Three vie for bar presidency

Three third-year members of the State Bar Board of Governors threw their hats in the ring for bar president last month. Vice presidents Paul Hokokian of Fresno, Demetrius Shelton of Oakland and Sheldon Sloan of Los Angeles are vying to succeed current president James Heiting. The board will make the selection at its June 17 meeting in San Francisco.

Hokokian

For Hokokian, 55, it is his second run at the presidency. He served on the board from 1997-2000, sworn in the first time 10 days after Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the bar’s fee bill. His two terms have given him a unique perspective, Hokokian said. “I recognize all the efficiencies we have made in the intervening eight years but I think there’s more to be done.”

He believes the board of governors should address some public protection issues by recommending either permanent disbarment or longer suspensions, he’d like to study the possibility of increasing awards from the Client Security Fund to $75,000 from its present $50,000 cap, and internally, he’d like to streamline board operations by reducing the number of meetings but increasing the level of debate.

“Ultimately, we need to view ourselves as the protectors of the profession,” Hokokian said. “We need to herald the lawyers who are doing good things for their clients and at the same time, not be apologists for those handful of lawyers who are giving us a bad reputation publicly.”

An attorney in the Fresno County Department of Child Support Services, Hokokian also is a lieutenant colonel in the California Air National Guard, where he serves in the JAG corps.

Shelton

Shelton, 40, has for seven years been a deputy city attorney in Oakland, where he is counsel to three departments. He currently serves as president of the California Association of Black Lawyers and is active in numerous bar associations where he says he “enjoys making a difference.”

As chair of the Member Oversight Committee this year, Shelton has focused on improving member services and said he would continue that emphasis if elected president. A recent survey of the membership determined what California lawyers want in terms of services, and Shelton said, “Now it’s time to respond and provide them what they’re asking for.”

He said the bar also needs to find ways to increase non-dues revenue, to increase diversity in the profession and to review and clarify its rules, a process that has begun. “We need to take a comprehensive look to make sure our rules are clear and not outdated, and to make sure the membership is aware of their duties,” he said. Asked what goal would be his first priority, Shelton said, “I believe we can address all of these issues simultaneously and effectively. These are things that are vital to the survival of the bar.”

Sloan

Sloan, 70, is a one-time municipal judge in Los Angeles and currently is of counsel with Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, where he represents contractors, developers, brokers and operators of real property projects, as well as general business clients, doing business with or regulated by governmental agencies. A former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Sloan said his knowledge and background can help him to make a difference.

“I have long and close relationships with elected officials in Sacramento, and other places, that can help the bar,” he said. “I know how to work with the legislature to reach appropriate objectives.”

If elected, Sloan said he will focus on restoring civility to the practice of law by convening a group of managing partners and asking them to “consider policies that would be a return to the professionalism that has disintegrated in the time I’ve been a lawyer.” His firm has a policy of lawyer civility that Sloan said he’d like to extend throughout the bar. “Fighting with other lawyers costs clients a lot of money, and a lot of clients get a very bad idea about lawyers,” he said.