In ordinary circumstances each committee or entity is expected to have the following officer positions. Officers may serve for one two-year term in each position. In only very exceptional circumstances an officer may continue for a second term. This should be discussed with the SPPI Chair and the committee’s CLO. All committee officers are expected to attend the twice-yearly meetings of the SPPI Council, Committee and Other Entities’ Officers.
By accepting the appointment as an officer of any IBA committee, subcommittee, working group or advisory board, all officers automatically agree to their contact details being published on the IBA website, as part of the officer listings on the committee webpages.
Information on external communication by officers can be found further down under Media>Spokesperson.
The responsibilities of each position are detailed below:
Chair / Co-Chairs (This position is mandatory and must be filled.)
It is most likely that the Chair (and in the case of Co-Chairs, at least one Co-Chair) will have reached this position through the ladder structure for committee officers.
The role of Chair will include:
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developing a strategy and a activity plan for the committee, in conjunction with other officers and the committee’s CLO, by the end of November each year;
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updating the committee activity plan to indicate progress against planned goals and new activities not previously included;
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submitting nominations, by October each year at the latest, for committee officers for the next term to the Division Chair;
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overall responsibility for the committee/other entities’ annual conference programme, including the appointment and supervision of session chairs;
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responsibility for the appointment of officers and/or members to organise any specialist conferences or to contribute to conferences by other committees or entities as requested;
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liaising with the IBA office on any special projects being run by the committee and supervising tasks delegated to other officers as necessary;
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attending the twice-yearly meetings of the SPPI Council, Committee and Other Entities’ Officers;
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welcome messages to new committee members will automatically be sent out on behalf of the committee chairs/co-chairs.
Senior Vice-Chair or Vice-Chairs (This position is mandatory and there must be one Vice-Chair at minimum)
Senior Vice-Chairs and Vice-Chairs act as deputies for the committee chair if he / she is unable to act or is not available. In addition, their responsibilities may include:
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chairing sessions during the annual conferences, and therefore assuming responsibility for identifying and liaising with speakers and providing the IBA office with programme copy;
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working with the other committee officers to identify and lead special projects, other than conferences and publications, which help raise the profile of the committee and engage committee members;
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organisation of specialist conferences, liaising with other individuals as necessary;
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special remits as designated by the chair, which could include activities for young lawyers, conferences, membership;
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attending the twice-yearly meetings of the SPPI Council, Committee and Other Entities’ Officers.
Secretary, Treasurer, or Secretary-Treasurer
The Secretary-Treasurer’s duties may include:
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organising annual or bi-annual meetings of the committee officers; liaising with the IBA office on sending out of emails and communications to committee members;
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if desirable, organising a committee retreat at time of annual conference (where costs are borne by individuals);
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monitoring the committee budget and ensuring activities are planned in accordance with available funds.
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attending the twice-yearly meetings of the SPPI Council, Committee and Other Entities’ Officers.
Communications Officer
For more information on committee communications, please see the Publications and committee websites section below. The Communications Officer’s responsibilities may include:
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liaising with the IBA office on all publications to be produced by the committee;
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helping to source suitable authors and articles for the committee’s web pages, bulletins and newsletters;
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appointing rapporteurs for any specialist conferences organised by the committee and ensuring that a report is included on committee publications pages, e-bulletins and newsletters;
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working with the IBA Content Department on books published by the committee;
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liaising with the IBA Content Department on timing of publication production at the beginning of each year;
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ensuring that copy is received on time;
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providing the IBA Office with items of interest for the IBA e-news and for the IBA magazine Global Insight;
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attending the twice yearly meetings of the SPPI Council, Committee and Other Entities’ Officers.
Website Officer (This position is mandatory and must be filled)
General information
Committee Officer pages, available on each Committee website, provide details and contact information for each Officer within the Committee and any Subcommittees of that group. The information available is the officer’s position, name, firm name and address, and email address and can be used by the Committees to create their own email distribution list for Officers, or used by existing / potential members to reach out to the committee’s leadership. By accepting appointment as an officer, officers agree to their contact details being made available on the IBA website through the committees.
A full list of committees and other equivalent IBA entities can be viewed here.
While IBA staff provide technical support for the update of committee webpages, it is entirely the responsibility of the committee Website Officer to provide current information to IBA staff and to ensure that outdated information is removed by reviewing the page on a regular basis.
The website officer position should not be combined with other positions if possible
It is not recommended, except for very small committees (ie under 100 members), that this position be combined with other positions. The IBA website has undergone significant development, to keep up with current technology and to make the website a portal for all IBA communication as is fitting given the current use of the internet as a primary media and research resource. Therefore this is an important role that will continue to grow in significance.
Some committee Chairs express that they find it difficult to fill this role.
Two suggestions to assist:
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a Vice-Chair may have responsibility for website update as part of his or her mandate; or
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many committees have indicated that the recipients of scholarships often make excellent Website Officers. The Young Lawyers’ Committee has also offered assistance to the other committees and entities within the division to identify keen and active individuals to take on the role.
Information on Website Officer role
A Website Officer for the committee will be appointed to help keep committee pages up to date in showing, for example, links to any committee conferences, projects and publications. Updates will be made by the IBA Web and Multimedia Editor.
The Website Officer should familiarise themselves with, and ensure that their fellow officers are aware of, their committee pages. The pages typically feature the pictures and names of the Co-Chairs, a brief description of the committee and a link to the full officer list; further information about the committee; tabs for recent information on such things as committee conferences, publications, projects, and joining the committee (the exact configuration of tabs may depend on the committee in question).
The Website Officer duties may include:
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monitoring content of the committee webpage on a regular basis, to ensure the information is still current and to ensure that any outdated information is removed;
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encouraging fellow officers to provide photographs of officers to be included in the IBA database and on the committee webpage;
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providing links of interest to lawyers in the field to be included on the committee webpage;
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providing text and other details for any committee project or task force that should be included on the committee webpage; (NB Only events/activities/projects planned/organised together with the IBA can be promoted as a committee event, and only those will be communicated and promoted to the committee membership.
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providing advance notice of the above;
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providing any other items of interest that should be included on the committee webpage;
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sharing ideas for the committee pages
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attending twice-yearly meetings which should be held at the IBA Mid-Year Leadership Meetings and IBA Annual Conference.
Discussion forums and officer spaces
Each committee can host a discussion forum and/or an officer space on their committee pages. Discussion forums enable participants to share knowledge and debate issues online. Officer spaces provide committee officers a secure environment in which to discuss committee business.
Please contact Rebecca Harbord (rebecca.harbord@int-bar.org) for further information on discussion forums and officer spaces.
Articles
Committee members are welcome to submit appropriate articles to their Publications Officer and/or Website Officer for inclusion on the site. Please see 'Publications and committee websites - Committee news, articles and updates' in this guide.
While IBA staff provide technical support for the update of committee webpages, it is entirely the responsibility of the committee Website Officer to provide current information to IBA staff and to ensure that outdated information is removed by reviewing the page on a regular basis.
Film
It may be possible for committees to post film relating to their committee to their web pages, for example, information about forthcoming conferences. This should be discussed in the first instance with the IBA.
Membership Officer
The Membership Officer’s duties may include:
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Establishing and maintaining relations with members of the committee, to encourage their participation and involvement, and to incorporate their feedback into committee activities;
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Ensuring that new members receive the letter of welcome from the committee chair;
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Identifying steps to retain members and to increase membership
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Increasing and maintaining diversity of membership of their committees’ panels, working closely with the committee leadership and the D&I Officer and, including diversity of geography, culture, race, gender, age and ability, in membership, in leadership, and in participation in committee programmes and other activities.
Conference Quality Officer
The ultimate mandate of the Conference Quality Officer is to transform the issue of conference quality into an ongoing dialogue between LPD Committees so they can benefit from each others’ experience. Although the mandate is likely to evolve over time, the immediate responsibilities are to:
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Encourage the Committees to use alternative presentation formats.
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Encourage the Committees to adopt skills based sessions.
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Increasing and maintaining diversity of membership of the committees’ panels, working closely with the committee leadership and the D&I Officer and, including diversity of geography, culture, race, gender, age and ability, in membership, in leadership, and in participation in committee programmes and other activities.
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Act as a resource for finding women panellists where needed.
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Encourage speakers to prepare papers.
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Promote publication of papers in IBA journals, on Committee websites and other fora.
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Encourage session planning for annual conferences at an early stage.
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Attend meetings of all Conference Quality Officers at mid-year leadership meetings and at the annual meetings to share experiences, develop conference quality issues.
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Pass information from these sessions on to their Committees, session chairs and speakers.
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Encourage greater CLE accreditation for session programs
Diversity and Inclusion Officer
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Uphold and promote the IBA Diversity and Inclusion policy on behalf of your Committee, in particular, in terms of (1) membership, (2) officer slate and (3) panel speakers, communicating the status of your committee and any concerns through your Committee Leadership to the D&I Council Communications Working Group, even do so directly to the latter where the concerns relate to the Committee Leadership. The D&I Council Communications Working Group will review the concerns and if necessary escalate them to the D&I Council and will also review any lessons learnt, in order to continue aligning IBA culture and practice with the Diversity and Inclusion policy.
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Challenge discriminatory practice (see guidance on such practice below) that you witness within your Committee and the Association.
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Seek out the views of your Committee members on diversity and inclusion within the Committee and the Association to feed back to the D&I Council Communications Working Group.
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Work with the relevant Division and Section leads to review whether the diverse makeup of your Committee is reflective of the geographical and gender diversity of the Association as a whole and if not, how this might be improved.
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Promote this lessening of unconscious bias through Officer diversity and inclusion training ("E-Challenge” offered by Symmetra), reflection and engaging in discussions and other opportunities for practical learning within the Association. Engage in continuous learning on diversity and inclusion. Encourage your committee’s colleague officers to complete E-Challenge, and report the status of your committee in this regard to D&I Council.
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Report updates to your respective Committee regarding diversity and inclusion as a specific agenda item.
Download further information on the Diversity and Inclusion Officer role here.
Other officers
Other positions within the committee are subject to the approval of the SPPI leadership and the role must be clearly defined. For database purposes, you may be asked to modify a proposed officer title into a category already existing.