Get involved — volunteer for a State Bar committee

The State Bar is recruiting applicants for approximately 200 positions on more than three dozen committees, boards and commissions. Groups with open positions range from committees dealing with access and fairness issues to section executive committees focused on particular areas of the law to a committee addressing questions of professional responsibility and conduct. If your interest is the day-to-day delivery of legal services to poor and middle-income individuals, administering the IOLTA program or exploring ways to improve access to civil justice, positions on legal services committees are available.

Most of the appointments carry a three-year term, and the application deadline is Feb. 1. A complete list of openings, application forms and detailed committee information is available at www.calbar.org/appointments. Applicants can apply to a maximum of three committees but can only be appointed to one. The State Bar Board of Governors will make the appointments next summer and committee terms begin Sept. 18, 2011.

Applications also are available by calling the bar’s appointments office at 415-538-2318 or by faxing 415-538-2255.

Among committees seeking applicants are:

• Courts/administration of justice committees which review proposed changes in civil procedure, ADR, appellate and federal rules, procedures and practices, as well as comment on proposed legislation governing these issues.
• Insurance committees, which act as counsel to the board of governors on insurance matters and oversee the bar’s member group insurance programs, including life, AD&D, disability, personal auto & homeowners, long-term care, workers’ compensation and professional liability.
• Regulatory committees such as the Committee of Bar Examiners, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration and Legal Specialization commissions, which are established by statute and oversee mandated admission, arbitration and certification programs of the State Bar. 
• The Council on Access and Fairness, which is devoted to increasing diversity in the legal profession.

Members of the bar’s 17 sections also may apply for positions on their sections’ executive committees.

Five positions will open on the ABA House of Delegates next August. Applicants for those positions must submit an application by Feb. 1. State Bar delegates serve two-year terms and may serve three consecutive terms. The young lawyer delegate must be 35 years or younger at the time his/her term begins.

In addition, two lawyer positions on the Judicial Council will be vacant; applications must be submitted by Feb. 1. Members serve staggered three-year terms that run from September 15 to September 14.

The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) will have 13 openings next year. Applications are due by May 2 and terms begin Feb. 1, 2012.

Detailed information about the appointments is available at www.calbar.org/appointments; select the link to Other Entity Appointments.