The Oklahoma Bar Association Board of Governors met at the Oklahoma Bar Center on Friday, April 20, 2007.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

President Beam reported he met with Chief Justice Winchester on various matters, taped a TV segment for the Ask A Lawyer show, appeared at the Supreme Court conference at which Rules of Professional Conduct amendments were considered, fielded calls and e-mails from various bar members, worked on the YLD regional meeting program, worked on tort reform issues and met with Executive Director Williams numerous times. He attended OBA Day at the Capitol events and the Supreme Court dinner. He attended meetings of the Mentoring Task Force, Leadership Conference Task Force, Awards Committee, State Legal Referral Service Task Force, Custer County Bar Association and the first organizational meeting of the Oklahoma Hispanic Bar Network.

REPORT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

Vice President Dawson reported he has been working with the Bar Center Facilities Committee, Mentoring Task Force in addition to gathering material and preparing an agenda for the April 23 Lawyer Advertising Task Force meeting. He also attended the Canadian County Bar Association meeting.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT

President-Elect Conger reported he attended meetings of the Access to Justice Committee, Bar Center Facilities Committee and Work/Life Balance Committee.

REPORT OF THE PAST PRESIDENT

Past President Grimm reported he attended meetings of the Tulsa Title and Probate Lawyers Association, OBA Bar Facilities Committee and OBA Leadership Conference Task Force.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Executive Director Williams reported he attended meetings of the Leadership Conference Task Force, MCLE Commission, State Legal Referral Service Task Force, Law School Committee, Bench and Bar Committee, Bar Center Facilities Committee and Idea Raiser-100 Great Ideas. He conducted OBA director evaluations and had separate meetings with Dick Beale on storage space, the architect on modular space and with the modular space company in Tulsa, where he viewed several modular unit samples. He attended the Thursday evening board social event and several other meetings with OBA leadership and others on various subjects.

BOARD MEMBER REPORTS

Governor Caudle reported he attended the March Board of Governors meeting and dinner with the Supreme Court, Comanche County Bar Association meeting, Mentoring Task Force meeting and General Counsel Murdock’s CLE ethics presentation and NBA Hornets game. He also participated in the coordination of the Law Day luncheon, golf tournament and barbeque.

Governor Christensen reported she attended the March Board of Governors social with the Supreme Court, March Board of Governors meeting, Mentoring Task Force meeting, OBA Bar Facilities Committee meeting, Women in Law Committee meeting, OBA Bench and Bar Committee meeting, Model Code of Judicial Conduct Subcommittee meeting, Hornets CLE seminar and Oklahoma County Board of Directors meeting.

Governor Dirickson reported she attended the March board dinner with the Supreme Court, March board meeting, Custer County Bar Association monthly meeting and Beckham County Bar Association monthly meeting.

Governor Farris reported he attended the March Board of Governors dinner with the Supreme Court, March Board of Governors meeting, Tulsa County Bar Foundation meeting and Tulsa County Bar Association meeting. He spoke to two classes at the TU law school about probate administration and chaired the Tulsa Municipal Judicial Nominating Committee meeting.

Governor Hermanson reported during the past two months he attended OBA Day at the Capitol activities, State Legal Referral Service Task Force meeting, OBA Criminal Law Section seminar, Thursday night Board of Governors function in Bricktown, Board of Governors meeting, OBA Member Services Committee meeting, OSU Hall of Fame dinner in Stillwater honoring Justice Steven Taylor, swearing-in ceremony of Judge Lee Stout in Newkirk and OETA Festival with other OBA members in Oklahoma City. In Tulsa he attended the OBA Law Practice Management Section reception and brainstorming session.

Governor Hogan reported he attended the March board meeting and lunch at the Faculty House, Pittsburg County Bar Association meeting and assisted with information for the Pittsburg County “Ask A Lawyer” program.

Governor Kennemer reported he attended two State Legal Referral Service Task Force meetings, March Board of Governors social with the Supreme Court, March Board of Governors meeting, Mentoring Task Force meeting and Communications Task Force meeting.

Governor Reheard reported she attended the Thursday night dinner with the Supreme Court justices, Board of Governors meeting and McIntosh County Bar Association’s Law Day planning meeting.

Governor Souter reported he attended the Board of Governors dinner with the Supreme Court, March board meeting, OBA Awards Committee meeting and Creek County Bar Association meeting.

Governor Stockwell reported she attended the March board meeting, board dinner with the Supreme Court, Cleveland County Bar Association luncheon, OBA Awards Committee meeting and Cleveland County CLE featuring MAP Director Calloway.

REPORT OF THE YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION

Governor Camp reported the YLD sent Roy Tucker to ABA Law Day in Washington, D.C. where he met with many of Oklahoma’s representatives. He also reported past YLD Chair Keri Williams has done a great deal of work on planning the program for the Affiliate Outreach Program meeting that will take place this weekend. He attended the Board of Governors dinner with the Supreme Court, March Board of Governors meeting, OBA Leadership Conference Task Force meeting and planning teleconference with the YLD New Attorney Committee. He chaired the March YLD Board of Directors meeting.

REPORT OF THE SUPREME COURT LIAISON

Justice Taylor reported the Supreme Court approved the amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct that will become effective Jan. 1, 2008. He said Ethics Counsel Hendryx did a fine job in making the presentation. Justice Taylor said the order and the new rules have been posted to www.oscn.net. President Beam reported the OBA will produce the new rules as a separate printed publication for all members in addition to having them available on its Web site.

LAW STUDENT DIVISION LIAISON

LSD Chair Robben reported she attended the March Board of Governors social with the Supreme Court and the March Board of Governors meeting. She noted that this was her last meeting, and she said she will forever be grateful for the experience, which has meant so much to her.

REPORT OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

General Counsel Murdock shared a status report of the Professional Responsibility Commission and OBA disciplinary matters. He reported he conducted an Office of the General Counsel staff meeting and spoke to President-Elect Conger’s Introduction to the Practice of Law class at OCU with Ethics Counsel Hendryx. He attended a Professional Responsibility Commission meeting, OBA directors meeting, monthly OBA staff celebration, OU reception for the law student pro bono program and Clients’ Security Fund meeting.

DISCUSSION OF SENATE BILL 507

Board members heard brief comments from attorneys Brad West and Larry Tawwater, who addressed issues contained within Senate Bill 507 that has passed both the House and Senate in the Oklahoma Legislature. Governors were given the opportunity to speak. The board voted to send a letter encouraging Gov. Brad Henry to veto the proposed legislation. The board authorized the Public Information Department to send out a news release about the letter to Gov. Henry that the Board of Governors voted to send. The board authorized an editorial from President Beam to be distributed to daily newspapers across the state. It was noted Justice Taylor was not present during the discussion of this agenda item.

BAR CENTER RENOVATIONS

Executive Director Williams reported the week of July 16 is projected for east wing employees to move to the temporary units. A floor plan draft of the temporary space will be available soon. Work has started on the new location for the telephone system. President-Elect Conger reported the Bar Center Facilities Committee will ask the architects of the new front entrance to do a plan to soften the rough finish, which was intended to be a contrast to the while marble exterior. The committee still wants to add quotes to the entrance.

PRESENTATION

President Beam presented LSD Chair Robben with an OBA certificate of appreciation and thanked her for her service on the Board of Governors. She thanked board members for the wonderful experience and their support.

LAW DAY COMMITTEE REPORT

Committee Chair Giovanni Perry reported that new members had joined the committee this year to provide much needed assistance. She reviewed the content of the four Ask A Lawyer TV show segments that will air on OETA May 1 and other Law Day activities. She said volunteers had been recruited to translate the TV show into Spanish for the second year and asked the board to consider increasing the committee budget next year to allow professional translators to be used.

COMMITTEE LIAISON REPORT

Governor Hermanson reported on behalf of the Member Services Committee that the contract with CoreVault has been signed, and an official announcement to the membership is coming as soon as a co-branded Web site is developed. The board approved the vendor endorsement at its March meeting.

APPEAL TO LEGAL ETHICS OPINION 2006 OK LEG ETH 01

Legal Ethics Advisory Panel member Jim Drummond reviewed the process used by the panel in issuing an advisory opinion. Attorneys Allan Brook III, Michael Joseph and David Petty addressed the board. The board voted to grant the appeal and to withdraw the opinion. The board voted to express appreciation to the panel for its time and effort. It was noted Justice Taylor did not participate in the discussion and Governor Dirickson was not present during consideration of this agenda item.

PROPOSED FAMILY LAW SECTION LOGOS

The board voted to require all OBA sections wanting to use logos to utilize the existing OBA logo with the addition of the section name. The board tabled action on the development of a policy regarding logo utilization and approval.

AWARDS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

The board approved Awards Committee recommendations for 2007 awards that include the criteria for the new Trailblazer Award.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Executive Director Williams reviewed the status of bills on the OBA legislative agenda. He noted the civil procedure bill has passed.

OKLAHOMA GET-A-WAY

MAP Director Calloway reviewed events planned for the Solo and Small Firm Conference, YLD Midyear Meeting and Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section Midyear Meeting June 21-23, 2007, at Tanglewood Resort on Lake Texoma.

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