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23 B. Rep. 1 (1994-1995)

handle is hein.barjournals/breport0025 and id is 1 raw text is: Vol. 23/No. 1 August/September 1994 Bar R or t OlYd The Official Newspaper of the District of Columbia Bar 'Wo a~d.UON Bar leaderstake role in Bar task force recommends mandatory CL anti-drug effort Training efforts assist Superior Court clerks Lawyer crossword fans served with new feature Bar member wins ABA prize for death row representation I O Sections salute volunteers for community outreach The D.C. Bar's Task Force on Manda- tory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) has completed a 200-page draft report that recommends that a system of minimum continuing legal education requirements be implemented in the District and outlines in some detail the type of system we be- lieve is appropriate for our jurisdiction. The draft report is the culmination of the task force's two-year inquiry into the ad- vantages and disadvantages of MCLE. The recommendation in favor of a mandatory system represents the near unanimous view of the fifteen-member task force. The system envisioned by the task force would require Bar members to accumulate 36 hours of CLE credits over a 36 month re- porting cycle; the only substantive require- ment would be in legal ethics, where six hours of CLE would be needed during each three-year period. An executive summary of the draft report appears as an eight-page pullout section in the center of this edition of Bar Report. A copy of the full 200-page draft report can be obtained by calling Julie Norbury at 202/737-4700, extension 229. Noting that MCLE is a controversial issue, task force chair Martin D. Minsker observed, The experience in other juris- dictions where there has been an initial neg- ative perception of MCLE has been that negative attitudes have diminished over time once a system is implemented. I'm hopeful, Minsker added, that when the executive summary and the draft report are examined, Bar members will see that the system we have recommended has been designed to address concerns that members have expressed. The task force stressed that provisions should be built into the system that would ensure the following for all members of the Bar: * the availability of a wide range of af- fordable and meaningful course offerings; * a quality control mechanism to set stan- dards for CLE providers and to monitor the quality of CLE courses; and * the participation of various bar groups including voluntary bar associations, sec- tions of the Bar, government agencies, and Bar wins pro bono honors from ABA The D.C. Bar has received one of the American Bar Association's highest pro bono awards for the restructuring of its Public Service Activities programs in order to better serve the poor. The Bar received the 1994 Harrison Tweed Award at the ABA's annual meeting held during August in New Orleans. The award is given annually by the ABA Stand- ing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association to a state or local bar association that has developed or expanded a program that increases access to legal ser- vices for the poor. It's very exciting, a great honor, said Maureen T. Thornton, director of the Bar's Public Service Activities Corporation (PSAC). The D.C. Bar was recognized for the new pro bono programs PSAC has launched, in- cluding the Law Firm Pro Bono Clinic, which is staffed by volunteers from 20 of the District's most prestigious law firms, the Pro-Se-Plus Divorce Clinic, which was initiated to help alleviate a growing crisis in family law representation, and the Help Line, which has provided legal information to almost 30,000 callers in the past year. Reflecting on the transformation of the Bar's pro bono programs, Thornton cred- ited former D.C. Bar president Sara-Ann THE RESTRUCTURED PROGRAMS of the D.C. Bar's Public Service Activities Cor- poration (PSAC) won top honors from the American Bar Association with the pre- sentation of this year's 1994 Harrison Tweed Award. The prize Is presented annually to bar associations that develop or significantly expand projects or programs to in- crease access to legal services to the poor. Receiving the award are (from left) D.C. Bar Executive Director Katherine A. Mazzaferri, D.C. Bar PSAC Director Maureen T. Thornton, immediate Past D.C. Bar President Mark H. Tuohey III, and D.C. Bar Presi- dent Pauline A. Schneider. This Is the third time the D.C. Bar has received the honor. Sally Determan for initiating the process during her tenure. Sally Determan started the ball rolling when she became Bar president in 1990 by initiating a thorough self-study that asked some very basic, very fundamental ques- tions. Sally said, 'These programs were good when we conceived them 20 years ago, but are they meeting our community's present needs?' Very few programs examine themselves that intensely, and when it was concluded that there were better ways to provide more service, the Bar leadership didn't try to ig- nore hard truths. They took the opportunity to collect information on pro bono programs from all around the country and used that data to design new programs. The Public Service Activities Commit- tee, chaired by Stephen Pollak, concluded that the Bar's existing program created an hour-glass effect. The Bar had a lot of re- quests for help coming in at the top of the hour-glass, and at the bottom there was a large pool of potential volunteer attorneys among the Bar membership, but in the mid- dle there was a limited staff. Trying to help one person at a time-as we were doing in the past-was very labor intensive, Thornton explained. The new programs we've instituted, like the Law Firm Pro Bono Clinic, are designed to have a multiplier effect. Each thing we do gets a lot of cases placed at once. The legal ser vice providers help us screen the cases and the law firms help us pull together volun- teers. So we've learned how to become much more efficient, and get more volun- teers involved. Thornton added that the success of the new programs could not have been achieved without Pollak's tireless efforts. He has devoted four years to making it all happen. His leadership has been indis- pensable, she said. ow groups of individual practitioners in the provision of CLE courses. The task force welcomes written com- ments on its draft report from the Bar mem- bership. Comments should be sent to the MCLE Task Force, D.C. Bar, Sixth Floor, 1250 H Street NW, Washington, DC, 20005-3908. All comments must be received by Tues- day, November 1, 1994. In addition, the task force will hold pub- lic hearings from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, September 29, and 4-6 p.m. on Wed- nesday, October 5. The hearings will be held in the D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, lower level. We're hoping to get as much feedback as we can from all the members of the Bar on the wisdom of our basic recommenda- tion for an MCLE program in our jurisdic- tion, Minsker said. At the conclusion of the comment pe- riod, a final report will be issued to the Board of Governors. The Board of Gover- nors will consider the final report and deter- mine what recommendations, if any, to for- ward to the D.C. Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals is the entity which ultimately will decide whether to institute MCLE requirements in the District of Co- lumbia. The court is free to accept or reject any recommendations put forward by the Board of Governors. Deadline approaches for payment of Bar dues Several thousand D.C. Bar mem- bers who had not paid their 1994-95 dues by August 31 will be receiving a second notice from the Bar in Sep- tember giving them 30 more days in which to pay without incurring a $20 late fee. The Bar's Membership Office sent Annual Registration Statements to the Bar's more than 61,000 members in May. Under the Bar's by laws, members must pay their dues within 30 days of the second notice in order to avoid the late fee. Members who do not pay their dues and applicable late fee by November 30 are auto- matically suspended from the prac- tice of law. The Bar's dues are $100 for active members, $74 for inactive members, and $50 for judicial members. When filing their dues statements, Bar members are encouraged to add a voluntary contribution to support the Bar's Public Service Activities Corpo- ration. Those member contributions enable the Bar to play a significant role in bringing together trained lawyer volunteers with clients who cannot afford to pay for those ser- vices. Contributions to the PSAC are tax-deductible. Members also are en- couraged to join one or more of the Bar's 21 Sections.

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