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YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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Annual Meeting preview on web site The Annual Meeting
"Preview," containing a schedule of events and complete listings of all course
offerings, is available on the State Bar's web site and by fax retrieval. The web site
address is www.calbar.org and the fax number is
415/561-8838. The Preview contains course descriptions of more than 120 educational
programs, as well as information about special events, pre-registration and hotel
registration forms.
The Annual Meeting will take place in Monterey from Oct. 1-4. Participants can earn
more than 18 hours of MCLE credit. (See special Annual Meeting section, Pages 37-46.) |
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Fellowship program for public service lawyers The
National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL) has announced that the Open Society
Institute is providing a multimillion-dollar matching grant to encourage law firms and
corporations to provide under-served communities with greater access to legal
representation.
More than 75 law firms and corporations nationwide already have agreed to co-fund
public service fellowships.
With the new initiative, NAPIL's Equal Justice fellowship program will fund 70 fellows
across the U.S. in 1998-99.
Each two-year fellowship provides salary, loan repayment assistance, training and
assistance from NAPIL. For more information, call NAPIL at 202/466-3686. |
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Emergency ethics faxline up and running The Los
Angeles firm of Karpman & Associates is providing an emergency ethics faxline as a
free service to the profession. The firm is fielding short one-page questions of a
hypothetical nature in an effort to help attorneys avoid ethical pitfalls due to the
closing of the State Bar's ethics hotline.
It attempts to respond to inquiries within 24 hours.
The fax number is 310/887-3901.
Karpman represents attorneys who face bar discipline. She practices with Joanne
Robbins, a former State Bar Court judge. |
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VIP volunteers needed Volunteers in Parole (VIP), a
non-profit program in which attorneys serve as mentors for young parolees, is seeking
volunteers. Through one-on-one matches similar to the Big Brother/Big Sister programs, VIP
offers a parolee the friendship of a knowledgeable person who has experience in dealing
effectively with the community.
Attorneys who volunteer serve as a combination role model, mentor, adviser and friend
to parolees between the ages of 16 and 35. In a crisis, the parolee will have someone to
turn to for help.
For more information about the program, contact one of the following offices: Los
Angeles, 213/250-9707; southern California, 619/220-5356; Central Valley, 209/444-2400,
ext. 266; and northern California, 415/561-8217. |
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CRLA board member sought for open seat Attorneys
interested in serving on the board of directors of California Rural Legal Assistance are
invited to submit an application to the State Bar.
One two-year term position is open. Deadline for the applications is Sept. 11.
CRLA's 45-member board meets four times a year.
Applicants must be members of the California bar, be knowledgeable about legal services
to the poor, and support the purposes of the Legal Services Corporation Act.
Interested attorneys should submit a letter of application and a resume to Judy Garlow,
Office of Legal Services, State Bar of California, 555 Franklin St., San Francisco 94102.
Information is available by calling 415/561-8249. |
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How to file complaints about attorney misconduct Because
the State Bar's consumer hotline is shut down, consumers wishing to complain about an
attorney must now submit a written complaint.
People who are having a problem with an attorney may still call 1-800/843-9053 and will
hear a taped message providing various options. |
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ALJ conference slated The annual meeting and
conference of the National Associa-tion of Administrative Law Judges will be held in
Portland, Ore., from Oct. 10-14.
With a theme of "Tools for the 21st Century," the conference also is geared
to involve practitioners who represent clients before federal and state agencies.
For details about the conference, visit the Oregon association's web site at www.efn.org/~oaalj> or call Shirley Gunter at
503/370-6046. |
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LA federal court introduces document imaging service Beginning
Sept. 1, the U.S. District Court, Central District, began providing a document imaging
service that allows attorneys to quickly receive service of civil and criminal judgments,
orders and other documents by facsimile or e-mail instead of regular mail.
Interested attorneys must enroll with the court for the free service.
Enrollment information is available from the clerk's office, 213/894-4445. |
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Attorneys can now make phone court appearances Following
the recent approval of Rule 298, attorneys can make routine court appearances via
telephone in any California court with the judge's approval.
The rule is designed to reduce congestion and delay in court dockets as well as to save
time and money for attorneys and their clients.
Appearance by Phone, a service provided by ConferenceCallService, is now available in
more than 100 California courts.
They include superior courts in Los Angeles, Ventura County, Simi Valley, Alameda
County, Santa Clara County, Lake County and Siskyou County.
Information about the service is available from Michael Volk at 310/545-3373, or
toll-free 877/545-3373. |
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