Utah State Bar News & Announcements

The Utah State Bar is seeking nominations of candidates to run for election of Bar Commission. Two positions are open in the Third Division and one is open for the Second Division. To be eligible a lawyer must have an active license status and a business mailing address on record for the respective Division. Applicants must be nominated by a written petition of ten or more members of the Bar in good standing. Nominating petitions may be obtained from the Bar office. Completed petitions must be received no later than February 10, 2007. For more information and petitions, contact Christy Abad at adminasst@utahbar.org. Nomination Petition

2007 Spring Convention in St. George – March 8-10, 2007
Casemaker SuperCode Feature Available!
New House Counsel Rule in Place
ABA TechShow Early Registration Deadline – February 9th
Member Benefit Highlight - DirectPointe
Member Benefit Highlight - T-Mobile

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2007 Spring Convention in St. George – March 8-10, 2007
With only 5 weeks left, now is the time to plan your annual trip to St. George for warm sunshine and great CLE programs. This year's Convention program provides a balance of fun, entertainment and stimulating CLE. Jon Gordon, best-selling author and "America's Energy Coach", will jump-start the Convention by equating energy with athletic performance, happiness, purpose, enthusiasm and professional success. The Salt Lake Tribune editorial cartoonist, Pat Bagley, will highlight the dinner on Friday with his comedic view of the lighter side of the law and lawyers. Early registration discounts are in effect until February 23rd. For more information about the Convention: www.utahbar.org/cle/springconvention/Welcome.html.

Casemaker SuperCode Feature Available!

The free Casemaker service now includes a new feature called SuperCode. When searching in sections of the Utah Code library, you will now see a list of new legislation that impacts a given code section displayed to the right of the code. Casemaker is the free online legal research service available to active, inactive full-service and paralegal members of the Bar. To access Casemaker, click the Casemaker logo on the Bar’s page www.utahbar.org. To access your login and password, send a request to casemaker@utahbar.org.

New House Counsel Rule in Place

Attorneys who are currently serving as in-house counsel for a Utah employer but are not licensed in the state have until November 1, 2007 to file an application with the Bar. If their application is received before the grace period ends, any prior legal activity will not be referred to the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and the attorney can continue to practice as house counsel for their employer while waiting for licensing approval. New house counsel entering the state have six months after establishing an office or residence to file an application. More information about the new House Counsel status is available at www.utahbar.org/admissions/rule20.html. Utah lawyers are encouraged to pass along this information to those who meet these requirements.

ABA TechShow Early Registration Deadline – February 9th

The 2007 ABA TechShow is set for March 22-24, 2007 in Chicago, IL. This premier legal technology conference includes a valuable slate of programs to help any lawyer better understand and use technology in their practice. The program features Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, renowned for her landmark Zubulake v. UBS Warburg decisions on establishing relevant factors for dealing with e-discovery. Utah State Bar members receive an extra $100 off the registration price for TechShow. To find out more about TechShow and to register, go to www.techshow.com. To receive the greatest discount make sure to register using the Association Discount Code option and enter the Utah State Bar code: PP733

Member Benefit Highlight - Directpointe

DirectPointe Inc., based in Lindon, Utah, provides managed computing services that make technology simple, manageable and affordable for small and midsize businesses. The company takes ownership of the entire computing lifecycle, including procurement, deployment, management, protection and support, so customers have one company to handle all their computing needs. Customers can deploy a complete solution to manage their entire environment or a subset of services to complement their existing infrastructure. DirectPointe solutions are delivered for one consistent monthly payment to ease budgeting and eliminate upfront costs. For more information about DirectPointe, visit www.directpointe.com or call (801) 805-3895.

Member Benefit Highlight T-Mobile (Do you prefer White or Black Pearls?)

E-mail just got personal. Exclusively from T-Mobile, the new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8100™ in white or black makes staying connected via e-mail to friends, family and life as easy as calling. You can combine up to 10 personal and work addresses and have them automatically delivered – right to the palm of your hand. The BlackBerry Pearl is a full-featured quad-band world phone, with 1.3 megapixel camera, real Web browser, Bluetooth® 2.0 connectivity, and a media player with extra (Micro SD storage), so you can do it all and keep in touch virtually anytime, anywhere. The Blackberry Pearl is the smallest Blackberry ever made with all the great features you expect and more. For new lines of service call 1-866-464-8662.Reference promotional code: 877TMOFAV A T-Mobile expert will help you sign up! For existing T-Mobile clients call 1-800-937-8997

The Supreme Court has approved amendments to the following Utah court rules.

Summary of amendments

Rules of Juvenile Procedure
URJP 60. Judicial bypass procedure to authorize minor to consent to an abortion. Establishes an expedited procedure by which a minor can petition to bypass parental consent to an abortion. Original effective May 1, 2006. Amended effective May 10, 2006; January 31, 2007.

The Supreme Court invites comments to proposed amendments to the following court rules. The comment period expires March 28, 2007.

Summary of proposed amendments

Rules of Evidence

URE 0509. News reporters. New. Creates a privilege for news reporters. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URE 0702. Testimony by experts. Amend. Preserves and clarifies differences between the Utah and federal approaches to expert testimony. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.

Summary of Amendments

Rules of Civil Procedures
URCP 005. Service and filing of pleadings and other papers. Amend. Describes when the attorney and party must be served if the attorney has entered a limited appearance. Effective Date: April 1, 2007.
URCP 017. Parties plaintiff and defendant. Amend. Limits the requirement that a minor appear by a guardian or guardian ad litem to an unemancipated minor.
URCP 074. Withdrawal of counsel. Amend. Establishes the procedures for withdrawing from a limited appearance. Effective Date: April 1, 2007.
URCP 075. Limited appearance. New. Establishes the procedures for entering a limited appearance when a client, under the rules permitting unbundling legal services, hires an attorney for a limited purpose. Effective Date: April 1, 2007.

Tooele, UT—The new Tooele Courts Complex is scheduled to open its doors for business at 74 South 100 East—just east of the existing courthouse—on Thursday, March 1, 2007.

Since the ground breaking on the courts complex took place August 2005 work has been steady to build the 57,600 sq. ft. $10.4 million facility. The courthouse includes three courtrooms for use by the district, juvenile, and justice courts. One additional unfinished courtroom has been framed for future use. The Tooele County Attorney’s Office also has an office located in the building.

The building is expandable and can accommodate up to four additional courtrooms as the population and caseload in Tooele County grows. A unique feature of the new building is a secure corridor that allows in-custody prisoners to be transported through a tunnel from the jail to a central holding area in the courthouse. This design feature prevents interaction between the prisoners and the public or staff.

Tooele County and the Utah State Courts jointly own the Courts Complex with 70 percent of the space allotted for use by the state and 30 percent by Tooele County.

Employees will move into the new courthouse the last week in February. The court offices in the Tooele Courthouse will close for business on Feb. 28 at 5:00 p.m. and re-open March 1 in the new building. The new telephone number for District Court is (435) 833-8000 and Juvenile Court is (435) 833-8040. The Justice Court phone number will remain the same, which is (435) 843-3230.

MHTN Architects designed the Tooele Courthouse. Layton Construction was the general contractor on the project.

The Utah State Bar is seeking a Financial/Licensing Administrator to replace the incumbent who is retiring. The Bar is a 501 (c) 6 corporation to which the Utah Supreme Court has delegated the day-to-day regulation of the practice of law and the licensing of lawyers. The Bar also administers group benefit programs for lawyers and coordinates a variety of public services.