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Week of February 26, 2007
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Nominations Wanted for Austin Bar Board, Resumes Due March 8
Austin Bar Association is seeking candidates for officers and directors for the 2007-08 bar year. The nominating
committee chaired by President Steve Benesh requests applications from interested persons for president-elect,
secretary, treasurer, and four director positions. Candidates should demonstrate a history of activity within
the organized bar.
Interested persons should send a resume along with the position title by March 8 to: Austin Bar Association,
Attn: Nominating Committee; 816 Congress Ave., Suite 700; Austin, Texas 78701. Officer positions are one-year terms.
Director positions are for two years. Nominees for the office of president-elect shall have served at least two
years on the Board of Directors prior to assuming office.
The Nominating Committee is composed of President Steve Benesh, President-Elect Jo Ann Merica, Past President
Randy Howry, two representatives from the affiliate bar associations, and four representatives of Austin Bar's
sections.
The Nominating Committee's decision shall be announced on or before March 15. The number of candidates to
be nominated for each position shall be left to the discretion of a majority of the Nominating Committee. Any
qualified member not receiving the nomination of the committee may be included on the ballot by submitting a
written petition signed by 75 members of the association. Such written petitions must be submitted to the
association by April 10. Voting will be conducted at the annual meeting of the membership in May and
via electronic ballot. If there is a contested race, early voting will begin 15 business days prior to the annual
meeting.
For questions about the election process, please contact Austin Bar Executive Director DeLaine Ward at 472-0279.
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Online Legal Career and Practice Development Conference and Job Fair, March 5 through 10
Join LegalCareerExpo.com as they bring to you a career and practice development conference with convenience.
Attend a variety of teleseminars from March 5 through March 10.
Over 40 bar associations have joined together to deliver a powerful online career and practice development
program for the legal communities that they serve. Attendees will find new ways to grow their book of business,
advance their careers, and network confidentially with some of the top legal employers across the nation.
Learn simple techniques on how to grow your practice, how to make a successful lateral move, how to think big,
and even how to find your next job.
Also, get questions answered in live Q&A sessions and dial into important Keynote speaker presentations.
Register before March 2 and save $10 per program.
Don't miss out on this opportunity!
Click here to register.
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A Lawyer Walks into a Bar...March 13
Camel's Back Films announces the World Premiere of "A LAWYER WALKS INTO A BAR..." at the 2007 South by Southwest
Film Festival.
The film takes a whimsical look at lawyers, law, and litigiousness in America as seen through the eyes of six
would-be lawyers preparing for the most notorious bar exam in the nation. The documentary features a cast of
characters that runs the gamut -- from a type A "gunner" hellbent on rising to the top of her profession at
whatever cost, to a former Marine who has taken the bar exam 41 times. (Yes, 41 times.)
The film features cameos by legal luminaries, politicians, celebrity lawyers and other notables, including actor
and comedian Eddie Griffin, attorney Robert Shapiro (counsel to O.J. Simpson), CNN's Nancy Grace, Court TV's
Catherine Crier, novelist Scott Turow, Harvard law professor and legal commentator Alan Dershowitz, U.S. Senator
John Cornyn, Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan, renowned Texas trial lawyers Joe Jamail and Mark Lanier, Comedy
Central's Michael Ian Black, and ABC's John Stossel.
Date: Tuesday, March 13
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Location: Paramount Theater, 713 Congress Ave.
To purchase tickets and for more information, please visit
http://www.alawyerwalksintoabar.com.
Space is very limited as SXSW badge holders will have priority seating after this advance ticket pre-sale.
Please reserve your seats early. Purchased tickets can be picked up at Will Call at the Paramount Theater
thirty minutes prior to the show. Please bring your receipt and picture ID.
For questions, please e-mail info@alawyerwalksintoabar.com
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Love Bar Code? Pay Your Dues by March 15
If you have not yet paid your dues for 2007, you will stop receiving the Austin Bar's e-newsletter, Bar Code,
as of March 15, as well as lose many other benefits that are included in an Austin Bar membership.
To pay your dues, call 472-0279.
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Nominations Wanted - Deadline March 15
Austin Bar Association is on the lookout for nominations for two awards to be presented at our Law Day Banquet
on Tuesday, May 1.
Regina Rogoff Award This award is given annually to an attorney in Travis County that has demonstrated outstanding
service in the public/non-profit sector and is a lasting tribute to Regina Rogoff, who started at Legal Aid in
1973 and was Executive Director for 19 years. Past recipients include Berry Crowley, Betti Balli Torres, Bree
Buchanan, and Fred Fuchs.
The Professionalism Award The Austin Bar Association presents this award along with the Texas Center for
Professionalism to a local lawyer who best exemplifies, by conduct and character, truly professional traits,
who others in the bar seek to emulate, and who all in the bar admire. Past recipients of this award include
Chuck Herring, Xavier Medina, Steve Zager, Larry Langley, Mina Brees, and Mike McKetta.
Please send your nominations to DeLaine Ward at delaine@austinbar.org
or 816 Congress Ave., Suite 700, Austin, Texas 78701 by March 15.
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American Bar Association's Fundamentals of Franchising, March 23
Take advantage of a rare opportunity to attend the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising's Fundamentals
of Franchising program in Dallas.
This program provides a comprehensive overview of franchise law for those who want the best possible introduction
to the field, as well as those who want a refresher on one or more areas of franchise law practice.
Some of the area's top franchise lawyers will give presentations on structuring the franchise relationship,
disclosure and registration requirements, defining and protecting a franchise system's intellectual property,
franchise relationship laws, antitrust and representation of franchisees.
The program will also include a discussion of some highlights of the recently amended Federal Trade Commission
franchise rule.
Date: March 23
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas
CLE Credit: 4.0 hours
Please click here
to register and for more information on this highly informative forum.
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Calling All Golfers
A golf competition among friends, without pressure, with loads of fun for a great cause -
that's The First Tee of Greater Austin's Kings of the Course Corporate Scramble & Relay.
You are invited to organize a team for the Friday, April 6, Legal Division event, starting at 5:00 pm,
with reception to follow. If you really need a reason to leave work early on a Friday to play golf, pick from
the following:
- The tournament is on the First Tee's own nine-hole course. If you've never played it, you should! The
three par fours are model risk-reward holes and the six par three holes would hold their own on any course
in Austin.
- The three-hole relay is sure to boost your adrenaline. Forget everything you know about the rules of golf
for this event. It's all about how fast four people can scrape a ball through three holes.
- If your team wins the Legal Division - and with a scramble and a relay, every team has a chance - you play
in the Final Corporate Showdown against the winning teams in other industries.
- It only takes about two hours - not five or six like most scrambles.
- At $75 per player or $300 per team, it doesn't break the bank. You can also help at a higher level or just
sponsor a hole for $50. See the details at firstteeaustin.org.
- The proceeds go to the First Tee Youth Scholarship Fund of The First Tee of Greater Austin, the local
chapter of a national charity organization that mentors children and teens through the game of golf. Many of the
kids who benefit wouldn't have any other way to play golf, much less get life and golf lessons from mentors in
our community.
This is a great way to pull together as a profession, and a great way to support our community's youth. If you're
interested, sign up online today at www.firstteeaustin.org/kings.
For questions, please contact Shawn St. Clair at 495-6071 or
sstclair@mcginnislaw.com
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People to People Goes to Russia
People to People Ambassador Programs brings you a unique, life-changing opportunity. The program
invites you to join them for the U.S.-Russia Joint Conference on the Rule of Law in St. Petersburg,
Russia from November 2-9, 2007. Richard Pena will spearhead the trip and will be joined by distinguished
co-chairs:
- Justice Wallace Jefferson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
- Steven Walther, past chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Irena Lieberman, director of the ABA Commission on Immigration
- Steven Zack, past chair of the Board of Directors of the ABA
- General Alfred Valenzuela, Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s Law School
- Steven Tober, New Hampshire State Bar
People to People International was founded in 1956 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in an effort
to better promote cultural understanding through the direct communication of individuals from different
countries. For 50 years, the program has developed teams of specialists in a variety of disciplines
to allow face-to-face communication among colleagues.
People to People provides a professionally rewarding experience for each delegation member by providing
them with an opportunity to share their experiences and expertise, discuss common problems, compare
recent findings, and to learn from their international counterparts and fellow team members.
For questions regarding the delegation, please contact an associate of People to People Ambassador
Programs at (877) 787-2000 or e-mail
info@ambassadorprograms.org
For more information, visit http://www.ambassadorprograms.com.
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Volunteers Needed
The Central Texas Civil Liberties Union is looking for attorney volunteers interested in Bill of Rights issues
to help screen complaints and requests for help to the Central Texas chapter of the ACLU of Texas. The screening
group meets the first Wednesday of each month at the ACLU office on East 11th Street from about 4:30 pm to
5:30 p.m.
To volunteer or for more information, contact Lynn Sanders at 474-5793 or
lynnsanders@sbcglobal.net
or Larry Sauer at
sauerlaw@wdo-law.com.
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Upcoming Meetings
SECTIONS:
Tuesday, February 27, Bankruptcy Law Section Meeting
Thursday, March 1, Environmental Law Section Meeting
Wednesday, March 7, Family Law Section Meeting
Thursday, March 8, Labor and Employment Law Section Meeting
Thursday, March 8, Financial Institutions Section Meeting
COMMITTEES:
There are no committee meetings for the remainder of this week.
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Proud corporate sponsors of the Austin Bar Association
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