The Law Offices of Abigail Kelman

02/11/2026

See you in 1 hour!

Are you in the midst of clergy placement or interested in better understanding your employment contract?

✨Register at bit.ly/klf-contracts-101 ✨

In this practical, hands-on workshop with Abby Kelman of Kelman Law Firm, you will build familiarity with clergy contracts and negotiations. This includes: basic terms, common negotiation pitfalls, red flags, salary and benefits requests, value of professional legal guidance, and which oft-forgotten contract elements are critical for clergy’s protection. This workshop is free of charge and open to all!

01/29/2026

Are you in the midst of clergy placement or interested in better understanding your employment contract?

✨Register at bit.ly/klf-contracts-101 ✨

In this practical, hands-on workshop with Abby Kelman of Kelman Law Firm, you will build familiarity with clergy contracts and negotiations. This includes: basic terms, common negotiation pitfalls, red flags, salary and benefits requests, value of professional legal guidance, and which oft-forgotten contract elements are critical for clergy’s protection. This workshop is free of charge and open to all!

10/17/2023

Are you a clergy-member up for renewal? In this practical, hands-on workshop with Abby Kelman of Kelman Law Firm, you will build familiarity with the nuances of renewal contracts and negotiations. This includes: common negotiation pitfalls, red flags, salary raises, benefits requests, annual increases, sabbatical clauses, and the value of professional legal guidance. This workshop is free of charge and open to all clergy, but guided towards clergy who are anticipating a renewal negotiation in the coming year.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 13, 2023; 1pm ET/12pm Central
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/klf-renewals-2023

09/13/2023

Fun facts from this year at Kelman Law Firm! Happy New Year, everyone!

01/18/2023

Tomorrow at 1pm ET!

The recording and workshop materials will be sent out to all registrants.

Come join me next week, and forward to anyone who might be interested!

Are you in the midst of clergy placement? In this practical, hands-on workshop, you will build familiarity with employment contracts and negotiations. This includes: basic terms, common negotiation pitfalls, red flags, salary and benefits requests, value of professional legal guidance, and which oft-forgotten contract elements are critical for clergy’s protection. This workshop is free of charge and open to all clergy, but guided towards clergy who will graduate in 2023 or have graduated within the last three years.

Registration Link: https://bit.ly/klf-workshop-2023

01/11/2023

Come join me next week, and forward to anyone who might be interested!

Are you in the midst of clergy placement? In this practical, hands-on workshop, you will build familiarity with employment contracts and negotiations. This includes: basic terms, common negotiation pitfalls, red flags, salary and benefits requests, value of professional legal guidance, and which oft-forgotten contract elements are critical for clergy’s protection. This workshop is free of charge and open to all clergy, but guided towards clergy who will graduate in 2023 or have graduated within the last three years.

Registration Link: https://bit.ly/klf-workshop-2023

09/30/2022

Friends,
In a sense, this time of the Jewish year is all about contracts. In this past week's parsha of Nitzavim, Moses exhorts the people of Israel to affirm their covenant, their contract, with God. In Deuteronomy 30:11-13, after a litany of potential negative consequences, Moses reassures the people,

"Surely, this Mitzvah which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”"

That is, you have everything you need to fulfill this mission, should you choose to accept it. A covenant is a choice. God does not obligate or compel, but instead, asks through Moses, are we willing? Will we sign on?

This contract with God is one with an annual renewal clause. The High Holy Days are 10 days of a mandatory and solemn performance review. As we turn to this new year, what can we do in this year's heavenly renewal negotiations to inspire us to recognize our own contract of interdependence with our communities, the impact we have daily on the world around us? How can we take that responsibility as seriously as we take the deliberation of our own fate?

With those words, I wish you and your family a sweet and healthy new year.

08/29/2022

A sobering view of clergy burnout. .

“I just started associating ministry with having to learn new computer programs and having embarrassing, anxious moments around technology.”

06/29/2022

The Law Offices of Abigail Kelman is searching for a part-time Administrative Assistant to provide support to an attorney primarily dealing with matters of Jewish clergy contracts.

Primary responsibilities include:

● Assist in drafting and editing employment contracts and renewal proposal memorandum for clergy
● Review contracts for critical information, missing terms, and potential red flags and provide legal counsel with detailed notes prior to negotiation
● Copy-edit and format all contracts prior to ex*****on
● Direct public communications efforts, including moderating a page, writing annual holiday messages, and creating templates for client communications
● Maintain accurate, up-to-date timesheets for up to thirty-five concurrent matters and create invoices for client services

Qualifications:
Minimum of bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Strong working knowledge of various word processing, spreadsheet, and database software applications, basic record keeping skills, good attention to detail, strong organizational and communication skills. Familiarity with synagogue politics and Jewish culture is a plus.
Details:
This position is an hourly part-time independent contractor position based in St. Louis, MO, generally between 15-20 hours/week. Payment biweekly, beginning at $17.50/hour. There is considerable flexibility in working hours. A hybrid remote/in-person model is preferred, but fully remote work is possible.
About the Law Offices of Abigail Kelman:
The Law Offices of Abigail Kelman, LC offers legal services to clergy of all faiths in matters of employment including contract negotiations, benefits, severance, and retirement. We are advocates for clergy at all stages of their careers by providing legal representation for or consultation to clergy who seek legal advice.
Our goal is to give clergy the legal help and the professional support needed during transitional times which can often be stressful to the clergy and congregation.

06/03/2022

I have been reflecting on Shavuot as the Chag HaBikurim, the holiday of the first fruits, when farmers begin reaping the early produce of their weeks of labor—hopefully, the first of a long season of productive growth. This is an especially poignant theme for me as I prepare for my eldest child’s upcoming wedding. It is also important in my professional work, where we are also approaching the beginning of a new contract year, where many clergy will begin working in new congregations and others can reflect on the successes and challenges of the previous contract year. I hope that in this coming year, we will all have the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate the fruits of our labor.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

11/03/2021

Recently came across this excellent piece about rabbinic boundaries. Too often, there is an expectations that clergy must be constantly available for any congregant needs, which leads to exhaustion, burnout, and a real struggle to focus on other important parts of the rabbinate. In our work, we always make sure to negotiate clear protections for the rabbi's weekly day off and vacation time, as well as sabbaticals to allow time to recharge and refocus on the love of Judaism and community that originally drew people to the rabbinate.

This is installment 1 of a series I'm going to do about boundaries in the rabbinate. Over the last few years in my wonderful job, I've realized how much my years in seminary both made me grow and indoctrinated me into some of the most unhealthy cultural aspects of the rabbinate - things like: consta...

09/09/2021

Let me just say it outright: This is not where I hoped we would be when it came time to write my High Holiday 5782 message. It has been a long and difficult year, and with the news full of the tragedies listed in the unatanetokof—plague, war, fire, flood, earthquake—it is hard to find room for hope. Yet, I am taking refuge in the promise of the vidui, the communal plural, a reminder of our shared responsibility for each other and for the world. The pandemic has brought into painful focus the reality of our interconnectedness, a reminder, like the vidui, that taking care of one another is the same as taking care of ourselves. In this coming year, I want to focus on what collective virtues we can lay claim to. Were we kind? Did we stand up to protect the marginalized? Did we use our words and actions to soothe or to heal? Did we care for one another?

May 5782 be a year in which we can answer yes, yes, yes.