The Conference is Dead,
Long Live the Conference
by W. Stuart Home III

The State Bar Conference of Delegates is dead, may it rest in peace. On Sunday, October 13, 2002 just after noon, the Chair brought to a close a 68-year tradition. The State Bar Conference of Delegates was a forum where representatives from local bar associations and interested state bar members came together at the State Bar's annual meeting to debate and vote on a wide range of resolutions affecting the statutory law under which we all practice. Numerous changes to the Code of Civil Procedure, Civil Code, Family Code, Probate Code and the Penal Code were proposed through the efforts of the old Conference. Once passed, many of those resolutions went to the California legislature where they were lobbied and ultimately became new law, usually to the benefit of all who practice law.

But the Conference had become controversial. In 1997, while meeting in San Diego, the Conference passed a resolution against the death penalty. The Governor at that time, Pete Wilson, objected to this den of liberalism acting in his own hometown and took his revenge on the bar association by vetoing the dues bill when it next crossed his desk. As a result the Bar was decimated. Without the ability to collect dues from its members, attorney discipline ceased almost completely. Most of the State Bar's staff was laid off and most of the blame was laid, rightly or wrongly, at the door of the Conference.

For several years afterwards, an uneasy relationship existed between the Conference and the State Bar. The debate continued for several years over the future of the Conference. Some members of the Conference decried the decision of Keller v. State Bar (1990) 796 U.S. 1 in which the Supreme Court ruled that State Bar Associations could not use mandatory dues to fund ideological or political activities, such as those actions by the conference. They argued that the Conference was better served splitting off from the Bar as its own non-profit organization. There were members of the governing board of the State Bar who wholeheartedly agreed. But, there were others who saw the benefit of having a continuing relationship with the State Bar. For one thing, every attorney's dues statement provides for a $10 voluntary contribution to the conference that the State Bar collected and turned over to the Conference. The Conference also shared in the profit from the annual meeting and received specially earmarked donations through the State Bar Foundation. Moreover, for years many good changes to the statutory law had been instigated through the Conference.

And now it has all come to an end? Sixty-eight years of good work, albeit at times controversial, has reached a terminus? The efforts of countless bar members over the years are now just memories of the past? Well. - not exactly. A new nonprofit corporation called the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations (CDCBA) has arisen as an independent body that will carry on those traditions and efforts of attorneys throughout the state. The new CDCBA will still meet as part of the State Bar's annual meeting thanks to a memorandum of understanding with the State Bar. The first meeting will be next fall at the annual meeting in Anaheim. The State Bar will continue to collect $10 voluntary contributions as well through the annual dues statement.

Efforts like those of Sacramento attorney Karen Goodman, who successfully carried a resolution calling for the changing of Business and Professions Code section 6068 to allow lawyers to reveal a client confidence in the limited situation of a client's threat to kill or seriously injure another, will continue. Such a rule would bring the California statutes into conformity with the ABA Model Rules. Of course, her successful resolution must now be presented to the legislature, lobbied by the Conference's lobbyist and ultimately signed into law by the Governor. Yet, this important issue would likely never have had the opportunity for debate in the legislature, were it not for the Conference.

If you have never experienced a Conference at the Bar's annual meeting, and you would like to, all Sacramento County Bar Association members are invited to join the 2003 delegation. Many who participate in the Conference consider it one of the most rewarding and fun activities associated with the practice of law. There will be a meeting for the 2003 delegation on December 11, 2002 at noon at the County Bar office, 901 H. Street, Suite 101, Sacramento across the street from the courthouse. At that time, we will have a brief wrap-up including a slide show of this past year's conference as well as an orientation and schedule for the upcoming year. A complimentary lunch will also be served. Please RSVP to shome@jacobsenmcelroy.com if you would like to attend.

The 2003 meeting promises to be an exciting beginning to the new CDCBA. There may even be a little controversy thrown in just for "old times sake."

Conference Photos