The General Officers of the Association shall be a President, a President Elect, Vice President, an Immediate Past President, a Chair of the House of Delegates, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. All officers shall be Active Members of the Association, duly licensed to practice law. No Chair of the House, Secretary or Treasurer may be nominated for election as a general officer by the Nominating Committee, or by petition, during the period for which the Chair, Secretary or Treasurer was elected or appointed. The chair of the House shall not be eligible for reelection as Chair. Neither the Secretary nor the Treasurer shall be eligible to serve more than three successive terms. [BL Section 501 (a), (c)] Please see Sections 511, 512, 513, 514 and 515 of the PBA Bylaws for the specific duties of each officer.
Nominations for the general officers of the Association made by the Nominating Committee or by petition must be certified to the House by the Secretary.
Members who are interested in becoming a general officer of the Association must submit a letter of interest and a resume to the Chair of the Nominating Committee by a specified date. The Nominating Committee meets annually, usually prior to the fall House of Delegates meeting, to select its nominees for the general officer positions. It reviews the information received from each of the candidates and then selects a nominee for each general officer position. The nominees are then announced at the next House of Delegates meeting (usually the following day).
Additional nominations for general officers may be made by petition signed by 100 Active Members, no more than 50 of whom may be by Active Members accredited to the same zone. All such petitions shall be filed with the Secretary at Association Headquarters not later than two months prior to the first day of the Annual Meeting and shall be accompanied by the written consent of the nominee. [BL Section 914 (c), (d)]
Each office to be filled must be voted for separately. Voting for the general officers of the Association must be by written ballot when there is more than one nomination. In the event there is more than one candidate for any office, the presiding officer must appoint five delegates in the House to act as tellers. Balloting for an office shall proceed until one candidate receives a majority of all votes cast. [BL Rule 351 (a), (b), (c)]