MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT STEPHEN W. OWENS
Successful Pro Bono Event
I want to offer an earnest “thank you” to the wonderful attorneys and paralegals who graciously gave of their time and expertise at the free legal clinic last week at the St. Vincent de Paul Community Center. On a cold and snowy day, we served a hardy hot lunch and distributed mittens to hundreds of homeless and low income people and we remained at the Center well into the afternoon, providing free legal assistance to 50-60 individuals. Local newspapers and television news acknowledged our efforts. http://webster.utahbar.org/news/2009/10/ksl_news_attorneys_volunteer_t.html
Thanks to our event co-chairs, Candice Vogel and Dave Hall.
Try to always have a pro bono case. You will be a hero to someone. Rule 6.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct establishes an aspirational goal of 50 hours per year or a contribution in the equivalent of ten dollars per hour to organizations that represent our needy, such as “…and Justice for All.” Pro Bono work provides additional benefits for those of us who are currently underemployed to stay involved
November 2009 E-News
2009 Fall Forum
State Courts Announce Voluntary E-filing
The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission needs your input!
Bookmark this! http://litigation.utahbar.org/
2009 Fall Forum - Make plans to attend the 2009 Fall Forum – the evening of Thursday, November 12th and all day Friday the 13th at the Downtown Marriott. There are 30 cutting edge breakout sessions and terrific keynote speakers. The early registration deadline is this Friday, November 6th. The Fall Forum offers 9.5 Hrs. CLE or NLCLE, including up to 5 hours ethics and 1 hour of professionalism/civility. The Downtown Marriott is located at 75 W. South Temple. For a full agenda click here: http://www.utahbar.org/cle/fallforum/Welcome.html. To register, please click here: https://utahbar.org/cle/fallforum/registration.html. Thanks to co-chairs Judge Kate Toomey and Amy Dolce.
State Courts Announce Voluntary E-filing - The Administrative Office of the Courts has announced that voluntary e-filing for general civil cases in the 2nd District is scheduled to begin November 9, 2009. E-filing in the rest of the state will be available starting early next year and should follow the court's announced release schedule. Domestic matters and criminal filings will not be available for a while and those roll out dates will be released later by the courts. You will find more information on the court's voluntary e-filing system, as well as information about developing your own dedicated interface, at http://www.utcourts.gov/efiling. You may register now for an account with Tybera through the Bar’s website at http://efiling.utahbar.org. If you have any questions about efiling go to http://www.utahbar.org/efiling or contact us at efiling@utahbar.org.
The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission needs your input! - If you’ve ever wanted your voice to be heard when it comes to how judges are evaluated, now’s the time to speak up. The commission is beginning to develop the new attorney survey that will soon be used to evaluate state court judges. As a first step, the commission is soliciting input from a variety of practitioners who appear in the district and juvenile courts. The commission invites your participation in one of two focus groups: 1) Thursday, November 12th, from 4-6 pm in Salt Lake at the Matheson Courthouse; 2) Tuesday, November 17th, from 4-6 pm, in the Orem offices of Kirton & McConkie. If you are interested in participating in either group, please contact jslotnik@utah.gov
Bookmark this! - The Litigation Section has created a website that offers useful online tools, links to 59 district court judges benchbooks, articles contributed by fellow attorneys, a calendar of upcoming CLEs of interest to litigators and much more! Please visit the new and improved website and give us your feedback: http://litigation.utahbar.org/. You can email the Litigation Section at litigationsec@utahbar.org.
"I have a question or comment for the Bar President" - President@utahbar.org