Sold-out Spring Convention Kicks Off This Week |
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The Utah Bar Spring Convention commences this week on Thursday, March 14 and runs through Saturday, March 16. I am pleased to report that the Spring Convention is sold out.
A big thank you to the Utah Bar staff who work so incredibly hard to make the conventions a success, including Elizabeth Wright, Michelle Oldroyd, Lydia Kane, David Clark, Matthew Page, and many others.
A big thank you as well to President-Elect Cara Tangaro, who has been instrumental in lining up some amazing panels for St. George.
And finally, a giant “thank you” to the members of the Utah Judiciary who participate in the Spring Convention, and who give their valuable time to help Utah Bar members better understand and learn from our incredible Utah judiciary.
Speaking of “thank you’s,” I wanted to give a big thank you to Jaqualin Peterson and Sara Bouley, the co-chairs of the Utah Bar Governmental Relations Committee. With more than 500 pieces of legislation introduced during the session, Jaqualin and Sara work incredibly hard to sift through the bills to identify those that implicate the administration of justice and impact the courts. I had the pleasure of working with Jaqualin and Sara throughout the session, and no one works harder to provide service to the Utah Bar and Utah citizens.
I also want to briefly update the Bar on the just completed session, which ended on March 1. In the interests of the administration of justice, the Utah Bar Commission vote to oppose several pieces of legislation. The Utah Bar Commission voted to oppose passage of House Joint Resolution 008, which passed and is now awaiting the Governor’s veto or approval. House Joint Resolution 008, if signed into law, will permit Utah lawyers in districts with seven or more judges to change any assigned judge for any reason or no reason at all. The courts opposed the bill, and the Utah Bar opposed the bill, for a number of reasons, including that the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) already works well in assisting judges in improving their performance and HJR008 permits forum shopping, if for example, a lawyer simply wants to avoid a particular judge to gain some perceived advantage.
The Utah Bar also opposed the amendments to the State Commission on Criminal and Juvenile in Senate Bill SB0200, which also passed. Senate Bill 0200 shrinks the size of the State Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) by eliminating numerous legal experts from service on the Commission, including the Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court, the Chair of the Utah Council on Victims of Crime, the Executive Director of the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, the Salt Lake County District Attorney, and a criminal defense lawyer nominated from a list of three lawyers submitted by the Utah State Bar. Given the myriad of responsibilities of CCJJ and the importance of having broad representation on CCJJ, the Utah Bar opposed SB0200, as antithetical to the administration of justice.
Finally, I wanted to remind Utah lawyers of the Utah Supreme Court’s Professionalism and Civility Counseling Board chaired by Christopher Von Maack. The Professionalism and Civility Counseling Board exists so that Utah lawyers who encounter lawyers lacking in civility have a place to get advice on how to deal with offending lawyers and provides a productive mechanism to help such lawyers.
The Professionalism and Civility Counseling Board exists to receive, evaluate, address and resolve complaints made by Bar members and judges concerning lawyers who lack professionalism and/or civility. The Board counsels Bar members who request their advice on the Utah Standards of Professionalism and Civility, educates Bar members on their obligations under the Standards, and reaches out to and counsels lawyers who are violating the Standards. If you know of a lawyer whom you believe would benefit from counseling on professionalism and civility, please consider requesting help from the Board.
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Groundbreaking Utah Judge Raymond S. Uno Passes Away at 93 |
Judge Uno was a civil rights champion whose family was interned at Heart Mountain Concentration Camp in Wyoming during World War II. Judge Uno volunteered for the military and served during the Korean War.
Judge Uno graduated from the University of Utah Law School in 1967, and was appointed to the Salt Lake City bench in 1976. He was elected to the Third District Bench in 1984.
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Justice Diana Hagen
Dorathy Merrill Brothers Award
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Judge Shauna Graves-Robertson
Raymond S. Uno Award
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Judge David O. Nuffer
2023 Judge of the Year Award
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Mock Trial Award Winners Honored at Ceremony at Law School |
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First Place High School
Integritis-Red Team
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Second Place High School
Salt Lake Valley Impact
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