Where does your money go? Mostly for public protection When attorneys pay their annual bar dues — $458 for most — fully 85 percent underwrites the State Bar’s public protection programs, with the discipline system consuming the lion’s share. As a result of Gov. Pete Wilson’s October veto of the bar’s fee bill, those regulatory functions are placed at risk, say bar officials, who also worry that member services will be eliminated without sufficient funding. The public protection programs include the discipline system, State Bar Court, a consumer hotline that responds to 140,000 calls a year, the ethics hotline and professional competence programs. Prior to the governor’s veto, the discipline system’s 1998 budget was projected to be $41.4 million, or 69.8 percent of the total $59.4 million general fund. CONTINUED ...

UPDATE STATE BAR, ATTORNEY GENERAL STOP TRUST MILL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA As the case against a California attorney who allegedly operated a living trust mill moves toward a January trial date, the lawyer agreed last month to a preliminary injunction halting his activities. In a Los Angeles superior court, Herbert B. Rhodes Jr., 69, of Newport Beach stipulated that non-attorney representatives of his firm may not sell any estate planning services. He also agreed that non-attorneys may not prepare any estate planning documents unless they meet numerous restrictions, nor can they provide legal advice about estate planning. CONTINUED ...

NEWS Congress delays Ninth Circuit changes for at least a year 4,851 pass July bar exam Court raises capital pay REGULARS ASK THE PRESIDENT - A full commitment to civility LEGAL TECH - Stop putting up with buggy software MCLE MCLE Self-Study MCLE Self-Study Test NEW PRODUCTS OPINION Bulldozing a pesky fly Let’s pay our dues voluntarily Let’s stop pouring money into a pit On the right track to fund courts Letters to the editor PUBLIC COMMENT - Public comment sought on test accommodations TRIALS DIGEST YOU NEED TO KNOW

Efforts continue to restore funding

by Kathleen O. Beitiks Staff Writer ———————— Bar leaders continue to meet with members of the legislature and representatives of the governor in an attempt to hammer out a bill to fund the 1998 operations of the State Bar. "The message passed on to us is that the governor wants to see a strong bar and to see the bar thrive," State Bar President Marc Adelman said during last month’s meeting of the board of governors. Adelman and Steve Nissen, the bar’s new executive director, have been on the telephone and in Sacramento the past few weeks, huddling with legislators and the governor’s staff in an effort to restore funding after Gov. Wilson vetoed the bill authorizing collection of annual dues. CONTINUED ...