Monterey will host the State Bar’s 83rd Annual Meeting
At the State Bar’s Annual Meeting in Monterey next month, California attorneys will have their pick of 157 continuing education programs on topics ranging from developments in mortgage lending, foreclosure and loan modification to animal law to trade secret protection.
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But one-stop shopping for MCLE courses is not all they will find. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will be in town to deliver the keynote address, as will Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and British author Richard Susskind, whose thoughts on the future of the legal profession have drawn polarized opinions. Retiring Chief Justice Ronald George will address convention-goers. A new State Bar president will be sworn in. And it will all take place in a spectacular coastal setting that is home to a world-renowned aquarium and many other visitor attractions.
Several thousand lawyers are expected to attend the Sept. 23-26 convention, the State Bar’s 83d Annual Meeting.
This year’s speakers also will include Assemblymember William W. Monning, who will discuss “California’s Economic Future: Revitalization, Reform and Renewal” at the Business Law Section’s annual breakfast, and Mireille Guiliano, former president & CEO of Clicquot Inc., who will address the California Women Lawyers 36th annual dinner.
San Francisco attorney Bill Hebert will be inaugurated as the State Bar’s new president, and outgoing President Howard Miller will host a reception at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Participants can earn up to 19.5 hours of MCLE credit and, if so inclined, exhibit work in the annual bench and bar art show.
For detailed information about the events and educational programs, as well as hotel and travel arrangements, visit http://www.calbar.ca.gov/AboutUs/AnnualMeeting.aspx. Lower priced “early bird” registration, offering a $100 savings, ends Aug. 25, and the pre-registration deadline is Sept. 1. Registration after that date must be on site. Registration can be completed online and a single fee buys entry to all but the special ticketed events.
The four-day event will kick off Thursday, Sept. 23, with a luncheon featuring Justice Kennedy, who has served as the Supreme Court’s key swing vote for several years. Co-sponsored by Continuing Education of the Bar, lunch tickets are $45. The opening night reception will be held that evening in the Exhibit Hall at the Monterey Conference Center. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and no-host cocktails will be offered, and more than 100 different vendors will display the latest in attorney services and supplies.
Also slated for Thursday evening is the California Women Lawyers reception/silent auction/dinner featuring Guiliano. Tickets to the event are $110.
For bar association presidents, executive directors and board members, the State Bar’s Office of Bar Relations Outreach will host an all-day conference Thursday designed to meet the challenges of communications, finance and governance.
Friday gets off to an early start with a breakfast featuring Assemblyman Monning. Susskind, a legal futurist and honorary professor at London’s Gresham College, will speak at a luncheon Friday, addressing the question, “The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services.” He has predicted disaster for lawyers unwilling to change their working practices. Tickets are $45 for the Susskind luncheon and $35 for the breakfast.
The day will close with the presentation of the 2010 President’s Pro Bono Service Awards, the prestigious Loren Miller Legal Services Award and the Jack Berman Award of Achievement for Distinguished Service to the Profession and Public, followed by the president’s reception at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The reception ($70 for adults, $40 for children) opens the entire aquarium exclusively to State Bar guests. Attendees can explore coastal wetlands, the rocky shore, a living kelp forest and the undersea waters of Monterey Bay, as well as the newly redesigned Ocean’s Edge. The ticket fee includes admission, hors d’oeuvres and shuttle bus transportation from the Annual Meeting hotels.
Saturday gets off to an early start with a 5K fun run/2K power walk along Monterey’s bayside recreation trail. The $40 entry fee includes a T-shirt, light refreshments and the awards.
Later that morning, Hebert will be sworn in as the bar’s 86th president. Five new members of the bar’s board of governors will begin their terms, and new members of the board of the California Judges Association also will be sworn in.
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Gates, an influential scholar in the field of African-American studies, will deliver the Alexander F. Morrison address at a Saturday luncheon. Gates is editor-in-chief of TheRoot.com, a daily online magazine focusing on issues of interest to the African American community, has written numerous books and produces a multi-part PBS documentary series about African American lives and the genealogy of American celebrities. Luncheon tickets are $45.
The State Bar’s diversity awards will be handed out at a 5 p.m. reception at the Portola Hotel and Spa. This year’s recipients are Los Angeles attorney Mia Yamamoto, Farella Braun and Martel in the law firm division, and the Alameda County Bar Association. The Deer Valley High School Law Academy in Antelope will receive the education pipeline award.
Attendees can unwind at the “Vegas Style” closing party Saturday night, featuring dancing, entertainment and Vegas-style games. The $10 cover charge includes a complimentary drink from the bar and the St. Francis Winery will host a special wine tasting.
The Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) will hold its annual congress Friday through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, offering delegates an opportunity to debate resolutions affecting all areas of law and legal practice in California. Officially separated from the State Bar, the group’s independent status enables it to lobby without restriction.
For many attendees, MCLE credit is the draw. Attorneys in compliance Group 3 (last names begin with N-Z) face a Feb. 1, 2011, deadline for completion of 25 hours of continuing education. More than 150 courses will be offered, including credit in all of the subfields as well as legal specialization. Focused educational tracks in ethics, practice skills/technology and substantive law will help lawyers meet their requirements.
The convention also will feature presentations by California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin on the California Case Management System, nationally-known speaker Stephen Fairley on Social Media Marketing, and leading trial attorney Richard Marmaro on Successfully Litigating the “Bet-the-Company-Case.”
The educational programs and meetings will be held at the Hotel Pacific, Hyatt Regency Monterey, Monterey Marriott, Portola Hotel and Spa and the Monterey Conference Center.