Commission Highlights
The Board of Bar Commissioners received the following reports and took the actions indicated during the April 25, 2008 Commission meeting held in Logan, Utah.
1. Lowry Snow, Nate Alder, Rob Jeffs, Lori Nelson, and Steve Owens reported on their recent attendance at the Western States Bar Conference. Nate reported that he learned that the Bar’s reserve could easily be depleted if an “issue” arose, e.g., citizens’ referendum on judicial retention, which required our opposition. He also learned about the Nevada Bar’s efforts to curb inappropriate lawyer advertising and would like to see something similar adopted here. Rob reported that he found that most lawyer referral programs have incorporated a low bono component. Lori reported that some bars are facilitating the availability of health insurance to their members. Steve reported that we should consider hosting a “Utah State Bar Day” to address prominent current legal issues. He further reported that some bars have term limits for their board members.
2. Lowry Snow and Joni Seko attended the recent Northwest Bar Consortium meeting. Consortium members include Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. Lowry reported that a limited practice rule issue in Washington relating to document preparation in domestic relations area is currently before the Washington Supreme Court.
He ended his report by observing that other states are quite interested in our mentoring program efforts.
3. Nate and Lowry recently met with all five Utah Congressional representatives for ABA Day in Washington D.C. They lobbied on behalf of stemming erosion of attorney/client privilege in prosecutions but the primary effort was lobbying for more federal funding for legal services. They further reported that he became aware that Utah’s Access to Justice Council efforts have become a national model through ABA promotion.
4. John Baldwin reported that there was an unprecedented increase of 557 new lawyers with additional new lawyers being admitted during the May admissions ceremony. (We usually only have about 400 new lawyers per licensing cycle.)
5. John Baldwin reported that the March financial statement shows the Bar is $290,253 in the black. The projection at year end will be approximately $130,000 to the good in addition to our reserves. We’ve invested heavily in Commission education travel for meetings this year which will be more fully reflected on the year end financials. Lowry noted that the May 30th meeting is Commission’s Budget meeting.
6. The Commission selected Judge Glen K. Iwasaki as Judge of the Year.
7. The Commission selected Charles R. Brown as Lawyer of the Year.
8. The Commission selected the Young Lawyers Division as Section of the Year.
9. The Commission selected the Admissions Committee as Committee of the Year.
10. The Commission voted to give the Young Lawyers Division $10,000 to purchase laptops for use in the Wills for Heroes program. Wills for Heroes offers free legal clinics to Utah’s “first responders.” The clinics will be held two times a year across the state, e.g., St. George, Provo, Ogden, Logan, and four times a year in Salt Lake; maintaining 10 laptops on site becomes important for the success of the program.
11. The Commission received the Pro Bono Committee Report. Herm Olsen reported that the new focus of the Bar’s program has changed to “recruit, retain and reward” attorneys for their pro bono efforts. The Bar places cases in the areas of: habeas corpus petitions referred by judges, JAG program (military members on active service facing default judgments), and conflict cases with Utah Legal Services and similar organizations. In 2007, our efforts almost doubled with lawyers contributing 150,000 hours which amounts to approximately $144,000 in donations.
12. The Commission received the Paralegal Division Report. Sharon Andersen reported that the Paralegal Division has partnered with the Young Lawyers Division to participate in the Wills for Heroes event by soliciting notaries and witnesses. The Division also has instituted its own community service efforts by hosting the Professional Women Clothing Drive event. They would like this event to become an annual or biannual event by partnering with Junior League, Red Hanger, and Henries Dry Cleaners. The Division is also offering classes at the library for women to assist with resume building.
The minute text of this and other meetings of the Bar Commission are available at the office of the Executive Director.