Shigley Becomes Chair of Largest Section of American Association for Justice

Ken Shigley, past president of the State Bar of Georgia, has become chair of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section of the American Association for Justice. With about 2,500 members, this is the largest practice area section of the AAJ.

Shigley took the helm of the section at its annual business meeting on June 14, 2015, at the AAJ annual convention in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section includes litigation groups focused on specialized practices in Trucking Litigation, Bus Litigation, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Motorcycle Litigation, Bicycle Litigation, Resort Torts Litigation and Inadequate Security Litigation.

Continuing legal education seminars comprise a major portion of the section’s activity. Shigley assigned people to begin work on plans for CLE programs at Boca Raton (February 2016), New Orleans (April 2016 and Los Angeles (July 2016), and a number of tightly focused webinar programs. Shigley is a former chair of the board of trustees of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, was a trustee of the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education, and has been a frequent CLE speaker in Georgia and nationally for 21 years.

Shigley has issued a request for volunteers to serve as state liaisons in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. State liaisons will work with lawyers in their states to increase section membership, participation in the AAJ Political Action Committee and assist with a project to study possible inflation adjustments of state minimum insurance laws.

Other section officers for 2015-16 include:

Chair-Elect – Wade F. Suthard (Elizabeth, NJ) Responsible for the planning and presentation of the Section’s Annual Convention CLE program and assisting the Chair in carrying out his responsibilities.

Vice Chair – Kenneth H. Levinson (Chicago, IL) Responsible for promoting and growing the Section’s Document Library.“Information Exchange/ Networking – Document Library – Promote in listserv (monthly) and newsletter, listing recent contributions and giving credit to contributors.

Secretary – Matthew A. Nace (Washington, DC) Chair Long Range Planning and develop proposed amendments to section bylaws. Responsible for attending all Section meetings and Section Executive Committee conference calls and shall record and keep minutes of all actions taken at those meetings. Within fifteen days after the conclusion of any Section or Executive Committee meeting, the Secretary shall provide a copy of the minutes of that meeting to all members of the Section and Executive Committee. If the Secretary is unable to attend a meeting, he shall appoint another member of the Section to act in his stead for that particular meeting.

Newsletter Editor – Jennifer Leonhardt Ojeda (Atlanta, GA) Responsible for soliciting articles and content for the Section’s quarterly newsletter. The Newsletter Editor shall work directly with AAJ staff on the publication and shall regularly inform the Section Executive Committee on the status of the newsletter.

Parliamentarian – Jason Studinski (Plover, WI) Serve as Membership Coordinator.  Responsible for coordinating with AAJ staff and reporting on the Section’s membership to the Executive Committee. The Membership Coordinator is responsible for assisting AAJ in Section membership drives and recruitment efforts. He is responsible, with the Section Chair and AAJ staff, for informing all Section members about Section meeting, education programs, and events as well as all other relevant event information.  Coordinate state liaisons.

Immediate Past Chair – Robert L. Collins (Houston, TX) Liaison with AAJ and Other Sections. (in particular, with the Litigation Group and Section Oversight Committee and the New Lawyers Section.

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Ken Shigley is a past president of the State Bar of Georgia and a board certified civil trial attorney of the National Board of Trial Advocacy.