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1 Jud. Div. Rec. 1 (1998)

handle is hein.aba/judrc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Changing Times in the Judicial Division y favorite memory of the past year was the way in which our conference leaders reasoned together and found a creative solution-paradoxically-to the ABAs cut in our funding. In the last issue of The Judges' Journal, although pressed for time and space, I wrote the following postscript to my Chair Column: The Board of Governors, at the 1998 Midyear Meeting, directed a substantial reduction in the general revenue allocation for the Judicial Division. This reduction forced the Division's leadership to reexamine the role of the Division, and indeed the judges, in the greater Association . . . The Division leadership, thus challenged, crafted a plan to (1) reduce the Divisions budget by $267,000 (20 percent) and (2) restructure the Division to preserve the conferences vhile creating a more open architecture that ioill by Richard L. Fruin, Jr. invite greater interaction between the judicial conferences and lawyers. Now that I have more time I would like to recount what I believe to be the opportunities presented by the restructuring plan. The restructuring plan was developed by leaders of the Division and its six conferences at a meeting held in early March in the chair's home town, Manhattan Beach, California (thus, the project's code name'The Manhattan Project). The ABA's Board of Governors approved the plan and budget in April. (A copy of the 21-point restructuring plan may be obtained from the Judicial Division office.) The highlights of the plan are: Increased Funding to the Conferences. Every conference, except for the National Conference of Special Court Judges (NCSCJ), will have greater discretionary funds at their disposal. Conference funding will be determined by a formula that allocates $30,000 to each conference, in addition to the Division's dues (raised to $35 annually) paid by conference members. The conferences, therefore, will be motivated to offer greater benefits to attract and keep members. The budget reductions, however, have necessitated a two person reduction in our Chicago staff. Thus, there will now be only four staff persons to support the six conferences. Lawyers to be Affiliate Members of Judge Conferences. To enhance the opportunities for lawyers to meet and work with judges, our bylaws will be changed to permit lawyers to join any judicial conference as an affiliate member, for an additional dues charge. As affiliate members, the lawyers will be able to participate actively in the committee work of the judicial conferences, however, they will not be eligible to become conference officers. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, lawyers must first be members of our Lr. 'ers Conference (which incidentally will change its name to the Bench-Bar Conference, to better define its role within the Division). It is likely that the addition of gung-ho lawyers to the judicial committees will stimulate greater activity from the committees. Appellate Judges Conference 10 Lawyers Conference 13 National Conference of Administrative Law Judges 15 National Conference of Federal Trial Judges 19 National Conference of Special Court Judges 21 National Conference of State Trial Judges Cross-Conference Committees to Better Serve Member Interests. In yet another departure, the conferences will be encouraged to pool their resources to create cross- conference committees (XCCs in Judge Rodgers useful shorthand) on subjects of Division-wide importance. Our notion is to assemble the Division's best minds, regardless of a contributor's conference affiliation, in order for the Division to become a more significant voice with regard to those subjects. XCCs will be funded from the contributions of those conferences electing to join the XCCs. It is not required that a (continued on next page) Digitized from Best Copy Available Preview of Judicial Division's 1998 Annual Meeting by Edward J. Schoenbaum, Judicial Division Program Committee Chair Chair Richard Fruin asked me to write a brief article about the Toronto Annual Meeting program. I do not need to explain what the program is because the program was mailed out to every member with the last issue of the Conference newsletters and the complete program was included in the Judges' Journal which was mailed last month. I am sure you agree with me that the educational program offerings are outstanding. We believe there will also be plenty of time for fellowship and sharing informally with our fellow judges. There are also plenty of meetings for committees to continue to work to improve the administration of justice. I want to highlight the Scholar in Residence program, about which you have already read, and encourage everyone who is (continued on page 3) All For One****** Among the innovations agreed upon by the Ad Hoc Budget Committee is a common newsletter before the Annual Meeting - and here it is. Inside you'll find articles about the Division's finances and organization, the Annual Meeting and other matters of mutual concern. You'll also find articles prepared for each Conference - and perhaps you'll take the time to look at the other Conferences' articles. We've noticed that some articles in some newsletters have been used in others - so we're hoping greater circulation of the information to all Division members will enhance our information sharing and provide another member benefit. JUDICIfL DIVISION

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