Commission Highlights
The Board of Bar Commissioners received the following reports and took the actions indicated during their regularly scheduled September 21, 2006 Commission meeting held at Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School.
1. Gus reported that John Baldwin, Lori Nelson and John T. Nielsen were making plans for the annual Bar-sponsored constitutional law class and that Commissioners are invited. John said there would be two legislative events. The first will be the breakfast with legislative leadership and the second will be the constitutional law class. Gus concluded by saying that a proposed bill relating to the judiciary is being carefully monitored by the Bar.
2. John Baldwin reported that the UPL Committee is currently working on trying to get tighter control over the “notario” situation. They are currently seeking sponsors for a bill to change the law to provide for criminal sanctions for “notarios” who prey on mostly non-English speaking immigrants who need legal assistance for a variety of problems.
3. Gus observed that there were complaints regarding the cramped July exam conditions. John responded that the admissions office is currently looking into alternative sites to hold the exam next July. John continued by noting that the July 2007 exam falls on a state holiday (July 24th) and said a decision needs to be made on whether the exam date should be moved from the traditional days of Tuesday and Wednesday to Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate this holiday.
4. Mary Kay Griffin distributed the recent auditor’s report and stated that the Budget and Finance Committee had recently met with Deloitte & Touche to review the financial statements. The auditors issued an unqualified or “clean” opinion. She reported that assets are fairly stable with the decrease mostly due to depreciation, that licensing fees are up and finally, that the Bar expended $173,860 in excess of revenue this past year. Overall, the Bar is in “excellent stable financial condition at this time.”
5. Lowry Snow reported that the annual leadership training seminar is scheduled for October 26th from 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., at the Little America Hotel. A proposed agenda has been drafted and Justice Jill Parrish is the scheduled keynote speaker.
6. The Blomquist Hale report shows this program is being utilized by members. John said that new brochures are at the printers and will be mailed to the members’ homes in the near future.
7. Cheryl Mori announced the UMBA awards. They are as follows:
– Jimi Mitsunaga Excellence in Criminal Law Pro Bono Award was presented to Professor David Dominguez at BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School;
– UMBA Honoree of the Year Award was presented to Governor Jon Huntsman;
– UMBA Lawyer of the Year Award was presented to the Honorable Paul Iwasaki, Second District Juvenile Court Judge; and
– Pete Suazo Community Service Award was presented to Robert Rendon, Senior Vice President of Zions National Bank.
8. The Commissioners approved Commission subcommittee to review mentoring concepts.
A full text of this and other meetings of the Bar Commission are available for inspection at the office of the Executive Director.