In 1962, a small group of nationally-known matrimonial lawyers met to discuss the need to humanize and dignify the most traumatic area of family relations. As a result, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers was founded to improve the practice of law and the administration of justice in the area of divorce and family law.

The Academy was formed..."To encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the cause of matrimonial law to the end that the welfare of the family and society be preserved." Today, the Academy is recognized as the pre-eminent family law association in America with more than 1,500 Fellows.

Fellows of the Academy concentrate their practices in family and matrimonial law, a specialty that involves all aspects of pre-marriage counseling and agreements, legal separation, divorce, annulment, unmarried cohabitation, child custody, property valuation and division, and support. Academy Fellows are recognized by their colleagues and by the judges where they practice as leading experts in the field. Each Fellow must demonstrate by personal conduct a professional and ethical commitment to his or her clients and to the betterment of society in resolving what are often intensely emotional and complex family problems. By demonstrating the highest standards of matrimonial practice, Fellows of the Academy have set the standard for the rest of the matrimonial bar and have helped improve the quality of family law practice throughout this country for attorneys and litigants alike.

As a professional service, the Academy maintains and publishes a list of its certified Fellows to assure the availability of qualified expert matrimonial counsel throughout the United States. This roster of Fellows, updated each year, details the experience and qualifications of each Academy member. It also identifies those Fellows who have been re-certified by the Academy based on their participation in continuing legal education over the preceding five years.

The Academy's thirty three state chapters, representing Fellows throughout the U.S., conduct local and statewide seminars designed to develop a better understanding of family law and matrimonial practice at the local level.

Academy Fellows regularly volunteer their expertise in the family law area for civic, legislative, educational and social groups and for the media. Academy Fellows have been in the forefront in developing and promoting legislation in many states and in Congress, resulting in a revolution in divorce laws in the past twenty years. Often, the Academy offers suggestions about proposed state and federal legislation, which reflects the experience of those who specialize in family law.

Fellowship in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers represents both a recognition of achievements in family law and a commitment to the highest standards of practice in the field.