Letter from the Chair
For this month’s newsletter, I’m excited to announce the completion of a major RELACS project that has been years in the making.
Led by Jon Heining of Texas, we are ready to release a new edition of our Legislative Litigation Toolkit. The toolkit is a guide for attorneys working in state legislatures and other legislative staff who work closely with those attorneys.
It covers several procedural issues that become particularly important when a legislature becomes party to a lawsuit or when a lawsuit might be reasonably expected. As most legislative attorneys have experienced, the latter is becoming all too common.
Toolkit topics include legislative privilege and privilege logs, discovery issues, litigation holds and records retention, when to work with outside counsel, and sample forms and policies that can make all these topics easier to manage. I want to particularly thank Jon and the rest of the litigation toolkit editing team for their tireless work to get this project across the finish line. It is an invaluable resource for all of us.
The Litigation Toolkit has an interesting history. The first edition originated in 2017 (completed in 2019) as a project of the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (LSCC), under Jon’s leadership as NCSL’s staff chair. Working on this new edition migrated the toolkit to its current and more natural home with us in RELACS.
I highlight the toolkit’s origin story with the LSCC to point out the many ways legislative staff are built into the NCSL ecosystem and how being involved can lead to meaningful opportunities for leadership in a way that serves our daily work back home.
As the RELACS Staff Association officers, Vice Chair Brett Ferguson and I are both members of the LSCC. We attend quarterly in-person meetings with staff that work in all of the other legislative professional disciplines, on subcommittees and workgroups that move forward a series of goals for legislative staff development set by NCSL’s staff chair (currently, RELACS’ own John Snyder of Kentucky).
We do this work with an eye towards RELACS’ interests as an association, as well as representing the needs of legislative staff writ large. Being a RELACS officer means an automatic seat on the LSCC, but each staff chair has the discretion to name other appointees as well. My first experience on the LSCC was as a discretionary appointee. If you’re interested in learning more about the LSCC’s work or how to be involved, please feel free to reach out.
In many states, March represents a turning point in the legislative season. We’re hopefully past any organizing drama and have moved towards the deeper work of committees, budget setting and long floor debates. For those of us in northern states, this coincides with melting snow, warmer weather and humidity creeping into the building. In their own ways, these are all signs of hope and progress!
Matt Gehring
Director, Research Department, Minnesota House of Representatives
Chair, RELACS, 2024-25
RELACS Legislative Staff Achievement Award Nominations
Each year, RELACS offers an opportunity for legislative research, legal, editing and committee staff to be recognized for their work. The RELACS Awards Committee is seeking nominations for 2025.
The Legislative Staff Achievement Awards are given annually to RELACS members who exhibit a high degree of professionalism, competence, and integrity in serving the legislature and contribute to the work of RELACS. The Legislative Staff Achievement Awards are given annually to RELACS members who exhibit a high degree of professionalism, competence and integrity in serving the legislature and contribute to the work of RELACS. Submit a RELACS nomination here. The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, May 9.
Get Ready for the 2025 RELACS Professional Development Seminar!
Dates: Oct. 5-8
Location: Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club, and the State Capitol, Madison, Wis.
Join us for an unforgettable experience at the 2025 RELACS Professional Development Seminar! This event is a must-attend for legislative staff, including researchers, editors, legal experts, and policy analysts. Here's why you can't miss it:
Why Attend?
- Engaging Sessions: Learn about the latest legislative issues, soft skills and best practices. Topics include Supreme Court cases, insights from the editor of The New Yorker, intergenerational communication, employment law, generative AI for research and grammar rules to live by.
- Exclusive Briefings: Gain valuable insights from briefings on ethics, e-discovery, ADA rules and more.
- Capitol Tours: Explore the historic State Capitol and deepen your understanding of legislative processes.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with peers, share experiences and build lasting professional relationships.
Highlights:
- Educational Sessions: Boost your productivity with sessions on proof of citizenship for voting, advanced writing tips and committee staffing.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: Enhance your effectiveness with the latest tools and ideas.
- Inspiring Environment: The seminar takes place in the vibrant city of Madison, offering a perfect blend of learning and leisure.
Don't miss this golden opportunity to enhance your skills, expand your network and take your career to the next level. Register now and be part of a community dedicated to legislative excellence!
Register Today!
RELACS Report Needs You!
Back in times that now feel ancient to many of you, the precursor of the RELACS Report was a print publication called "The Legislative Lawyer." It included best practice articles like what we now publish in the RELACS Report, staff features and a segment of state updates from designated correspondents in each state. These state updates were usually a fun read of a paragraph or two presenting the public factual information about what was going on in each state's legislature-a somewhat dry report of the hot topics, dramatic or intriguing events, or simply whether session was in, or the interim was at play, presented with the subtle humor of which only legislative staff are capable. Many staff have expressed a desire to see the return of the State Update, but to do that, we need a correspondent from each state. If you or someone you know would be willing to serve as your state's correspondent and draft a blurb no more than twice a year, please email Jennifer Jackson and Gisele Tolbert.
Additionally, the RELACS Report editorial board is always looking for new material and suggestions. If you or someone you know has an idea for an article about best practices, something interesting related to your duties, or a legislative staff member we should profile, please email Jennifer Jackson and Gisele Tolbert with the subject line "RELACS Report Suggestion."
Jennifer serves as RELACS secretary and RELACS Report editor this year and Gisele is the chair of the RELACS Report Editorial Board. They can be reached by email at [email protected] and [email protected]