14 candidates vying
for five open board seats

Fourteen candidates are vying for five open seats on the State Bar Board of Governors. Ballots will be mailed Aug. 2. Detailed information about each candidate and his or her position on key attorney issues will be published in the Bar Journal next month. There are 23 seats on the Board of Governors. Lawyer members are elected for three-year terms and will assume their offices at the conclusion of the 1996 Annual Meeting in October in Long Beach.

The candidates are:

• District 4, Marin and San Francisco counties: Arnold Laub and James M. Seff.
• District 6, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties: George W. Porter.
• District 7, Los Angeles County, Office 1: John Joseph Collins, Arlen Ross Gunner, Ronald R. Silverton and Robert K. Steinberg.
• District 7, Los Angeles County, Office 2: Stephen H. Beecher, Howard W. Dicker, Judith Arlene Gilbert and Patrick J. Manshardt.
• District 8, Orange County: Andrew J. Guilford, Howard J. Klein and Richard W. Millar Jr.

For further information, contact Biljanna Sivanov at 415/561-8274.

The Legal Services Corporation is soliciting grant fund proposals from interested parties who are qualified to provide quality civil legal services to eligible clients.

Federal legislation requires the LSC to utilize a system of competitive bidding for the award of grants and contracts for 1997. Eligibility includes the 50 states, District of Columbia, Guam, Micronesia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The amount of available money has not yet been determined.

Grant proposals must be submitted by Aug. 21.

For further information, contact Merceria L. Ludgood, Director, Office of Program Services, 202/336-8800.

Attorneys who fail to pay their 1996 State Bar membership fees face suspension from practice by the California Supreme Court.

On July 22, the bar will file with the Supreme Court a list of delinquent attorneys with the expectation that the court will order their suspension, effective Aug. 12.

Those on the list who wish to avoid suspension must pay their fees, plus late penalties, by Aug. 9. Payment will be accepted at both the San Francisco or Los Angeles bar offices.

In 1995, 838 attorneys were suspended for failure to pay membership fees. Such a suspension is placed permanently in State Bar public records.

Questions about fees may be directed to Membership Services Operations, State Bar of California, 555 Franklin St., San Francisco 94102; or call 415/561-8360.

A proposed rule change would prohibit attorneys from advertising themselves as certified specialists unless they hold a current certificate issued by the Board of Legal Specialization, or by an entity accredited by the bar to designate specialists.

Rules governing accreditation of specialty certification programs also have been proposed.

The board is recommending that the Supreme Court approve these proposed changes. Currently there are no minimum standards required for certifying entities, and there is nothing to stop them from granting that certification for a fee alone. Consequently, the public could be misled.

For further information, contact Phyllis Culp at 415/241-2118.

Five seats on the Conference of Delegates' executive committee are open.

Candidates can nominate themselves or be nominated by a special committee.

District nominating committees will make recommendations by July 15, and petitions for self-nomination will be available July 22. They must be submitted to the conference office by Aug. 27.

Petitions must be signed by at least 10 percent of the delegates and alternate delegates from the district.

One seat is open in State Bar districts 2, 3 and 4, and two seats are open in district 7.

For more information, contact Jeanett Mulder at 415/561-8844.

A new pamphlet outlining services and benefits provided by the State Bar for solo and small-firm practitioners is now available.

"Flying Solo . . . " describes programs in four areas: managing a law office; resolving ethical dilemmas or personal challenges; networking with colleagues; and vendor discounts and other money-saving benefits.

Advice on keeping current through publications and the World Wide Web also is provided.

Free copies of the brochure are available by calling Jill Okimoto at 415/561-8874.

Law-related projects that need partial funding may be eligible for a grant from the Foundation of the State Bar. Last year, the foundation awarded $120,000 in grants to worthy projects and expects to award more this year. It will begin accepting grant applications July 15.

Grant criteria and grant applications are now available from James Pfeiffer, Executive Director, Foundation of the State Bar of California, 555 Franklin St., San Francisco 94102; 415/561-8805. Applications must be received by Sept. 6; grant awards will be announced by the end of October.

State Bar President Jim Towery appointed a five-member working group to develop a plan for improving outreach to California's public lawyers.

The group, which also will encourage more public lawyer participation in bar activities, includes four of the Board of Governors' public lawyers: Sam Jackson, Ann Ravel, John Stovall and Pauline Weaver.

It will be chaired by Clara Slifkin, a deputy attorney general and chair of the bar's Council of Section Chairs.

The California Judges Associa-tion, in cooperation with the State Bar, the Radio and Television News Association and the Judicial Council, will sponsor a day-long conference to examine the issue of cameras in the courtroom July 13.

Entitled "The Media and The Courts -- Searching for Balance," the conference will be held at the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Cost of the conference is $25, lunch included. MCLE credit will be given.

For further information, contact Linda Gorham at the California Judges Association, 415/495-1999.

The Board of Governors has changed the certification fee for the Practical Training of Law Students program. Beginning Oct. 1, the certification fee will increase from $40 to $55, and the $10 recertification fee will be eliminated.

Applications reflecting the new fees will be available in August.

Further information is available from Patricia Edith at 415/241-2141.

The State Bar Board of Governors will hold its next meeting July 19-20 at the bar offices in Los Angeles. Committees will meet July 19 and the full board will meet at 9 a.m. July 20. An agenda is available from the bar's secretary at 415/561-8200.

The Los Angeles office is located at 1149 South Hill St.

American lawyers with an eye beyond their borders may be interested in attending a law conference sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association in Vancouver, B.C. Thousands of delegates from nearly 50 nations are expected to attend the event, which runs from Aug. 25-29. Topics will include NAFTA and other trading alliances, competition law, intellectual property and cross-border taxation. Participants can learn what "one country, two systems" will mean for comnmerce and law in Hong Kong next year.

For more information, contact Margery Tenute at the Canadian Bar Association in Ottawa, Ontario, at 613/237-2925, ext. 157, or fax 613/237-3726.

The State Bar's Annual Meeting will be held in Long Beach Oct. 10-13. Hometown lawyer Thomas Stolpman will be sworn in as president of the bar on Oct. 12, and six new board members, including the California Young Lawyers Association representative, also will take their seats on the Board of Governors.

Participants at the conference can earn more than 20 hours of MCLE credit. For information, contact the Office of Meeting Services, 415/561-8210.