40 years ago, some of the finest family lawyers from the United States and Europe gathered and drew up the Charter for the IAFL, which was patterned after the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The IAFL’s mission is to improve the practice of law and the administration of justice in divorce and family law throughout the world. The IAFL uniquely provides extensive resources allowing its Fellows the ability to reach out to each other toward exchanging their knowledge and expertise. Now comprised of 1,114 Fellows from 83 countries, its importance to American family law grows as our world becomes increasingly interconnected.
I was accepted as a Fellow in the AAML in 2006. Five years later, I was accepted by the IAFL.
Since then, I leaned on the IAFL toward developing my family law practice. At Herring Imming, our team now does, too. We routinely encounter international disputes involving “Hague Convention” jurisdictional custody issues (for instance Ventura/Brazil), custody enforcement (presently Santa Barbara/Spain), parent/child relocations (for instance Scotland/Ventura, and presently Santa Barbara/England), child and spousal support enforcement (presently Montecito/Dubai), prenuptial agreement interpretation and negotiations (for instance The Netherlands/Montecito), and general jurisdiction (for instance San Luis Obispo/Australia). Having IAFL colleagues ready to assist from other involved countries provides HI substantial advantages.
During the first week of September, the IAFL’s breadth was on full display at its Annual General Meeting in Dublin, Ireland (last year’s was in Nairobi, and next year’s will be in Mumbai). There, I joined more than 300 Fellows from over 41 jurisdictions. Included were many of our Fellows and friends from our Southern California Chapter (and other Chapters) of the AAML. The ideas shared, and our camaraderie and genuine affection for each other and for our group, made it a special trip.
Especially with the organizational structure and backup our growing law firm provides, I anticipate our increasingly productive involvement in the IAFL.
(Thanks to immediate Past President, Heather Q. Hostetter, Esq. and Past President (2012 – 2014) Cheryl Hepfer, Esq., for some of their explanatory wording above.)