Some just want a change from the kind of law they’re practicing. Others want a completely new profession that has nothing to do with the law. Some have lost their jobs or have seen their practices diminish to almost nothing or can’t find that first job and just need an entree.
In view of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s October veto of its fee authorization bill, the bar has delayed sending a 2010 dues bill to its members and postponed the deadline for payment.
However, members of MCLE compliance group 1, whose last names begin with A – G, are required to meet their continuing education requirement by Feb. 1. Non-compliance will result in a $75 penalty.
All California attorneys must provide an e-mail address to the State Bar beginning Feb. 1 under a new rule of court approved by the Supreme Court. Inactive lawyers over 70 are exempt from the new requirement.
Beginning March 1, the State Bar newspaper will cease publication in paper format and be replaced by an electronic version. Bar members will receive a California Bar Journal e-mail the first of each month providing links to the latest State Bar news.
Los Angeles attorney and former member of the State Bar Board of Governors Jeffrey Tidus was murdered last month outside his Rolling Hills Estates home. He was shot in the head when he went outside to retrieve a laptop computer from his car.
In 2004, Gordon Baranco was instrumental in establishing the Alameda County Homeless and Caring Court, an effort that spawned other programs to help society’s disenfranchised. Indeed, Baranco, a Superior Court judge, has devoted his career to increasing equal opportunity and access to justice. For those efforts, he received the 2009 Benjamin Aranda III Access to Justice Award last month.
In an unusually scathing opinion, a State Bar Court judge recommended that high profile San Francisco attorney Philip Kay be suspended for three years, citing his “rude and disrespectful conduct” during three trials as well as false accusations, frivolous motions and unrelenting bad behavior. The suspension will take effect if the Supreme Court signs off.
The State Bar will move its 2011 Annual Meeting, originally scheduled to be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, to Long Beach. “This action is being taken on the basis of the bar’s business and convention needs and to make the convention as successful as possible,” said a spokeswoman for the bar.