3 The higher yield requirement
creates confusion and is not
reasonable given the nature of
the account, and
3 The fiduciary requirement is
not contained in the rule and
is inappropriate for this kind
of account as the relationship
for the banks is one between
them and their lawyer customers—not with the clients
of their lawyer customers.
Tanya Wheeless, President and
CEO of the Arizona Bankers
Association, and James Lundy,
President of Alliance Bank, presented their concerns about the
proposal.
The board heard both sides
and voted to support adherence
to the June 15 deadline.
3 Consideration of New State
Bar Committee—The board
approved the formation of a
Class Actions and Derivative
Suits Committee.
3 Board Member’s Resignation—
Immediately following the meeting, Board Governor Tajudeen
Oladiran submitted his letter of
resignation from the State Bar
Board of Governors. A special
election will be held to fill out
the two years remaining in his
term.
3 Meeting Schedule—The next
board meeting will be held on
June 23, 2009, at 8: 30 a.m. in
the Boardroom. The full
schedule is posted on the Bar’s
Web site: www.myazbar.org/
AZBarInfo/BOG/
BoardofGovernors.cfm
The State Bar of Arizona Board of
Governors held a special meeting
on May 15, 2009:
3 President’s Report—President
Novak attended a judicial summit in North Carolina, “Justice is
the Business of Government.”
3 Appointments Committee—
The board voted to forward
three additional names to
Governor Brewer for appointment to the Arizona Commission
on Appellate Court
Appointments in the event
Michael Sillyman withdraws his
name or the governor withdraws
her nomination of him. Those
names are William Michael
Smith, Michael “Mick” Rusing
and Ted Schmidt. The board
voted to reopen the application
process for the Scott Gan seat
until May 22.
3 Rules Committee—Whitney
Cunningham discussed Petition
R-08-00011, a pending rules
petition filed by the Arizona
Corporation Commission, which
seeks to amend Supreme Court
Rule 31(d) to permit nonlawyers
to represent certain entities
before the Corporation
Commission.
The Unauthorized Practice of
Law Advisory Committee and
the Rules Committee recommends that the State Bar file a
comment generally supporting
the petition, objecting only to
that portion that would allow
nonlawyers to represent a class
of parties before the Arizona
Corporation Commission.
The State Bar of Arizona Board of
Governors held a regular meeting
on April 17, 2009:
3 President’s Report—President
Novak congratulated board
member Diane Drain, who
received a Volunteer Service
Award in the Small Business
Category from Gov. Jan Brewer
and the Governor’s Commission
on Service and Volunteerism.
President Novak attended the
Western States Bar Conference;
met with State Sen. Richard
Miranda to discuss community
diversity issues; and attended the
Arizona Asian American Bar
Association annual banquet.
He announced that the Bar
would host the Lawyers in
Transition program during the
2009 Convention to assist
underemployed and unemployed
attorneys. The Toyota Prius raf-
fle is under way.
The retirement party for
Chief Justice Ruth McGregor
will be on June 19.
3 CEO/Executive Director’s
Report—John Phelps recapped
his activities for the month. He
and Ed Novak met with the editorial boards of the Arizona
Republic and Capitol Times. Mr.
Phelps also attended the Chief
Justice’s State of the Judiciary;
met with State Sen. Jonathan
Paton; met with Maricopa
County Attorney Andrew
Thomas; attended a Native
American Bar Association meeting; attended an orientation at
the Phoenix School of Law;
attended an Arizona
Foundation for Legal Services
& Education Board meeting;
and had meetings with Pima
County Bar Association staff,
Pima County Attorney Barbara
La Wall, and other southern
region bar leaders.
Mr. Phelps appointed Maret
Vessella as Interim Chief Bar
Counsel and thanked John
Furlong for his dedicated service performing two jobs—
General Counsel and Acting
Chief Bar Counsel—for the past
several months.
He announced that the Trust
Account Hotline has been
moved to LOMAP. Attorneys
who seek advice from LOMAP
with respect to their trust
accounts will not be referred to
Discipline based on any information they disclose to
LOMAP.
3 Legislative Update—Janna
Day reported that Senate and
House leadership continue to
work toward a 2010 budget
resolution and a plan for the
2009 budget shortfall.
3 Rules Committee—Whitney
Cunningham introduced eight
action items, and the Board
voted to take the following
actions:
3 File a comment in opposition
to a proposed change to
Supreme Court Rule
92(a)( 1), which would
amend the existing rule to
require random assignment
of all cases
3 File a comment in support of
a proposed addition of Rule
502 to the Arizona Rules of
Evidence, defining the scope
of waiver of the attorney–client privilege upon disclosure of confidential information
3 File a comment in support of
a proposed addition of
Arizona Civil Rules 57. 1 and
57. 2, setting forth procedures to implement newly
enacted statutes, A.R.S. §§
12-771 and 12-772
3 File a comment in support of
a proposed addition of Rule
804(b)( 5) to the Arizona
Rules of Evidence, adding a
new hearsay exception for
Forfeiture by Wrongdoing
3 Not file a comment regarding a proposed addition to
Criminal Rule 10. 5, which
would require five days’
notice of trial after transfer
of case for trial
3 File a comment in support
of a proposed change to
Criminal Rule 39 regarding
the definition of victim
3 File a comment in opposition to a proposed amendment to Supreme Court
Rule 38, which would permit the supervised practice
of law by graduates awaiting
admission to the Bar
3 File a comment in opposition to an amendment to
Criminal Rule 1. 4, which
would alter the definition of
presiding judge in courts
with only one judge.
3 Awards Committee Report—
Amelia Craig Cramer, Chair,
announced the committee’s
recommendations, which the
board approved. Awards will
be presented at the convention.
3 Mandatory Fee Arbitration—
Richard Herold, Chair of the
Rules Revision Subcommittee,
and Steve Guttell, subcommittee member, summarized
progress to date. The board
vetoed a motion to oppose
Arizona becoming another
mandatory fee arbitration state,
and asked the committee to
continue its research.
3 Interviews of Candidates for
Public Board Members—The
board interviewed three candidates to fill one public member
position on the Board of
Governors, and the board
appointed Sahuarita
Councilman John J. Sullivan.
3 General Counsel/Interim
Chief Bar Counsel Report—
John Furlong reported that the
proposed Comments of the
State Bar of Arizona Regarding
Petition to Amend Rules 47,
48, 50, 56, 57, 65 and 72,
Arizona Rules of Professional
Conduct had been completed.
Maret Vessella gave a comprehensive explanation of the
comments and the rationale
