Ballots in the election for the open District 3 seat on the State Bar Board
of Governors were mailed Sept. 19 and voting will continue until Nov. 19. The
election is being held to replace Marie Weiner, who recently joined the San
Mateo County Superior Court. District 3 includes Alameda, Contra Costa, San
Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Any active member of the bar who maintains his
or her principal business office in one of those counties is eligible to run
and vote. The term expires in 2004. The candidates are Stephen Barnett, professor
at Boalt Hall, Michael Lynn Gabriel of San Mateo, Michael Schmier, of Emeryville
and Valerie Kral of Redwood City. The latter three are sole practitioners. Full
details about the candidates begin on page 1. Santa Clara County Counsel Ann
Ravel has filled Weiner's position on an interim basis, as she did when another
former board member from District 3, Erica Yew, also was named to the bench.
Complete details about the election are online at www.calbar.ca.gov. Questions
may be directed to Biljanna Sivanov, 415/538-2274.
Recent developments in fee arbitration will be discussed at a training program
in Solano County next month sponsored by the State Bar's Committee on Mandatory
Fee Arbitration. The free training, scheduled for Nov. 14 from 5-8:30 p.m. offers
2.75 hours of MCLE credit, including one hour of legal ethics. Open to fee arbitrators
from Solano County and all State Bar fee arbitrators, the session will be held
in the jury assembly room at the Hall of Justice, 600 Union Ave., Fairfield.
Among the topics for discussion are how to write an enforceable award, conflicts
of interest, disclosure requirements and how to control the proceeding. To register,
contact Julie Hilt, 707/422-5087. For more information, call Jill Sperber, director
of the State Bar Office of Mandatory Fee Arbitration, at 415/538-2023.
The California Law Review Commission has begun a study of whether the Evidence
Code should be revised to incorporate approaches used in the Federal Rules of
Evidence. Two portions of the study - hearsay and its exceptions, and expert
testimony and the opinion rule - have been completed and six remaining areas
are under study. They are the role of judge and jury; evidence excluded by extrinsic
policies; presumptions and burdens of proof; authentication and the best evidence
rule; competency of witnesses and witness credibility; and judicial notice.
Individuals interested in participating in the study should notify the commission
at 4000 Middlefield Rd., Room D-1, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4739. The first two background
studies may be downloaded at http://clrc.ca.gov/pub/Printed-Reports/BKST-811-Mendez2-Experts.pdf
and http://clrc.ca.gov/pub/Printed-Reports/BKST-811-Mendez1-Experts.pdf.
MCLE compliance group 2 faces Feb. 1 deadline
Members of MCLE compliance group 2 (last names H-M) who are not part of an
exempt group must complete 25 hours of continuing legal education by the compliance
deadline of Feb. 1, 2003. Attorneys who comply after that date may be subject
to a $75 fine. Information about MCLE compliance rules is available at www.calbar.ca.gov
by clicking on the MCLE link on the right-hand menu.
The California Access to Justice Commission is seeking nominations of a California
judge for the Benjamin Aranda III Access to Justice Award. The award honors
a judge for his or her efforts to improve access to the judicial system for
low- and moderate-income persons. Nominees should be individuals who have demonstrated
a long-term commitment to equal access to the courts and who have personally
done significant work to improve access. The commission will select the recipient
in consultation with the Judicial Council, the State Bar and the California
Judges Association. A full description of the criteria for the award and a nomination
form can be found at http://www.calbar.ca.gov/archive/calbar/pdfs/accessjustice/2002-08_Aranda-Award.pdf.
The deadline is Oct. 18. For more information, contact Chris Zupanovich at chris.zupanovich
@calbar.ca.gov or 415/538-2534.
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