We are leaders in trust and estate law.

Thank you for your interest in nomination and election as an ACTEC Academic Fellow! This webpage can guide you as you prepare for your first steps on the journey. The destination is worth every step!

If elected, you will be joining the thought leaders of the trust and estate profession. ACTEC Academic Fellows are at the forefront of research and education in trust and estate law, and ACTEC’s three national meetings (open to ACTEC Fellows only) are unmatched opportunities to network and hear cutting-edge insights into trust and estate research and law.

Listen to ACTEC Fellows express what they value about being a Fellow of the College and how it has impacted their careers.

T&E Professors Membership

Find a Nominator

The first step is to identify and work with an ACTEC Fellow nominator. Your nominator can help you assess your professional contributions. Your nominator may help you find opportunities to add to your speaking, writing, leadership, or other professional contributions to help you prepare for nomination. Your nominator may introduce you to other ACTEC Fellows. Preparing for nomination prior to reaching the ten-year mark can be helpful.

Nomination Form for Academic Fellow

ACTEC makes the Nomination Form for Academic Fellow available to those who are considering pursuing nomination and election to the College. Use this form as your guide! You may use this form to keep track of your professional affiliations with universities and firms (if you practice or have practiced) (start and end dates are critical for tracking your ten years) and your professional contributions. Make sure you track the dates of things such as joining professional associations and the years you serve as committee chairs in local, state, and national bar associations, and the years you work on state and federal trust and estate legislation.

The Nomination Form for Fellow must be signed and submitted by an ACTEC Fellow in good standing who will serve as your nominator. But you can begin tracking your professional contributions to assist your nominator in submitting your nomination materials.

Prerequisites for Nomination and Election

To be elected into the College, you must:

1. Have a full-time academic appointment at a duly accredited law school and must, under ordinary circumstances, at the time of nomination and election, be a tenured member of the faculty. A “duly accredited law school” is one that, at the time of the nomination of the Fellow, is accredited or provisionally accredited by the American Bar Association. For a Nominee to qualify as specializing in T & E law, the Nominee must devote at least half of the Nominee’s working time on an annual basis to teaching, writing, or lecturing in the area of T & E law.;
2. Have not less than ten years’ experience as a teacher specializing in T & E law or as a lawyer in active private T & E practice or a combination thereof. In all cases, a Nominee must spend the three years immediately and continuously preceding the nomination and election specializing in T & E Law.;
3. Have a well-deserved outstanding reputation, either among academics in the T&E field on a national level, or among the T&E bar in the state(s) where one teaches, or both;
4. Have demonstrated exceptional knowledge of T&E law;
5. Have made substantial contributions to the T&E field by lecturing, writing, teaching, or being involved in bar activities or in the enactment of significant state, federal or uniform T&E legislation, or outreach, education, and mentoring to communities that have been historically underrepresented in estate planning (“diverse communities”) on topics and issues connected to estate planning, probate, and trust.

Polling and Initial Review

Once nominated, your Nomination Form for Academic Fellow will be reviewed by Amy Michaud, Senior Membership Director for ACTEC. The State Chair for your primary jurisdiction and the Chair of the Academic Membership Committee will also review it. It is not unusual to have revisions suggested. Once finalized, your nomination will be sent out for polling in your primary jurisdiction and among the Academic Fellows of the College. Polling is important because it allows Fellows to comment on whether you, as a nominee, have a well-deserved, outstanding reputation among academics nationally and among the trust and estate bar where you teach. If you have taught or practiced in any other jurisdiction in the last ten years, separate polls will be conducted in those jurisdictions. Polls are open for 30 days.

Post Polling

Once the polls close, Amy Michaud prepares a report on the results of the polls, which go to the State Chairs and to the Chair of the Academic Membership Committee, who convene their Committees. The Committees review the Nomination Form for Academic Fellow and the poll reports, deliberate, and take a formal vote.

The ACTEC Membership Selection Committee and Board of Regents Review

The ACTEC Membership Selection Committee meets twice a year, in March and October, to review nominations. All of the materials for each nominee (the Nomination Form for Academic Fellow, poll reports, and report from the State Chair and the Chair of the Academic Membership Committee of the deliberations and vote of the each of their Committees) are reviewed carefully for each nominee. A recommendation is made to the Board of Regents. The Board of Regents, at its meeting in March and October, determines if an invitation to become an Academic Fellow will be issued.

Depending on when you begin the process, it usually takes between six and nine months. There is no guarantee of election. If an invitation to become an Academic Fellow is not issued, a nominee is usually invited to return to the Membership Selection Committee again after completing additional professional contributions.

Fellow and International Fellows

The requirements are adjusted for Fellow and International Fellows. Click the button below to learn more about nomination and election.

If you believe you are qualified and want to find out more about ACTEC, contact an ACTEC Fellow or the Senior Director of Membership at the national office, Amy.Michaud@actec.org.

Free Resources for T&E Professionals

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, ACTEC, is committed to improving the trust and estate profession through lifelong learning. Our trust and estate resources and educational materials provide lawyers, financial services professionals, and clients with valuable information at no charge.

Law Schools with Current Academic Fellows

• Albany Law School
• Baylor Law School
• Boston College Law School
• Creighton University
• Cumberland School of Law at Samford University
• Drake University law School
• George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
• Georgia State University College of Law
• Harvard Law School
• Hofstra University School of Law
• Louisiana State University
• Loyola University Chicago School of Law
• New York Law School
• New York University School of Law
• Oklahoma City University School of Law
• Pace University School of Law
• Pepperdine University School of Law
• Quinnipiac University School of Law
• Rutgers Law School
• Santa Clara University
• Seattle University School of Law
• Southern Methodist University School of Law
• Stetson University College of Law
• Suffolk University Law School
• Texas Tech University School of Law
• The University of Florida Levin College of Law
• Tulane Law School
• University of Baltimore School of Law
• University of California, Davis School of Law
• University of Iowa College of Law
• University of Maryland School of Law
• University of Missouri
• University of Missouri Columbia School of Law
• University of Montana School of Law
• University of New Mexico School of Law
• University of North Dakota
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Oregon School of Law
• University of San Diego School of Law
• University of South Carolina School of Law
• University of South Dakota
• University of Tennessee College of Law
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
• University of Virginia School of Law
• University of Washington School of Law
• University of Wyoming College of Law
• USC Law School
• Vanderbilt University School of Law
• Vermont Law School
• Warner Norcross & Judd LLP
• Washington and Lee University School of Law
• Yale University Law School