The program committee of the board comprising of Susan Myres, Bobby Newman and Craig Haston has an ambitious schedule of speakers and topics for this year. Topics and coming attractions include but are not limited to: child support enforcement, divorce tax issues for dummies, a review of what we've learned from a years worth of the new discovery rules, and family law resources. The foundation for all the programs is David Gray's entertaining and nearly always, insightful summary of interesting cases. Thank you to all who have given of their time and energy to put forth valuable materials and presentations the section has had to date.

The Family Law Section provides ongoing support to the community through the Legal Lines, and the Pro Se Clinic. Angela Pence and Craig Haston spearhead the section's role in the respective programs. The former program provides monthly access for the Houston community to attorneys to answer basic legal questions. The latter is a half-day seminar for persons who wish to represent themselves in uncomplicated divorce cases.

This month marks the first of a series of meetings with all of the family law judges. The overall goal is to improve the legal system for all the system participants. There will be a discussion of common issues and, hopefully, the forging of a unified solution to problems. Along that same vein, the section has promoted the Ad Litem Task Force. Judge Georgia Dempster, Associate Judge Janice Pardue and Susan Myres have been instrumental in this program. The task force's dual aim was to provide ad litems for the courts and to provide training for peole who wish to become ad litems. The seminar sponsored this spring provided over 17 hours of continuing education hours and over 20 new trained ad litems. Other section members whose's involvement were critical to the success of the program include Tracey Mendelovitz and Heather Hughes.

The Ad Litem Taskforce is just one example of what the Family Law Section is doing to improve the legal community. The section has assisted with the Don't Forget the Children Program started by Judge Linda Motheral. Last year, the section provided to tv video monitors to each of the family law courts. The section is also involved in an ongoing study of Houston to determine the extent to which conflict is impacted by early court intervention.

The Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association has provided and continues to provide the three cornerstones to professionalism: providing outstanding continuing legal education, dedication to the whole community and partnering with the judiciary to improve the family law system.