REGULARS

Ronald E. Albers

The State Bar's uncertain status offers an opportunity to create a new bar which would better perform its functions and be a more credible institution, says the man who will represent San Francisco and Marin counties on the board of governors.

"Under the current situation, the bar is going back to ground zero," said RONALD E. ALBERS, who is running unopposed. "I thrive on challenges, and while I think it's unfortunate the bar went through this episode, the benefit is we have an opportunity to construct a new and appropriate institution to serve those functions."

The most critical functions are admissions, discipline and selection of judges, he says. And fiscal responsibility is "an absolute requirement."

Head of the felony unit of the San Francisco public defender's office, where he has worked for 20 years, Albers was chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and has a raft of bar-related activities on his resume.

But he says he comes to the board with an open mind and with "the same skepticism and criticisms all the rest of the bar members could lodge." He wants to hear from his constituents so he can present "a whole list of issues people have raised" when he begins his three-year term. "The legal community needs leadership, and I hope I can provide that," he says.

In addition to his bar activities, Albers is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, California Public Defenders Association, California Women Lawyers and the National Lesbian & Gay Law Association.

He received a President's Pro Bono Service Award in 1991 and the Decade of Service Award from the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in 1993.

Albers received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin and has been a California lawyer since 1978. He loves to travel.