Five win election to bar board

By NANCY McCARTHY
Staff Writer

Five lawyers won election to the State Bar Board of Governors last month, three of them annointed as "outsiders" by a board gadfly who campaigned actively for what he called "fresh faces of reform."

"I'm thrilled by the results of the election," exulted Matt Cavanaugh, a first-year governor who represents Los Angeles and frequently criticizes the bar as unresponsive to its members. "I think it shows practicing attorneys are tired of business as usual."

Cavanaugh supported the candidacies of Roderick A. McLeod of San Francisco, David M. Marcus and Steven J. Ipsen of Los Angeles, and Richard L. Dom-brow of Santa Ana. McLeod, Marcus and Ipsen prevailed in their districts.

McLeod

McLeod, a partner with Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP will represent District 4, which includes San Francisco and Marin Counties. He received 836 votes, followed by Matthew White, a San Rafael sole practitioner, with 750 votes; Laura Goldin, a partner with Goldin and Rothschild in San Francisco and a former chair of the Conference of Delegates, 493 votes; Robert Perez, supervisor of the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services, 451 votes; and Marie Hogan, a business lawyer who had withdrawn from the race, 299 votes.

Ipsen

Ipsen, a Los Angeles deputy district attorney, captured seat one in District 7 by defeating Matthew St. George, a deputy city attorney who also served as chair of the Conference of Delegates, by a vote of 3,082-3,055. Although St. George indicated immediately after the election results were announced that he would seek a recound, he said a week later he was less certain what he would do. At press time he had not officially asked for a recount.

Marcus

Marcus, a real property trial lawyer, defeated Michelle "Mickey" Katz for District 7, seat two. He won 3,138 votes to Katz' 2,947. Katz is a family law mediator who has long been involved in State Bar activities.

Miliband

In District 8, which covers Orange County, Joel S. Miliband, an Irvine lawyer who served as president of both the Orange County and Desert bar associations, won 704 votes to defeat four other candidates: Grace Emery, a 15-year delegate to the Conference of Delegates, who received 657 votes; Richard W. Millar Jr., president of the Orange County Bar Association, 602 votes; family law practitioner Dombrow, 392 votes; and Fullerton attorney Jack P. Holmes, 199 votes.

Heiting

In District 6, Riverside plaintiffs attorney James O. Heiting, a former president of The Other Bar, the State Bar's support group for alcoholic lawyers, ran unopposed and was deemed elected. District 6 includes River-side, San Bernar-dino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Cavanaugh said he had met with the candidates he supported and "we all agree broadly on a platform and an agenda," which includes reducing bar dues and removing the bar from political and ideological activities and "concentrate on minding our knitting."

"We think we'll call ourselves the reformers," he added.

State Bar President-elect James Herman said he does not believe the incoming governors are terribly different from those who currently serve on the board in terms of previous bar activities. "There are no outsiders on the board of governors," he said. "Once you're elected, you're a governor. That's been my experience with every election I've been around since I've been on the board."

But Jo-Ann Grace, chair of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, which solicits and supports candidates for the board and endorsed St. George and Katz, lamented what she called the negative nature of the election. "What concerns me is the view that (the winning candidates) promoted that volunteer work within the bar is a negative thing," said Grace, who is co-publisher of the Metropolitan News-Enter-prise, a Los Angeles legal and business newspaper.

"Most of us grew up believing this was a profession and we had an obligation to give back. The people who have put in their time were punished and called 'insiders' and 'bar junkies.' What my mother taught me was a good thing has been turned into a very negative thing."

St. George congratulated the winners and encouraged them "to accomplish some positive goals on the board." He said he did not necessarily view the outcome of the election as a mandate for the disgruntled, but more a victory for Cavanaugh in "turning out the minority of voters who do not like the current state of affairs."

CYLA results

In other election results, the California Young Lawyers Association approved five candidates who ran unopposed for its board. They are: District 4 - Lesley Weaver, an attorney with Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach in San Francisco; District 6 - Meghan Clark, former president of the Ventura County Barristers' Association and an attorney with Edsall, Camarena & Clark in Camarillo; District 7, seat 1 - Excel Sharrief, a sole practitioner active in the Los Angeles County Bar Association and Lawyers Club of Los Angeles; District 7, seat 2 - Francis Ryu, the outgoing president of the Barristers Club of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and an associate with the law firm of Gelfand, Rappaport & Glaser; and District 8 - Matthew Fletcher, president of the Orange County Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division and an associate with the law firm of Connor, Blake & Griffin in Irvine.

Margaret P. Stevens, an attorney with Baker Keener & Nahra LLP in Los Angeles, will be the CYLA representative to the board of governors, serving a one-year term.

The group also elected new officers. They are: President, Anthony Paul Diaz of Los Angeles; First Vice President, Craig M. Nicholas of San Diego; Second Vice President, Sharon Nagle of Walnut Creek; Secretary, Maralee MacDonald of Sacramento; and Treasurer, Michael L. Bury of Chico.