BYLAWS OF THE LEGAL INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES
(As adopted December 2021)
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (hereinafter referred to as the “Association” or “AALL”) shall be the Legal Innovation and Technology Special Interest Section abbreviated “LIT-SIS” (hereinafter referred to as the “Section”). The Section was created in 2021 by the merger of the Computing Services Special Interest Section and the Digitization and Educational Technology Special Interest Section.
ARTICLE II: OBJECTIVES
Section 1
The Section’s objectives are as follows:
- To provide leadership in the adoption, evaluation, and use of technology in all law libraries;
- To promote audiovisual presentation and production using educational technology as well as the preservation of materials through digitization;
- To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on technology innovation in law libraries, and to represent its members’ interests and concerns within AALL;
- To serve the professional development needs of all law librarians interested in innovation technology, including but not limited to the audiovisual enhancement of learning, educational technology and digitization;
- To provide technology innovation advice and assistance to the Association in its educational programs and other activities; and,
- To work in cooperation and promote relations with similar special interest groups, including non-library technology professionals, in other associations and
Section 2
The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Legal Innovation and Technology Special Interest Section as provided in the AALL Bylaws.
ARTICLE IV: ANTIDISCRIMINATION
Membership in the Section or participation in any activity of the Section, shall not be denied or abridged to any individual on account of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
ARTICLE V: MEETINGS
Section 1
There will be a general business meeting held in connection with, or during the annual meeting of the Association, or virtually on a date determined and announced in advance by the Executive Committee.
Section 2
Meetings shall be open to all members of AALL, but no person may vote in any meeting who is not a Section member in good standing.
Section 3
At each general business meeting a financial summary of the Section will be submitted to the membership for approval.
Section 4
A quorum shall consist of the members present at the meeting or remotely participating in a virtual meeting.
Section 5
Special meetings can be called by the Executive Committee should the need arise. Such meetings can be physical or virtual and must meet the same quorum requirements as the general business meeting.
Section 6
The affairs of the Section shall be conducted by the majority vote of members voting unless otherwise provided in these bylaws.
ARTICLE VI: OFFICERS
Section 1: Officers
The officers of the Section will include a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, a Secretary/Treasurer, and two (2) Members-at-Large.
Section 2: Duties of Officers
The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Members-at-Large shall perform the administrative duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the Section Executive Committee or the membership of the Section.
Section 3: Terms of Office and Vacancies
There shall be an annual election scheduled as provided in Section 8 of Article X. At each annual election there shall be elected a Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, who shall serve a total term of two years, serving the first year as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and the second year as Chair. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve for a two year term. There shall be two Members-At-Large, each of whom shall be elected for a term of two years, and their terms staggered so that one Member-At-Large shall be elected each year.
If the Chair vacates the office prior to the end of their term, the sitting Vice- Chair/Chair Elect shall assume that office for the remainder of that term and then shall serve as Chair for the next term as originally scheduled. If the position of Secretary/Treasurer or Member-at-Large shall become vacant, then the Chair, with the concurrence of a majority of the Executive Committee, shall appoint another member not currently holding office to serve in the office for the remainder of the term. If the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect office shall vacate the office, then the Chair, with the concurrence of a majority of the Executive Committee, shall appoint another member not currently holding office to serve as Vice-Chair until the election of their successor in the ordinary course of elections
ARTICLE VII: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past‑Chair. The Section Executive Committee shall direct the activities of the Section in achieving its stated objectives.
ARTICLE VIII: COMMITTEES
Section 1
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership of the Section, shall create. The chairs of the committees shall be designated by the Executive Committee.
Section 2
The Nominating Committee shall be a standing committee. There shall be a nominating committee appointed by the Executive Committee, none of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the committee shall serve for a term of at least one year, but may serve for multiple years. No action of such Committee shall be presumed to preclude nominations by petition on the official ballot.
Section 3
The Education Committee and the Digitization and Educational Technology Committee shall be standing committees.
ARTICLE IX: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules of order mandated by the AALL Bylaws shall govern all deliberations of the Section, except as otherwise specified in these bylaws. When used throughout this document, terms of gender (for example, pronouns) shall be considered to be gender-neutral in intent.
ARTICLE X. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1: Nominations
The Nominating Committee (see above Article VIII, Section 2) shall issue a Call for Nominations for the names of candidates for the offices of Vice-Chair/Chair- Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Member-at-Large as needed. The Nominating Committee shall certify that each individual nominated is a member of the Section in good standing and intends to stand for election for the office for which they have been nominated. The Call for Nominations may be made by any suitable electronic or printed means. The Nominating Committee shall submit a slate of at least two candidates for each office, together with their written acceptances, and the slates shall appear on the ballot. Write-in votes will be permitted on the official ballot.
Section 2: Nomination by Petition
Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five (5) members of the Section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptances of the nominees, must be filed with the Section Executive Committee in sufficient time to be included with the nominations announcement to Section members.
Section 3: Assumption of Chair
In the event that the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chair, and such fact is known prior to submission of the names of candidates for Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer, the Nominating Committee shall also submit the names of candidates for the office of Chair.
Section 4: Election Procedures
The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot by any suitable electronic or printed means, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot.
The details of conducting the election shall first be approved by the Executive Committee. The Committee shall ensure that election balloting is fundamentally fair and preserves the right of secret ballot. The candidate for each office receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected.
Section 5: Ties
In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the general business meeting. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot. The ballots shall be immediately counted and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected. In the event the runoff candidates are tied, the winner shall be selected by drawing lots or other method of random selection.
Section 6: Results
All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time.
Section 7: Destruction of Ballots
If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary/Treasurer after the general business meeting.
Section 8: Timetable
All of the above procedures must be scheduled and executed so that elections are completed at least two (2) months prior to the date of the general business meeting.
ARTICLE XI: AMENDMENTS
Section 1
These bylaws may be amended at the general business meeting of the Section by a majority of the members present and voting, or at any time following the provision of notice required by Section 2 below by a majority of the votes cast by a mail or electronic ballot conducted by the Secretary/Treasurer.
Section 2
Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section’s members, or be published in the Section’s newsletter, or be sent by electronic mail to the members’ electronic mail addresses of record with the association, 30 days in advance of the general business meeting, or of the mailing of ballots, or of the conducting of an election by electronic ballot.
Section 3
Proposed amendments to the bylaws shall be submitted for review to the AALL Bylaws & Resolutions Committee.