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Admiralty Law
The Admiralty Law Section focuses on two main issues: 1) all maritime death and injury claims, and 2) injuries and wrongful deaths of seamen working on watercraft, longshoremen's claims, harbor workers who work on or near the water, shop epairmen and builders, pleasure boat and jet ski owners and operators, and commercial and recreational divers.
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Aviation Law
The Aviation Law Section focuses on major air crash litigation. The Section studies federal legislation and treaties such as DOHSA, GARA, Warsaw, and The Hague to ensure that those injured in air tragedies have avenues of recourse and recovery. The Section offers information on all aspects of accident investigation and reconstruction as well as how to handle suits involving the federal government.
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Business Torts
The Business Torts Section comprises several subspecialties and has devoted a committee to each. Each committee has an appointed chairperson who is available to assist members with their cases. The subcommittees are: Business Torts/RICO, Securities, Franchise, Intellectual Property, Class Actions, Bankruptcy, Consumer Protection, and Fraud.
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Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Section forges new areas of recovery for civil rights victims and works to prevent the stripping away of constitutional protections. The Section focuses on trial strategies and recent developments in constitutional challenges and Section 1983 claims.
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Criminal Law
The Criminal Law Section focuses on the representation of individuals who have been charged with crimes. The Section covers the entire spectrum of the criminal justice system including, but not limited to: federal criminal law, habeas corpus, state felonies and misdemeanors, prisons, sentencing, and pending legislation that affects the criminal justice system.
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Employment Rights
The Employment Rights Section focuses on all aspects of employment and labor law including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA and wrongful discharge cases.
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Family Law
The Family Law Section focuses on the role of litigators in child custody, marital property, and spousal abuse cases. Section members share trial skills and communication techniques to persuade a judge rather than a jury.
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Federal Tort Liability and Military Advocacy
The Federal Tort Liability and Military Advocacy Section focuses on claims against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Military Claims Act, and other federal tort liability issues, as well as challenges to the Feres Doctrine.
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Insurance Law
The Insurance Law Section focuses on legal remedies for those involved in any controversy between insurance policy holders and their automobile, homeowners, health/medical, life, and consumer insurers.
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International Practice
The Section works to improve the quality of service to clients and to promote excellence in advocacy in international legal matters through education and sharing of comparative technical skills and resources among international practitioners. It also works to improve and develop the law and legal procedures involving international legal disputes to more effectively serve consumer interests in an increasingly integrated world community.
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Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability
The Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway, and Premises Liability Section networks on federal no-fault issues, showing members of AAJ, Congress, and our communities how unjust and costly such legislation would be. Education programs and newsletters feature low speed collision cases, truck safety, highway design, auto collision, and premises liability.
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Products Liability
The Products Liability Section focuses on cases and legislation affecting products liability and product safety. The Section covers all consumer products, including automobiles, toys, and electronics. Section members not only exchange trial strategies but also how to defeat Daubert challenges in the wake of Kumho.
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Professional Negligence
The Professional Negligence Section focuses primarily on medical negligence cases, but the membership also includes practitioners litigating a variety of malpractice cases, including those involving lawyers, dentists, therapists, clergy, and accountants.
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Railroad Law
The Railroad Law Section promotes public and railroad employees’ safety by fighting to preserve grade crossing protection standards for railroad employees under the FELA. The Section covers all areas of railroad litigation including employee injuries and occupational illnesses, derailments, collisions, and crossing accidents.
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Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP)
STEP focuses on the toxic effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and herbicides, medical devices, consumer products, industrial pollution, and other environmental poisons. STEP exchanges information on subjects as varied as Daubert challenges, federal preemption, practice nuts and bolts, and the use/abuse of class actions.
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Social Security Disability Law
This Section promotes the objectives of AAJ within the field of Social Security disability law, and to that end to research, study, and thereafter educate the membership with respect to available legal remedies; to protect the rights of claimants seeking disability insurance benefits, supplemental security income, and attendant Medicare and Medicaid coverage before the Social Security Administration; to promote and support legislation, regulation, and agency policy designed to protect claimants' rights to disability compensation and to oppose legislation which adversely affects those rights; and to present programs of continuing legal education in the area of Social Security disability law.
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Sole Practitioner and Small Firm
AAJ past President Roxanne Barton Conlin founded this Section, which was originally intended for sole practitioners. While developing membership services, AAJ discovered that many small offices (3-10 attorneys) were most interested in an AAJ Section dedicated to helping them to compete with their often "giant" opponents. The Section has taken a focus on Management, Marketing, Maximization, and Motivation.
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Workers' Compensation and Workplace Injury
The purpose of the Workers' Compensation and Workplace Injury Section is to educate its members with respect to available legal remedies to protect all employees within the workplace and to provide legal redress to individual workers, or classes of workers, harmed in the course and scope of their employment. Including "Workplace Injury" in the title expands the scope of the Section and recognizes that members deal with many types of claims for workplace injury compensation.

