5 positions open on legal services
board
The State Bar is seeking attorneys interested in applying for one of
five three-year terms on the Board of Directors of Legal Services of Northern California.
The 38-member board meets five times annually in Sacramento to make policy decisions
regarding the operations of the program, which provides free quality legal services in
civil matters to low-income people in 23 northern California counties.
Applicants must practice or reside in Sacramento, Yolo or Solano
counties.
Applicants must submit a letter describing the reasons they should be
appointed, indicating their county of residence, and a resume outlining work experience,
community activity and educational background. Applications should be submitted to Denise
Teraoka, Office of Legal Services, 180 Howard St., San Francisco 94105, 415/538-2545.
The deadline is Jan. 9.
Bar’s Kids and the Law booklet is online
Kids and the Law: An A-Z Guide for Parents has been updated to
reflect changes in laws affecting the state’s young people and is now available on
the State Bar’s web site.
The popular booklet, first published in 1996, offers relevant,
accessible, easy-to-understand information on a wide range of laws and legal issues
involving children in California.
The revised booklet can be accessed at www.calbar.org.
The booklet covers young people’s rights and responsibilities
and the legal aspects of a large number of topics, including alcohol, drugs, police and
school.
6th printing for pamphlet: When You Become 18
When You Become 18, a booklet designed to help teen-agers understand
the consequences of breaking the law, has been updated in a sixth printing of 100,000. The
newest version adds a chapter on the illegality of child pornography on the internet to
the topics already covered, including voting, jury duty, marriage, divorce, child support,
date rape, and sexual harassment.
Produced by California Law Advo-cates, this survival guide for
teen-agers will have been provided to 2 million California youngsters when the latest
version is distributed to schools. It is provided to
schools at the request of teachers.
The booklet is funded by CLA chapters and through grants from
foundations including the Foundation of the State Bar. Founded in 1954, CLA also provides
law-related education and community services in an effort to help young people understand
their rights and responsibilities.
Information about When You Become 18 is available from CLA, P.O. Box
8905, Calabassas, CA 91372.
Bar revises 13 consumer information pamhlets
Thirteen consumer education pamphlets, dealing with topics including
rent, divorce and debts, have been updated and revised by the State Bar.
Three pamphlets have been translated into Spanish, five are available
in hard copy and eight are online at www.calbar.org. Order forms for obtaining print
copies of the pamphlets are not online, but information may be obtained by calling
415/538-2280.
The bar hopes to translate some pamphlets into additional languages
next year.
The pamphlets online are:
 How Can I Find and Hire the
Right Lawyer?;
How Do I Use the Small Claims
Court?;
What Should I Know About
Divorce and Custody?;
What Should I Know Before I
Rent?;
What Should I Know if I Am
Arrested?;
What Should I Do if I Have an
Auto Accident?;
What Can I Do If I Can’t
Pay my Debts?; and
Can the Law Help Protect Me
From Domestic Violence?
What Should I Know before I Buy a House? and What Should I Know
Before I Sign?, a pamphlet explaining contracts, are available in printed form. The rent,
small claims and debt pamphlets have been translated into Spanish and also are available
in printed form.
Inquiries about pamphlets dealing with wills, trusts and estate
planning should be directed to 415/538-2206.
Rewards for safe drivers
California lawyers and judges may be eligible for a 10 percent
discount on their auto insurance from Farmers Insurance Group of Companies.
Eligible drivers must meet basic underwriting guidelines, which vary
for individuals.
Insurance rates have traditionally been based on the loss experience
of a wide group of people, but technology now allows companies to identify specific
differences within these broader groups and base insurance premiums on individual risks.
Lawyers and judges must be members of the State Bar of California to
qualify.
Information is available from local Farmers Insurance agents.
Want to be a judge? Seminar set this month
Burt Pines, judicial appointments secretary to Gov. Davis, and
Alameda Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte will conduct a seminar for California
Women Lawyers, “So You Want to Be a Judge,” from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 18 at
the Los Angeles Athletic Center.
The workshop is designed to demystify the judicial selection process
and to encourage and advise a wider variety of lawyers considering a career on the bench.
To register, contact Glenda at 916/441-3703 or cwlsac@cwo.com.
Eight new members named to Judicial Council
Eight new members of the Judicial Council of California, including
five judges, one court commissioner, one court executive officer and one attorney, began
their terms in September. The 21-member council is charged with improving statewide court
administration.
The new members are Judge Gail Andrea Andler, Orange County Superior
Court; Judge Aviva K. Bobb, Los Angeles Superior Court; Judge Brad R. Hill, Fresno County
Superior Court; Judge Ronald M. Sabraw, Alameda County Superior Court; Judge William C.
Harrison (advisory member), Solano Superior Court; Commissioner Bobby R. Vincent (advisory
member), San Bernardino Superior Court; Alan Slater (advisory member), executive officer
of the Orange County Superior Court; and Los Angeles business litigator Rex Heeseman.
Diversity in the profession
Minority representation in the legal profession is significantly
lower than in most other professions, according to a new report from the ABA Commission on
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. “Miles to Go: Progress of Minorities
in the Legal Profession,” also concluded that progress for minorities in law has
slowed significantly since 1995 and that minorities may be losing ground. A summary of the
report can be found at www.abanet.org/minorities.
Final payment for Lui
The Supreme Court ordered a final payment of $17,606.76 to retired
Justice Elwood Lui for his services as special master overseeing an assessment for the
State Bar’s attorney discipline fund. The total paid to Lui and an associate since
his 1998 appointment is $297,137.24.
Following the submission of Lui’s formal report and
recommendations in April, the court ordered that the balance of funds remaining in the
special discipline fund be kept in a segregated account and used for purposes relating to
the bar’s discipline and technology systems, as well as for payment to Lui for his
services.
Lui, a partner at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, and Eugenia
Castruccio, an associate at the firm, billed their services at a rate substantially below
that normally charged to clients.
Lui’s report is available at www.courtinfo.ca.gov. |
