By Thomas Sasser, AAML President

Dear Fellows,

By July, the rhythm of summer has settled in for most of us. Our offices grow a little quieter as lawyers, staff and clients take their long-planned vacations, and while the calendar remains full, the pace of the days feels different. Many of us are also devoting more time to our own families, especially those with young children home from school, who lay steady claim to our attention, our time and, on occasion, our willingness to drive them somewhere at a moment’s notice.

That summer rhythm makes this a natural moment for a broader update to the Fellowship. We have just come through a busy and rewarding first half of the Academy year, and the months ahead will bring the Annual Meeting, the release of significant Academy work and continued opportunities to support the lawyers coming up within our firms and chapters.

The Institute for Family Law Associates

I want to encourage every Fellow to give serious thought to the AAML Institute for Family Law Associates in Chicago. This is not simply another entry on the Academy calendar. For me, serving as a mentor and faculty member at the Associates Institute has been one of the most fulfilling experiences, and one of my genuine favorites, of my time as an Academy Fellow.

I have seen the Institute change the lives of young lawyers. I have watched associates arrive talented but uncertain and leave with greater confidence, sharper skills, sounder judgment and lasting relationships with Fellows who continue to mentor them long after the program ends. I have also had the privilege of watching Institute participants go on to develop their careers and, in time, become Academy Fellows themselves.

The Institute is a premier Academy program precisely because it makes even very good associates better. It strengthens our firms, elevates the quality of practice in our communities and helps cultivate the next generation of family law leaders. I believe every Fellow should take advantage of this service by sending associates from their firms. Those who do not are passing up an extraordinary opportunity for their associates, their practices and the future of the profession.

Annual Meeting and the Bounds of Advocacy

Registration is now open for the 2026 AAML Annual Meeting, to be held Nov. 4–7, 2026, at the Loews Chicago Hotel. Given the turnout at our recent national events, I encourage Fellows to plan earlier than usual this year: please register and reserve your hotel room as soon as you are able. We anticipate exceptional attendance, and the Academy’s room block is likely to sell out. The deadline to secure the discounted rate is Oct.16.

The Annual Meeting will also mark an important milestone for the Academy, as the newly updated Bounds of Advocacy will be released during the meeting. The Bounds have long stood among the Academy’s most meaningful contributions to professionalism in family law. The revised edition preserves guidance rooted in the finest traditions of the Academy while speaking directly to the realities of modern family law practice.

This year’s gathering will also carry a spirit of fun in its theme. Fittingly, our CLE program has been christened “The Family Law Operative,” and the meeting will embrace a theme inspired by classic spy films and James Bond, reaching its height at our annual dinner dance. Fellows can look forward to an evening in the spirit of a classic espionage thriller: equal parts elegance and intrigue. After a year of record attendance and substantial work across the Academy, it promises a fitting and memorable way to gather, reconnect, learn and celebrate together as Fellows.

National Family Law Conference

The AAML National Family Law Conference continues to grow. The 2026 Conference in Las Vegas set a new attendance record for this event, drawing an even larger gathering than our Mid-Year Meeting in Scottsdale, which was itself the largest Mid-Year Meeting in the history of our organization.

Taken together, the last three major national Academy events (the 2025 Annual Meeting, the 2026 Mid-Year Meeting and the 2026 National Family Law Conference) have each set attendance records for their respective meetings. That is an encouraging sign, not because numbers alone are ever the goal, but because it reflects the value our lawyers continue to place on serious education, meaningful professional connection and time spent learning from one another.

The Las Vegas Conference delivered an outstanding educational program, the kind of practical, advanced family law content that Fellows can carry straight back to their offices and put to use. It also created ample time to connect beyond the classroom, through first-rate networking events, dine-arounds, informal gatherings and additional Las Vegas programming, including shows. Those moments matter. Some of the best conversations at Academy events happen between sessions, over dinner or in the quiet stretches when Fellows and fellow family lawyers can simply have an opportunity to talk in a relaxed environment.

The National Family Law Conference is becoming exactly what we hoped it would be: a premier national program for family law attorneys who seek advanced education and genuine connection with other serious practitioners. It is a program worth championing with our partners, associates, colleagues and the strongest lawyers in our local communities.

Summer Reading and Lifelong Learning

I was delighted by how many Fellows responded to last month’s note on summer reading, though perhaps I should not have been surprised. Academy Fellows tend to be lifelong learners and, in many cases, avid readers. We read constantly for work, but summer offers a chance to read a little differently: sometimes to learn, sometimes to reflect and sometimes simply to enjoy a good story.

This month I have moved on to The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence in an effort to keep pace with where artificial intelligence came from and where it may be headed. I am also indulging, based upon the recommendation of an Academy Fellow, in Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, a guilty summer pleasure in the truest sense. IYKYK – NEW ACHIEVEMENT!

I continue to enjoy hearing what other Fellows are reading. Whether your summer book is about law, leadership, history, technology, biography, fiction or something else entirely, please send me an email and let me know what is on your nightstand, in your briefcase or in your beach bag.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. I hope you find a little time with family, a little time away from the office and perhaps a good book or two before the fall calendar begins to fill again. I look forward to seeing many of you in the months ahead.

Warm regards,
Thomas J. Sasser
President
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers