Arizona Attorney - March 2014

unanimously to table action on a proposed dues increase to the February board meeting and educate the membership about the issue and the PRC’s recommendations.

3Methods of getting the word out include emails, eLegal, Arizona Attorney Magazine and a Web survey.

3Dave Byers stated it is remarkable to go 10 years without a dues increase. Another point is the State Bar of Arizona receives 2. 5 times the number of complaints against its members than most other bars associations. Malpractice costs are in the top four states.

3Additional discussion and suggestions were made regarding the budget.

3MOTION: Jimmie Smith moved and Diane Drain seconded the motion to rescind all previous action taken at the October board meeting regarding eliminating or consolidating 11 committees.

3MOTION: Diane Drain made a
friendly amendment to review
membership about the pro-
posed dues increase and the
Program Review Committee’s
recommendations.

3Richard Coffinger offered a friendly amendment, accepted by Ms. Samet, to remove the dues issue off the table but the motion to table takes precedence. Jack Levine moved to reduce the dues by $10. The motion failed for the lack of a second.

3Jeffrey Willis suggested bifurcating the vote: vote on the PRC recommendations and the proposed dues increase separately.

3President Cunningham stated that the only motion on the floor being considered today was regarding the proposal to raise dues $25/year over a four-year period starting in 2015 for lawyers with 3+ years of practice.

3 MOTION restated/VOTE:
Dee-Dee Samet moved,
Richard Coffinger seconded,
and the motion carried
proposed elimination of the
section. Membership is 95 and
it should reach the 100-mem-
ber Section requirement and
be self-sustaining in 2014.

3 CMWL—Brenda Thompson, president of the Black Bar Association, requested the State Bar continue to focus on diversity issues and spoke against merging of the Bar’s three diversity-related committees.

3Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI)—Chad Bellville spoke in opposition to merging or eliminating the three diversity-related committees.

3Persons with Disabilities in the Legal Profession Committee— Hon. Randall Howe spoke in opposition to the elimination or merging of the committee.

The committee works with other committees when they have issues in common, but their members have issues that are separate, and it is important to remain separate.

3 Mentor Committee—Kathleen Weber spoke in opposition to collapsing or merging the Mentor Committee.

3 Professionalism Committee— Lynda Shely spoke in opposition to eliminating the committee.

3 Professionalism Committee and All Committees—Hon. Peter Swann spoke on behalf of all committees, stating the value they bring is mission-critical.

3Public Comment portion of meeting concluded at 4: 30 p.m.

3Dues Proposal 2015
3Motion on the floor coming
from the Scope and
Operations Committee—
recommend a dues increase
of $25 per year for four years
beginning in 2015.
3Motion to table—Dee-Dee
Samet moved and Richard
Coffinger seconded to table
the motion to the February
board meeting in order to
reach out and educate the