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
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
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