Message from the Chair

By John Appelbaum^*

PROTECTING THE PUBLIC LAW SECTION’S MISSION

In my last statement, I emphasized the Public Law Section’s support for the State Bar’s reformation. This support has not changed. As part of the Bar’s reformation, the Bar’s Board of Trustees encouraged the dis-integration of the Sections from the Bar’s core regulatory functions. On December 12, 2016, the Board authorized the creation of a joint delegation of Board members and Council of State Bar Section members to discuss with the Legislature the structure and logistics of such a separation. On January 26, 2017, the Board authorized the Bar’s executive staff to pursue separation as part of its 2017 fee bill. The Bar’s Executive Director recently expressed her belief that a split is "inevitable."

To be sure, the Bar’s ills will not be cured by the shedding of its educational obligations. By focusing its efforts on eliminating its Educational Sections, the State Bar is simply masking its many years of mismanagement which, in 2016, the State auditor concluded placed "the public at risk." Perhaps not surprisingly, the State Bar has not publicly disclosed any cost analysis in this latest undertaking.