Malpractice premiums skyrocket
Monterey insurance broker Joanne Monroe tells of her client, a local intellectual property and patent attorney with no claims against him, whose malpractice insurance premiums soared from $8,000 last year to more than $30,000 this year when his former carrier declined to renew his policy.

Herman elected 77th bar president

On a one-ballot vote, Santa Barbara attorney James E. Herman was elected last month as the 77th president of the State Bar. A commercial civil litigator with Reicker, Pfau, Pyle, McRoy & Herman, the president-elect said he has three goals in the coming year: to restore a sense of pride in the legal profession among the state's lawyers, to ensure access to California's judicial system and to promote the State Bar's mission statement to improve the justice system.

Drug courts offer second chances and better lives
Kenny Olson dropped out of high school, lost jobs, suffered broken bones, burglarized businesses, wound up homeless and landed in prison 12 times - all in his drive to feed a relentless drug addiction.

Prop. 36 presents new challenges
Since Proposition 36 began requiring treatment instead of incarceration for countless substance abusers one year ago, California's drug courts have faced new challenges.

50 sign up for State Bar's new diversion program
More than 50 California lawyers with substance abuse problems have signed on to the State Bar's new attorney diversion program, committing to meetings several times a week and random drug and alcohol testing.

Davis taps Weiner for bench; Ravel pinch hits again
For the second time in a year, Gov. Davis appointed a District 3 representative to the State Bar Board of Governors to the bench, leaving a vacancy to be filled by a special election. And for the second time, Santa Clara County Counsel Ann Ravel will fill in on an interim basis.

Supreme Court will hear IOLTA case
The U.S. Supreme Court said last month it will review an appellate court's finding that the Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program in Washington state is constitutional.

Conference of Delegates incorporates as new group
In the latest step toward separation from the State Bar, the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations incorporated last month as a nonprofit corporation to replace the existing Conference of Delegates.