Legal Pad

Santa Clara Bar Judges the Judges So You Don’t Have To

Today the Santa Clara County Bar Association released the results of its biennial judicial evaluation survey.

It’s kind of like Rate My Professors, only without the insightful comments from students (as in one Boalt student saying of a professor: “incapable of making a clear statement with re to particular rules of law.”).

The sample size varies from judge to judge, so it’s impossible to compare judges. In fact, the bar association sternly cautions “any group, particularly the media, which may attempt to rank or use rankings derived from the survey results, that such rankings are an abuse of the survey results.”

After the jump: We throw caution to the winds and abuse the results!

Aussie Muckracker Seeks 'The Dirt on Jeff Bleich'

Legal Pad was wondering whether former State Bar President Jeffrey Bleich had made any headlines as the new U.S. ambassador to the Land Down Under. He’s been there a few weeks. [Corrected 11/13: We were mistaken; Bleich is not there yet. To Legal Pad’s embarrassment, Amy Merriweather, the L.A.-based practice development director at Munger, Tolles & Olson, e-mailed to tell us as much. Bleich — a partner with the firm — wasn’t confirmed until Monday, Merriweather explained, and will be officially sworn in on Nov. 20 in San Francisco. As punishment, Legal Pad will consume a full jar of that horrible-tasting Vegemite so beloved by our Aussie mates.]

So we Googled “Jeffrey Bleich + Australia.” Nothing newsy came up, but one item did catch our attention.

Posted in mid-September by someone disguising himself as “beagleone,” it was headlined: “What’s the dirt on Jeffrey Bleich?”

“I’m in Australia and I’m trying to research this lib. Van Jones style dirt would be awesome, but I’ll settle for just super-lib stuff.”

No dirt, but a defender from across the aisle … after the jump.

Governor vetoes State Bar dues bill

Channeling Pete Wilson, Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger late Sunday vetoed the State Bar’s annual dues bill, accusing the organization that represents 165,000 active lawyers of inefficiency and promoting a “political agenda.”

Schwarzenegger cited a July state auditor report that criticized significant increases in staff salaries and escalating disciplinary system costs despite a drop in cases. The governor also noted the discovery that a former Bar employee had embezzled $675,000 over eight years.

“As the organization charged with regulating the professional conduct of its members, the conduct of the State Bar itself must be beyond reproach,” Schwarzenegger wrote in an unusually lengthy veto message. “Regrettably, it is not.”

The governor takes on JNE, after the jump.

Snapshots From The State Bar Meeting

Among the here and there at the State Bar meeting last weekend, our reporter checked out the actual size of the hotel picket line, and checked in with a past State Bar president and the new one.

Below, members of Local 30 of Unite Here!, a national labor union, marched with gay rights advocates boycotting the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

 

And, in the video below, we had a quick chat with Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge James Herman (former State Bar president '02-'03), and then with the newly installed Bar president, Girardi & Keese partner Howard Miller.

— Photo/video by Mike McKee

Anti-Prop 8 Group to Protest State Bar Meeting. At Wrong Hotel.

What if you put on a protest and the people you really wanted to see it were a mile away?

That’s the situation for San Francisco’s Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, which takes to San Diego’s streets a week from Saturday to protest the State Bar’s refusal to relocate its annual meeting out of the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters hope to convince attendees to boycott the Hyatt because owner Doug Manchester donated $125,000 to last year’s Yes on 8 campaign. (Details)

But BALIF’s organizers weren’t aware that the swearing-in ceremonies they targeted for their 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. event aren’t taking place at the host hotel, but rather 1.1 miles away inside the San Diego Marriott and Marina. Chief Justice Ronald George will be there, giving the oath of office to the incoming presidents of the State Bar and California Judges Association, as well as new members of the State Bar Board of Governors.

"Well, here's another fine mess ..." after the jump.

Tortured Logic: Strange Pursuit of Another Torture-Memo Lawyer

The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter delivered more than 100 complaints to the State Bar on Friday, demanding disciplinary action against former Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes — now GC at San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. — for “championing policies of torture” at Guantanamo Bay.

But no matter how persuasive the legal group’s arguments may be, Haynes won’t be disbarred. He can’t be. Haynes is not a member of California’s State Bar.

Details, schmetails, after the jump.

Alameda Bar Joins Prop 8-inspired Boycott

Add the Alameda County Bar Association to the growing list of groups treating the State Bar’s annual meeting like a pox-ridden village best to be avoided.

In an email issued yesterday, President Charles Bendes notified the association’s members that the ACBA will not be represented because the State Bar is holding its Sept. 10-13 meeting at San Diego’s Manchester Grand Hyatt. It’s not the accommodations that bother ACBA, but the fact that the hotel’s owner, Doug Manchester, donated $125,000 toward the passage of Proposition 8.

Sending a message … after the jump.

Bar Proposes Cheap Amnesty for Delinquent Lawyers

Hey, you lawyers suspended from practicing the law for not paying annual dues. Has the State Bar got a deal for you!

Pay half of what you owe, plus this year’s $410 dues, and your record is clean and you’re off the rolls of the suspended. At least that’s what the State Bar hopes to do once a 30-day public comment period ends.

The proposal — which adds an amendment to the State Bar’s waiver rules — helps the agency too. Currently, the State Bar is owed more than $21.6 million in unpaid fees from 8,342 lawyers. If even half that number pays up, the State Bar — always looking for revenue — could bag more than $10.8 million. And that doesn’t hurt in tough economic times.

"Found money" and "blue light specials," after the jump.

The ABA: Only Good at Evaluating Judges When The Prez is a Democrat?

The argument in this New York Times editorial today, about the White House deciding to use the ABA again to vet judge picks, truly puzzles us. At first, it seems to be giving the ABA props. But then it kind of morphs into a backhanded compliment.

Faulty logic (theirs, not ours), after the jump.

Bar Candidates Announced (No Swimsuit Competition Expected)

There are solo practitioners and big-firm lawyers, deputy public defenders and deputy district attorneys, an appellate specialist, attorneys from mid-sized firms and one guy the State Bar slapped on the wrist a few years back for accusing a trio of appellate justices of misbehaving.

They are the 18 lawyers — from as far north as Roseville and as far south as San Diego — who have thrown their hats into the ring for five seats on the State Bar Board of Governors. The State Bar announced the names late Wednesday and the candidates have until June 30 to convince their districts’ voters to choose them for a three-year term. Only time will tell if the victors become superstars of justice or reviled show boaters who manage to piss off State Bar staff with meddling and micro-managing. Oh, yeah! There have been plenty of the latter and few of the former over the years.

At least one lucky candidate will get a chance to serve one final year as State Bar president.

Let’s bring out our lovely contestants … after the jump.