|
 Three
judges sought for State Bar Court
The State Bar Court is looking for three
candidates to fill the presiding judge and two hearing judge positions
for terms beginning Nov. 1. One of the hearing judges will be in San
Francisco, the other in Los Angeles, and the presiding judge can
locate in either city. Applicants for the full-time positions will be
screened and rated by the Applicant Evaluation and Nomination
Committee, a seven-member panel appointed by the California Supreme
Court. Only those applicants found by the committee or the court to be
qualified are eligible for appointment. The Supreme Court makes the
appointments.
The presiding judge and the San Francisco hearing
judge will be named to five-year terms and the hearing judge in Los
Angeles will be appointed to a three-year term. All appointments or
reappointments after November will be for six years.
The salary for the presiding judge is $133,052
and for the hearing judges, $121,500.
Minimum qualifications for the positions include
at least five years of membership in the State Bar with no record of
discipline. Judges are not eligible to practice while sitting on the
court. Factors which will be considered by the screening committee
include the applicants' industry, judicial temperament, honesty,
objectivity, community respect, integrity, ability and legal and
judicial experience.
The State Bar Court was created in 1989 to hear
attorney disciplinary proceedings and to make recommendations to the
Supreme Court on those matters. The presiding judge exercises
administrative direction and supervision of the court and sits on the
three-judge review department. The hearing judges conduct trials and
hearings, issue written decisions and make discipline recommendations
to the Supreme Court.
The deadline for applications is June 15.
For further information or to request an
application packet, call 415/538-2001, visit the bar's website at www.calbar.org
or write to the Office of the State Bar Court - JUDGE, 180 Howard
St., San Francisco 94102-1639.
Legal specialist exam scheduled
Aug. 26
The State Bar will administer a legal specialist
exam in eight areas of practice on Aug. 26. The deadline to apply is
July 13.
California attorneys can be certified in
appellate; criminal; estate planning, trust and probate; family;
immigration and nationality; personal and small business bankruptcy;
taxation and workers' compensation law.
The registration form is available at www.californiaspecialist.org,
by calling 415/538-2100, by faxing 415/538-2180 or by e-mailing lorna.maynard@calsb.org.
The exam, which is offered only once every two
years, will be administered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Westin Hotel
at the San Francisco Airport and the Radisson Hotel at the Los Angeles
Airport.
The registration fee is $200 or $250 for those
who wish to type.
Voting starts next month for
State Bar, CYLA seats
Ballots will be mailed July 2 to attorneys in
five State Bar districts with open seats on the board of governors and
the California Young Lawyers Association board of directors.
The available positions are in District 2
(Alpine, Amador, Calaver-as, El Dorado, Napa, Sacramento, Solano,
Sonoma, Tuolomne and Yolo counties); District 3 (Alameda, Contra
Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties); District 4 (Marin and San
Francisco counties); and District 7 (Los Angeles, two seats open).
Members of each board serve three-year terms and
will assume their seats at the conclusion of the bar's 2001 annual
meeting. Voting will end Aug. 17.
Full details about both elections, including
changes in the board of governors' procedures, are available at the
bar's website, www.calbar.org.
When You Become 18 is
updated and available
"When You Become 18," a booklet designed to
help teenagers understand the consequences of breaking the law, has
been updated in a sixth printing. The guide includes a chapter on the
illegality of child pornography on the internet and includes topics
such as voting, jury duty, marriage, divorce, child support, date rape
and sexual harassment.
Produced by California Law Advocates, this
survival guide for teenagers has been provided to almost 2 million
youngsters. 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 provides law-related education and community
service in an effort to help young people understand their rights and
responsibilities.
Information about "When You Become 18" is
available from CLA, Box 8905, Calabassas, CA 91372.
Calling all artists and
photographers
Legal professionals with an artistic bent are
invited to exhibit their work at an art show to be held in conjunction
with the State Bar's Annual Meeting at the Anaheim Convention Center
Sept. 6-9. Among the categories are color and black-and-white
photography, oils, watercolors, prints and drawings.
Members of the bench and bar interested in
participating in the exhibit should contact Cheryl Morgan at
415/538-2465 for information. The entry deadline is Aug. 1.
Task force seeks reaction to
new jury instructions
A set of civil jury instructions designed to be
both understandable and accurate is being circulated among California
judges, bar associations, law school professors and other interested
parties. The instructions were prepared by the Judicial Council's
Task Force on Jury Instructions, appointed by Chief Justice Ronald M.
George in 1997.
The proposal includes 304 pages of civil jury
instructions.
It is available online at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/invitationstocomment.
Comments should be sent by Aug. 15 to the
Administrative Office of the Courts, Attn. Camilla Kieliger, 455
Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco 94103.
Law review group seeks public
comment
The California Law Review Commission is seeking
public comment on three tentative recommendations concerning court
reporters, sentence enhancements and rules of construction for trusts
and other instruments.
One recommendation would consolidate rules
governing when a court reporter must be provided. Public comment is
due by June 30.
Another recommendation would reorganize statutes
governing sentence enhancements for crimes involving weapons and
injuries without affecting their substance. The third proposal surveys
existing probate code rules of construction, which have been
criticized in recent years as being overly broad. Public comment on
the two recommendations must be submitted by July 31.
The recommendations are available online at www.clrc.ca.gov
by following the public comment link or from the California Law
Revision Commission, 4000 Middlefield Rd., Room D-1, Palo Alto CA
94303-4739.
Rule will help ensure legal
representation for children
The Judicial Council has approved an amended
court rule to help ensure that the 90,000 children involved in
dependency cases each year in California have adequate legal
representation.
Changes to the rule specify the criteria for
finding that a child would not benefit from the appointment of
counsel, expand training requirements for court-appointed counsel in
child abuse and neglect cases and establish guidelines for appointment
of a special advocate as a guardian ad litem if an attorney is not
appointed for the child. |
