Annual Meeting set for Sept. 27-30 in Anaheim

The State Bar’s 80th Annual Meeting, scheduled for Sept. 27-30 in Anaheim, offers California attorneys a low-cost one-stop opportunity to earn 20 hours of continuing education credit as well as a chance to hear first-rate speakers and enjoy a weekend at Disneyland.

Highlights will include addresses by scientist Dr. Jane Goodall and Newsweek correspondent Eleanor Clift, as well as Chief Justice Ronald George’s annual State of the Judiciary address and the inauguration of San Francisco attorney Jeffrey Bleich as the bar’s new president. Other speakers include best-selling writer James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Charles N. Charnas, vice president and deputy general counsel of Hewlett-Packard Co.

The Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations will hold its annual meeting, and the Bench Bar Biannual Conference will be held simultaneously, bringing together judicial leaders from throughout the state to share their insights on issues affecting the justice system.

Attorneys can receive up to 20 hours of MCLE credit, including a complimentary one-hour self-study program in the prevention of substance abuse category.

Registration can be completed online at calbar.ca.gov/annualmeeting. Pre-registration closes Sept. 12. A single fee entitles participants entry to everything but ticketed events. Meetings and classes will be held at the Anaheim Hilton and the Anaheim Convention Center.

Fee arb trainings scheduled

Two training sessions for prospective and current volunteer attorneys who arbitrate attorney-client fee disputes for mandatory fee arbitration programs through the Sonoma and Napa county bar associations and the State Bar will be held this month. The Sonoma training is Sept. 20, from 5 - 8 p.m., and the Napa training is Sept. 21, from 2 - 5 p.m.

Both sessions are free and offer 2.75 hours of MCLE credit, including one hour of legal ethics. Non-lawyers also are encouraged to attend.

The trainings will cover recent case law as well as topics including how to write an enforceable award, conflicts of interest, the statute of limitations and arbitrator disclosure requirements.

To reserve a space at the Sonoma session, which will be at the bar association offices in Santa Rosa (37 Old Courthouse Square, Suite 100), call 707/542-1190 or e-mail patti@sonomacountybar.org. Indicate whether you are a current arbitrator.

The Napa session will be held at the Napa Women’s Club; to reserve a space, call Dean Kackley at 707-252-9000 or e-mail dkackley@gawvanmale.com.

For additional information (not RSVP), contact Jill Sperber at 415-538-2023.

In addition, prospective arbitrators are invited to attend a training session from 2:15 to 4:45 p.m. at the State Bar Annual Meeting Sept. 28. See program 114 in the meeting guide.

ABA honors California lawyers and judges

Several lawyers and judges from California were honored by the American Bar Association at its meeting in San Francisco last month. The recipients are:

• San Francisco attorney Angela Bradstreet received a Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. Recently appointed by the governor as labor commissioner for the Department of Industrial Relations within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Bradstreet is a longtime champion of women’s rights.
• Former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso received the Kutak Award from the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar for his efforts to achieve increased understanding between legal education and the active practice of law. Reynoso is a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law.
• Ken Alex, supervising deputy attorney general of the environmental section, received the Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy from the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law.
• San Francisco attorney and former federal Judge Charles B. Renfrew received the D’Alemberte/Raven Award honoring his pioneering contributions to the dispute resolution community.
• California Chief Justice Ronald M. George received the John Marshall Award for his dedication to the improvement of the administration of justice.
• San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera received one of four Jefferson Fordham Society Awards — the State and Local Government Law Office Accomplishment Award.
• San Francisco attorney Robert Cartwright received the Pursuit of Justice Award for outstanding merit and excellence in ensuring access to justice.
• Leecia Welch, senior attorney with the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, was honored by the Young Lawyer Division for distinguished service on behalf of children.

Support for lawyers with alcohol and drug problems

Northern California lawyers concerned about drug and/or alcohol issues now have the option of a secular peer support network administered by Oakland-based LifeRing Secular Recovery. Named Lawyer’s LifeRing, the option is available in addition to the statewide peer support network called The Other Bar, an affiliate of International Lawyers in Alcoholics Anonymous.

The State Bar Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP), which provides professional counseling for California lawyers who have substance abuse and/or mental health issues, frequently refers attorneys to peer support group meetings.

The State Bar has a contract for peer counseling services with both LifeRing and The Other Bar in order to provide lawyers with free, confidential connections with lawyers who have “been there” and achieved sustained abstinence from alcohol and other drugs of abuse. In addition to telephone consultations, peer counseling services may include face-to-face meetings, online meetings, and referrals to the LAP and to other treatment and support group options.

A new Web site, lawyerslifering.org, provides contact information and further details about Lawyer’s Life Ring. The Other Bar’s Web site is otherbar.org.

Further information is available from Richard P. Carlton, MPH, LAP, 415-538-2355; richard.carlton@calbar.ca.gov, or Martin Nicolaus, M.A., J.D., Lawyer’s LifeRing, 800/811-4142; lawyers@lifering.org, unhooked.com.

Bar publishes revised consumer pamphlets

The State Bar has revised and reprinted four of its popular consumer education pamphlets and has translated a fifth into Spanish.

The revised pamphlets are: Do I Need Estate Planning?, Do I Need a Living Trust?, What Should I Do if I Have an Auto Accident? and Can the Law Help Protect Me from Domestic Violence?

How Can I Resolve My Dispute Without a Trial?, a pamphlet that explains the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, has been translated into Spanish.

To order the pamphlets, send an e-mail to pamphlets@calbar.ca.gov or visit the State Bar Web site, calbar.ca.gov and click on Consumer Pamphlets in the right-hand menu.

Rubin reappointed to BOG

Richard A. Rubin of Mill Valley has been reappointed to the State Bar Board of Governors by the Senate Rules Committee. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, chairman of the committee, said Rubin's term will expire September 1, 2010.