Officers and Council Members
Nominations and Elections Committee
The Nominations and Elections Committee is responsible for identifying and selecting outstanding members of the Capitol Hill Chapter to serve in positions of responsibility of the Chapter, as officers or council members. The Chapter President, Anthony Ogden chairs the Committee. The President Elect, Matthew McGhie is the Vice Chair. The Immediate Past President, T.J. Halstead also serves as a member.
Membership Committee
This committee is responsible for increasing chapter membership and promoting the Chapter to eligible attorneys. Regina Brzozowski chairs the Committee.
Professional Affairs Committee
Charles Arberg chairs the Committee. This committee sponsors an annual symposium on ethics and professional responsibility.
Programs Committee
This Committee is responsible for the Chapter newsletter, its monthly luncheons and other public programs. Ellen Sutherland is the Editor of the Chapter newsletter.
Younger Lawyers Division
Chapter Secretary Amy Bowser and Council Member Jeff McDermott serve as co-chairs of the committee, responsible for raising the chapter's profile with interested law students and young lawyers, increasing their membership in the chapter, and functioning as liaison to the Younger Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association. The dues are complimentary. The Younger Lawyers Division is composed of all members of the Federal Bar Association who are 36 years of age and under or those who have been admitted to practice for 3 years or less. It represents more than one third of the total association membership. The YLD was established in 1960 as a committee and designated as a council in 1967. In recognition of the group's growing importance and unique status within the association, the division was created in 1978. The YLD's purpose is to provide services and information of particular interest to the younger members of the federal legal profession. The Division hosts annual events such as a moot court competition, Supreme Court admission ceremony, Bill of Rights Program, the awarding of Shaw grants, and many other programs.
History
The Capitol Hill Chapter was formally constituted on January 16, 1963, in response to the recognition by members of the DC Chapter of the need for a chapter to serve the special requirements of Capitol Hill lawyers. Six years earlier, in 1957, a Capitol Hill section of the DC Chapter had been established to acknowledge the different functions performed by the legislative lawyer and the executive branch lawyer. The first section President was Congressman Torbert Macdonald (D-MA). Former Congressman William Hungate (D-MO), who later served as a Federal judge, was a subsequent Chapter President.
The original Capitol Hill section listed a membership of approximately 40 lawyers. Today, Chapter membership is over 200. At its inception in 1963, the Chapter had a governing Council of 14 persons that included representatives from the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Library of Congress-then the component organizations constituting the Chapter. In 1972, the FBA National Executive Committee added the Supreme Court to the Chapter's component jurisdiction, and the Court's Justices were made honorary members of the Chapter. The General Accounting Office (now Government Accountability Office) became a Chapter component soon thereafter followed by the Government Printing Office. The Chapter's constitution was amended in 1996 to add to the Chapter's governing Council a component unit consisting of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, the United States Sentencing Commission, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
The Capitol Hill Chapter has been known for the relatively high number of Chapter officers and members who have gone on to assume national office in the FBA. Marian Herring, in 1973, was the Chapter's first woman President.
Past Presidents
Capitol Hill Section of the DC Chapter, Federal Bar Association, established in 1957
1957-59 Torbert H. Macdonald (D-MA)
1959-60 James E. Palmer
1960-61 Cyril F. Brickfield
1961-62 Edward McCue III
Capitol Hill Chapter, Federal Bar Association, established January 16, 1963
1962-63 Thomas P. Kerester
1963-64 Erwin Krasnow
1964-65 Vincent A. Doyle
1965-66 Francis Rosenberger
1966-67 Frank R. Hammill, Jr.
1967-68 George Pavlic
1968-69 Justinus Gould
1969-70 Waldo Moore
1970-71 William Hungate (D-MO)
1971-72 John J. Kominski
1972-73 James A. Lanigan
1973-74 Marian Herring
1974-75 Herbert L. Spira
1975-76 Lee McElvain
1976-77 Joseph E. Ross
1977-78 Paul G. Dembling
1978-79 William P. Shattuck
1979-80 Paul S. Wallace
1980-81 Charles O. Campbell
1981-82 Mary Ann Gilleece
1982-83 Robert E. Feidler
1983-84 Patrice A. Lyons
1984-85 Charles L. Browne, III
1985-86 Janice E. Rubin
1986-87 Raphael Perl
1987-88 Kenneth E. Swab
1988-89 Francis J. Lorson
1989-90 Elaine L. Sierra
1990-91 Robert A. Lincoln
1991-92 Jackie A. Goff
1992-93 Herbert I. Dunn
1993-94 Ralph Oman
1994-95 Gregory A. Scott
1995-96 Craig Winslow
1996-97 Craig Winslow
1997-98 Anthony J. Zagami
1998-99 Melanie Gilbert
1999-00 Adam Vodraska
2000-01 Melissa Mueller
2001-02 Bruce Kasold
2002-03 William K. Van Horne
2003-04 Diane Wolf
2004-05 James G. Scott
2005-06 Warren Burke
2006-07 Susan Sawtelle
2007-08 Adam Bramwell
2008-09 Paul Vamvas
2009-10 T.J. Halstead
Awards
2010
Federal Bar Association
PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of “A Luncheon with Justice Sotomayor.”
2009
Federal Bar Association
OUTSTANDING NEWSLETTER RECOGNITION AWARD
Federal Bar Association
PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of "A Luncheon with Sam Donaldson, ABC News Correspondent”.
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Presented in recognition of “The FBA Capitol Hill Chapter Facebook Page”.
2007
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Presented in recognition of the Capitol Hill Chapter's accomplished chapter activities in the areas of Administration, Membership, Outreach and Programming
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of program on "How Capitol Hill Really Works: The Legislative Drafting Process".
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of luncheon with Joan Winship, Executive Director, and Anne Goldstein, Human Rights Education Director, International Association of Women Judges.
2006
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Presented in recognition of the Capitol Hill Chapter's accomplished chapter activities in the areas of Administration, Membership, Outreach and Programming
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of annual luncheon at the Supreme Court of the United States.
2005
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Presented in recognition of the Capitol Hill Chapter's accomplished chapter activities in the areas of Administration, Membership, Outreach and Programming
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of luncheon with Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Administrative Office of the Courts.
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of annual luncheon at the Supreme Court of the United States..
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of luncheon with Hon. David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States.
2004
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Presented in recognition of the Capitol Hill Chapter's accomplished chapter activities in the areas of Administration, Membership Outreach and Programming
Federal Bar Association
CHAPTER ACTIVITY PRESIDENTIAL CITATION AWARD
Presented in recognition of the Catered Luncheon with Justice Antonin Saclia, Supreme Court of the United States