At the June 15 meeting of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s governing body, the Board of Trustees created special committees to examine cannabis issues and public finance matters and approved an $11.6 million general operating budget for the coming fiscal year.
The board also addressed a number of proposed court rules. More detail about those recommendations can be found in this week’s Capitol Report. Here’s a rundown of other actions taken.
Budget: The board approved an $11.6 million budget for the 2018-2019 budget year, which begins July 1. The budget continues funding a program that provides new attorneys free membership in their first year of admittance, and half-priced dues in the second year. The budget was originally proposed this spring.
Special Committees: The trustees approved the creation of two special committees. One will explore the intricacies of cannabis matters and the other will examine public finance issues. The NJSBA president makes all special committee appointments. Anyone interested in joining one of the committees should send a request to [email protected].
Underrepresented Groups: As required under the NJSBA bylaws, the Board of Trustees conducted its annual review of underrepresented groups on the board, including a review of the latest attorney demographic data. The designated groups are African-American; Hispanic; Asian-Pacific; women; gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender; over age 70; and attorneys with disabilities. The trustees designated a seat each for members who are: African-American; Hispanic; Asian-Pacific; women; and gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Three additional at-large seats are open to members of any of the underrepresented groups.
Practice of Law Task Force: The board adopted recommendations of the NJSBA’s Practice of Law Task Force. The task force was created early in the term of 2017-2018 NJSBA President Robert B. Hille to evaluate, identify and review issues in the profession. The group spent a year collecting research and feedback from the legal field and developed three proposals for the association to urge the courts to pursue: creating a juvenile probation treatment program, revising court rules with regard to discovery end dates and scheduling trial dates, and changing court rules to extend the time to request a trial de novo for certain civil cases that are being arbitrated.
CLE Speakers: The trustees approved speakers for upcoming educational seminars. They are:
- Mike Messer and Jack Marshall, who will present Ethics Rock Extreme;
- Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Reveals About Who We Really Are author Seth Stephens Davidowitz;
- Lenne Espenschied, a national speaker on contract drafting; and
- Historic reenactors who will stage “Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and Rethinking of America.”
Support of Grant Application: The association agreed to send a letter to the Department of Justice in support of a grant the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is seeking to fund a conviction review unit. The unit would be charged with the prevention of wrongful convictions and the review of post-conviction appeals where there are claims of innocence.