San Francisco litigator Jon Streeter, who will be sworn in as the State Bar’s 87th president this month, takes inspiration from his early mentors as well as geniuses he calls “masters of their different fields.” Streeter says he hopes to build bridges this year to overcome some of the recent divisions on the board and will advocate permanent funding for the courts and will focus on reducing the discipline backlog and promoting legal services.
Supreme Court observer J. Clark Kelso said this year’s term had a familiar feel to it, and the state’s high court seems to be looking out for the little guy.
Jayne Kim, a former State Bar prosecutor and current assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, was named interim chief trial counsel last month. She said her goal is to achieve a “zero/zero” goal — eliminating the discipline backlog while assuring zero tolerance for attorney misconduct in California. Kim replaces James Towery, who resigned in June after less than a year on the job.
The State Bar and the Attorney General joined forces to shut down four lawyers and more than a dozen marketing and law firms that allegedly used false advertising to lure distressed homeowners into filing “mass joinder” lawsuits against their lenders.
Lawyers can earn up to 19 hours of continuing education credits at the State Bar’s 2011 Annual Meeting, a four-day conference in Long Beach that begins Sept. 15. More than 150 courses will be offered in three focused educational tracks: substantive law, legal specialization, and practice skills and technology. Register early for the best prices.
The California Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court ruling in the case of a UCLA professor researching the relationship between affirmative action and law schools.
The State Bar has revised When You Turn 18: A Survival Guide for Teenagers, and will publish an updated version of the popular guide this month to coincide with the new school year. The guide addresses issues ranging from voting to drinking to sexting to jury duty and is designed to offer young people a glimpse of what to expect in their transition to young adulthood.
Sid Wolinsky, founder of numerous public interest law firms and chief litigator in many successful class action lawsuits, will receive the Loren Miller Legal Services Award this month for his lifetime commitment to legal services.
Bill Vickrey, who retired last month as administrator of the California court system, is the recipient of a special Benjamin Aranda III Access to Justice Award, honoring his efforts to benefit the courts and the public.