Student Division Representative with a copy to the Section's Law Student Division Liaison.
- Assist in programs to further educate judicial law clerks in public contracts law.
- Contribute items of interest and ideas from newspapers and journals to the appropriate chair whether or not you belong to the particular committee.
- Report to the appropriate committee chair, whether or not you are a member of that committee, about meetings of other public contract meetings you have attended.
For information about joining the Section of Public Contract Law send e-mail to neforasm@staff.abanet.org