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9 Alaska B. Rag 1 (1985)

handle is hein.barjournals/askabar0009 and id is 1 raw text is: 'Dignitas, Semper Dignitas Seventh nnitiersary Issue Sunset bill signed into law by Deborah O'Regan The Alaska Bar Association recently completed the Sunset review process with the Alaska Legislature. Senate Bill 2, which was signed by the Governor on March 8, 1984 extends the existence of the Board of Governors until 1989. Senate Hearings 3 The bill, introduced by Senators Pat Rodey and Robert Ziegler was first heard before the Senate Judiciar Committee on January 22. President Hal Brown testified at the hearing and gave a brief description of the Alaska Bar, its responsibilities and activi- ties. Questions from tte Committee centered primarily on the character investigation con- ducted of applicants to the Bar, and the reimbursement which the Bar receives from the state for the expenses of the three public members on the Board. The bill was passed out of committee and referred to the Senate Finance Committee. President Brown again appeared and testified. After a few questi',is about the public Board member expenses, the Finance Committee passed the bill. The Alaska State Senate considered the bill at the end of January and passed it on a vote of 19 to 0. House Passes SB2 Senate Bill 2 came before the House Judiciary Committee on February 6. Com- mittee member Max Gruenberg questioned whether he. as a member of the Bar Associa- tion, had a conflict which would prevent him from voting on this bill. Since most of the Committee members are members of the Alaska Bar Association, they proceeded to identify themselves as members of the Asso- ciation and voted to pass SB2 out of committee, At the House Finance Committee hear- ing on February 20, the only question asked was whether four years was the usual length of time to extend a Board or Commission. The Committee passed the bill once in- formed that four years was the usual exten- sion time. The Alaska House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 2 on March 1, on a vote of 34-2, with 4 absent. Governor Signs With the Governor's signature on March 8, Senate Bill 2 became one of the first bills passed in this legislative session. This reveiw process experienced none of the acrimoni- ous debate which characterized the last Sunset review. The Association must be given credit for cooperating fully with the legislative review process; and the Board of Governors should be commended for study- ing and implementing improvements in the Bar's two most important public functions: admissions and discipline. Performance Audit The review process actually began in November. with the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee conducting a performance audit of the Association. The report, which was released on February 6, concluded that the Board of Gomemors operates in an effec- tive and economical manner and that the Board should be reestablished for another four years. Nothing came to the attention of the committee that indicated to them that the public's best interest would be better served by any different regulatory method. The Audit Committee made several recom- mendations to improve the efficiency of the Board's operations. The complete text of the Committees report is reprinted in its entirety on page 11. Law grads find employment Despite predictions of substantial entry Grads in Survey level unemployment among new lawyers, the National Association for Law Placement. Information for the Employment Report Inc. (NALP) found 90.6% of the Class of is gathered from law school placement direc- 1983 law graduates to be employed. The tors across the country to learn of entry-level Class of 1983 Employment Report and employment, locations, and salaries of grad- Salary Survey. the tenth annual report pro- uates. In 1983, there were 36,389 law stu- duced by NALP, continues to indicate a sta- dents who graduated from 173 ABA-accred- ble level of employment among graduates of ited law schools. Responding to the NALP American Bar Association IABA)-accredited survey were 28,072 of thos graduates. law schools within nine months of gradua- These respondents represent 77.1% of all tiin. Employment rates, which have hovered graduates: 160 or 92.5% of the ABA-accred- at 90% during the 10-year history of the ited schools participated. These rates of stu- report, have not changed significantly dent response and school participation are despite the following factors: the highest in the report's 10-year history. 1. The total number of lawyers has nearly The percentage figures used in refer- doubled during the last 10 years. ence to the patterns of employment are cal- 2. Economic conditions in the nation have culated using the number of NALP respon- fluctuated widely. dents rather than the total ABA graduate 3. There have been significant decreases in population. NALP conducted a validity study the opportunities available to new lawyers in 1983 to verify whether the experience of in the public sector NALP resnondents could be generalized to Speech excerpts the total ABA law graduate population. This study, conducted by Laurie Albright of Stan- ford Law School, and using an independent sample, concluded that the findings of the 1983 Employment Report are valid. (For further clarification of the numbers and percentages presented, readers are re- ferred to Charts A and B.) Employment Of the students responding, 21 (90.6%) reported employment: 2. 180.9%) were in legal positions. The:e fig- ures represent a small increase in employ- ment over the experience of 1982 respon- dents, even though there were 4.4% more law graduates in 1983 than in 1982. Private law practice employed 58.9% of NALP respondents who reported employ- ment. As in the past, very small firms with 2 to 10 attorneys accounted for the largest Kay tells tales on Alaska Thank you for the introduction and the chance to be here with you today Trial lawyers are good people to be around. I think Mark Avain once said, I remem- ber a great many things-and some of them are true:' I hope there is nobody here from Alaska, because if there is I will be placed in the position of the Civil War veteran who wias running for count) clerk down in Lexington. Kentucky. He got to orating pretty good and began to relate a stor about his infantry regiment. Says he, 'On the 12th of July we attacked an enormous force of the enemy near Chattanooga and completely routed them. Broke them all up and chased them clear back to the river, About that time a gentleman arose in the audience and shook his finger at the speaker Now, Bill:' he says. you know that jast ain't so. I was there, and those Union fellows knocked us around and ran us clear into Kentucky. There you go:' says Bill shrugging his shoulders. another good story ruined by an eyewitness: Let me start this talk by telling you about my first visit to a courtroom. It was the county court of Iroquois County, Ill.. and it was a hot. sultry day in July. I was about 15 years old and was running errands for my father, but I sneaked into court because Dad was trying a little case of some kind-it was about an automobile-against an attorney by the name of Bob Goodyear \V.P. Kay, Sr.. and Bob Goodyear were competing lawyers by Wendell Kay and rival practitioners. They did not like each other. After some short preliminaries. Good- year put his client on the stand, and soon Dad began to cross-examine. My father ap- parently belonged to the trial school that believes cross-examination is supposed to be cross. He shouted at the poor fellow on the stand, he shook his fist at him. he yelled and hollered at him-and pretty soon the poor jellyfish was agreeing with every shouted word. Finally Dad finished with the quiver- ing blot of humanity and headed for the counsel table. But, as he passed Bob Good- ycar. he leaned over and whispered in a whisper you could hear out in the hall. How Continued on page 6 block of respondents: 23.2% of all those employed in 1983 found work in firms of that size: Small firms of 11 to 25 attorneys employed 8.2% of the respondents. and me- dium firms of 26 to 50 attorneys hired 6% of the respondents. Private law firms with 51 to 100 lawyers employed 5.4% and very large firms with more than 100 attorneys hired Continued on page 7 INDEX Reader Ballot ......... 2 Readers vote on future Bar Rag New Hampshire vs. Piper. 2 Supreme Court rules on reciprocity case School Enrollment ..... 3 Law schools see decline in student numbers More Trials .......... 4 Fraties tells all in lawyers' trials Disciplinary Measures .. 5 Summaries of disciplinary measures Trivial Endeavors ...... 7 A report on coming nonsense Bar News and Notes .... 9 Details of Nay's upcoming convention Sunset Review ........ 11 Legislative auditors give Bar clean bill Profile in Judgeship .... 12 Judge Roy Madsen is profiled in this personal piece Financial Report ...... 14 CPAs file report of Bar !nances Non.Prefit OrgisnMAoi U.S. Postsg Pid Bulk Mill Permit NO, 401 Anchorage. Alaska Volume 9, Number 1 April, 1985 $2.00 P Adomebb 4419

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