Mark your
calendars for the
State Bar Annual Meeting Sept. 15-18
After an absence
of 12 years, the State Bar will return to Long Beach for its 84th Annual Meeting from Sept. 15-18, when California lawyers can take advantage
of an opportunity to complete all their continuing education requirements in
one weekend. The four-day gathering will offer 158 MCLE courses on three
focused educational tracks: substantive law, legal specialization, and practice
skills and technology. Attendees can earn up to 19 hours of credit, including
credit in the required subfields: ethics, substance abuse and elimination of
bias.
In addition,
local bar associations will hold receptions, law school alumni will meet, and
the weekend highlight will be “Hollywood Night” aboard the Queen
Mary, sponsored by CalBar Connect, the bar’s member benefits program.
Keynote speakers
include Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who will address the annual
California Women Lawyers dinner Thursday evening, and Cherie Blair, former
first lady of Britain, who will speak at the bar luncheon earlier that day.
Other featured speakers
include Edgar B. Washburn, a senior partner in Morrison & Foerster
LLP’s environmental and energy group, who will discuss California’s
water needs at a Friday breakfast sponsored by the Business Law Section, and Richard
D. Fybel, associate justice of the state Court of Appeal, who will address the absence of
judicial ethics in the German legal system from 1933-1945, an event that
includes an hour of MCLE credit. Albie Sachs, a former judge on the
Constitutional Court of South Africa, will deliver the Alexander F. Morrison
Address at a Saturday luncheon. Each event is ticketed, with prices ranging
from $35-$45.
A complimentary
opening night reception will be held Thursday at the exhibit hall, where more
than 100 vendors will have their wares on display. Outgoing State Bar President
Bill Hebert will hold a reception the following evening, highlighted by a
performance of “My Fair JD,” a musical and dramatic romp that
transforms the dry subjects of legal ethics and conflicts into entertainment.
New State Bar
President Jon Streeter will be sworn in Saturday morning, with five newly
elected members of the board of governors, as well as the board of the
California Judges Association. The work of members of the bench and bar who
draw, sculpt, work in ceramics or photography will be on display at the 59th annual Bench and Bar Art Exhibit.
The early bird pre-registration
deadline for the convention, for a $100 savings, is Aug. 17.
Pre-registration must be completed by Aug. 24. Tickets to the events may be
purchased online until then; after that date tickets will be available on a
first-come, first-serve basis. Hotel reservations also can be made online; the
deadline is Aug. 17. Blocks of rooms are reserved at four hotels close to the
convention center.