MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT STEPHEN W. OWENS
Getting Help in Troubling Times
Thanks for allowing me to serve as your president. As the Bar Commission lays out its priorities for the coming year--including sound financial management, protecting our fair and impartial courts, and implementing our mentoring program--we are mindful of the many challenges each of us face in the practice of law. Law can be a stressful profession, especially in a down economy. The Utah State Bar wants to help provide the tools to confront the unique set of challenges lawyers face. Getting Help in Troubling Times
Lawyers on active status and judges encountering family problems, stress, depression, anxiety, personal cash management difficulties, elder care challenges, assessment of drug/alcohol dependence, and any other issues impairing work or personal lives may receive immediate access to free, confidential, statewide professional counseling from Blomquist Hale Consulting or experienced peer counseling from Utah Lawyers Helping Lawyers.
Blomquist Hale counseling services are free of charge and extend to eligible dependents. There are no co-pays, deductibles, or limits on the number of sessions. Services are entirely confidential and available 24/7. Please call: 1-800-926-9619
Utah Lawyers Helping Lawyers renders confidential peer-to-peer assistance to any member of the Utah State Bar whose professional performance is or may be impaired because of mental illness, emotional distress, substance abuse or any other disabling condition or circumstance. Please call: 1-800-530-3743
For more helpful information, log on to www.utahbar.org or directly to Blomquist Hale at www.blomquisthale.com or to Utah Lawyers Helping Lawyers at www.lawyershelpinglawyers.org.
August 2009 E-News
- ABA House of Delegates Representitive Sought
- 2009 Fall Forum Award Nominations Sought
- Banter with The Bench
- Congratulations to the 2009 Annual Award Recipients
- American Bar Association Representative
The Board of Bar Commissioners is seeking applicants to serve a two-year term as the Bar’s representative to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. The term would run through the August 2011 ABA Annual Meeting. Please send your letter of application and resume no later than Monday, October 5, 2009 to John C. Baldwin, Executive Director, Utah State Bar, at jbaldwin@utahbar.org or 645 South, 200 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. The ABA House of Delegates meets two times a year during the ABA conventions. There will be some preparation work to review issues and communicate with the Bar Commission. The Bar's delegate to the ABA is also an Ex-officio Member of the Utah State Bar Commission.
- 2009 Fall Forumn Awards
The Board of Bar Commissioners is seeking nominations for the 2009 Fall Forum Awards. These awards have a long history of honoring publicly those whose professionalism, public service and personal dedication have significantly enhanced the administration of justice, the delivery of legal services and the building up of the profession. Your award nominations must be submitted in writing to Christy Abad, Executive Secretary, 645 South 200 East, Suite 310, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, no later than Monday, September 21, 2009. The award categories include Distinguished Community Member Award, Professionalism Award, Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. View a list of past award recipients at: http://www.utahbar.org/members/awards_recipients.html
- Banter with The Bench - Please join the Women Lawyers of Utah for the 2009 Banter with the Bench on Friday, August 28, 2009 from 12-1:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Matheson Courthouse at 450 S. State Street. Join women commissioners, judges and justices from Utah's federal, state, administrative, justice, trial and appellate courts for a lively discussion on issues related to women and the law. Lunch from Carlucci's Bakery will be provided and 1.0 hour of CLE credit is approved. Cost: $20 for WLU members, $10 for law students and recent graduates (pre-Bar admission) and $30 for non-members. RSVP and prepayment is strongly suggested. Only checks - no cash - will be accepted for day of registration. WLU membership is $40. This annual event is one of WLU's most popular so please RSVP early and send in your payment to reserve a spot. RSVP to Laura Lindsay at - llindsay@parrbrown.com and mail your check made out to WLU to her at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless 185 South State Street, Suite 800 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
- Annual Award Recipients - The Bar wishes to congratulate Judge Judith S. Atherton who was selected as Judge of the Year and Paul T. Moxley who was chosen as Lawyer of the Year. Each of these award recipients has a long history of professionalism, public service and personal dedication to the building up of the legal profession. Also given awards at the 2009 Summer Convention were the New Lawyer Training Program Committee and the Appellate Practice Section as Committee and Section of the year, respectively.
"I have a question or comment for the Bar President" - President@utahbar.org