Where are the conservatives?

By David Gettis

Gettis

All California state beaches should permit topless sunbathing. Same sex marriages should be valid. A moratorium should be imposed on the death penalty. Two congressional investigations of the Bush Administration should be initiated: one regarding the war in Iraq and one regarding abuse of prisoners.

This is what the lawyers of California stand for, according to the only independent statewide body that speaks on their behalf: the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations.

For the past 70 years, the conference has lobbied Sacramento for various changes to the law proposed by local bar associations. Last year, eight of these proposals became law. For example, Resolution 11-03-03, sponsored by the Sacramento County Bar Association, became AB 2211, extending the opposition time period for summary judgment motions from 14 days to 21 days and the reply time period from five to seven days.

The conference has done much commendable work in reforming the law. Indeed, most of its work is nonpartisan and beneficial. But the participation of moderate and conservative attorneys has dwindled. Unfortunately, the leftist majority has taken advantage of this situation, and the conference has passed a number of partisan resolutions. The result has been to make the bar, as a whole, appear almost unanimously liberal.

This can have negative effects on the conference and on all California attorneys.

1. The conference may lose its status as the voice of California lawyers. From my experience, California lawyers do not unanimously support same-sex marriage, topless beaches, a moratorium on the death penalty, etc.
2. The conference may alienate a large percentage of California lawyers. One conservative attorney who participated for the first time this year told me he’s never coming back. While some of the liberals who presently control the conference may not care if they alienate conservative and moderate attorneys, the fact is that greater diversity in viewpoints will result in better resolutions with greater authority.
3. The conference may alienate legislators. For instance, this past year, Sen. Bill Morrow, a Republican, sponsored bills on behalf of the conference. In a speech before the conference in October, Sen. Morrow told of how the conference lobbyist had to overcome a strong bias against the “liberal” conference before he would even consider its resolution.
4. The conference may dilute its effectiveness as a lobbying organization. The conference passes many nonpartisan laudable resolutions every year that make the administration of justice more efficient and equitable and less costly and unpredictable. But when enough partisan resolutions are also passed each year, one could begin to question whether any of the resolutions are really nonpartisan and whether the conference really speaks on behalf of California attorneys.
5. The conference may lose its reputation as a shared pool of expertise. When the conference speaks on matters of the law, it speaks as an expert, because after all, it is composed of lawyers who deal with the practice of law every day. But when it speaks on subjects such as same-sex marriage or topless beaches, it brings no particular expertise to the table. Taking positions on such issues tarnishes its reputation as a body of experts.

The Conference of Delegates is supposed to represent us as California lawyers. If this year’s resolutions do not represent you (or perhaps you are a liberal but agree that the conference should not take sides on political issues), you need to get involved. It’s easy. Just call your local bar association and find out how to volunteer. Now is the time to get involved, because resolutions for 2005 must be submitted by early February. Let’s change the conference into a body that represents all California lawyers.

• David Gettis is a business lawyer in San Diego and has been a member of the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations for three years.