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Last Post 01 May 2024 09:00 PM by  Elena Nethers
R-24-0030 Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the Supreme Court
 24 Replies
Author Messages
Stacy Skankey
New Member
Posts:1 New Member

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10 Jan 2024 03:32 PM
    Stacy Skankey
    Goldwater Institute
    500 E. Coronado Rd.
    Phoenix, AZ 85004
    Phone: (602) 462-5000
    Fax: (602) 256-7045
    [email protected]
    AZ Bar # 035589
    Petition to Amend Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the Supreme Court

    Filed: January 10, 2024

    Would amend Rules 32(b) and (c) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona to eliminate the authority to levy State Bar membership dues for non-regulatory functions.

    Comments must be submitted by no later than Wednesday, May 1, 2024, and any reply by a petitioner must be submitted no later than Monday, June 3, 2024.
    Attachments
    Steven R. Simon
    New Member
    Posts:2 New Member

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    20 Jan 2024 10:06 AM
    Steven Simon Law, PLLC
    1815 Purdy Ave
    Miami Beach, FL 33139-1425
    https://www.inslaw.net
    Office: 305-972-6074

    This proposed amendment is critical to safeguard the 1st Amendment freedom of speech rights and the 14th Amendment due process property rights of attorneys in the monies that we are required to pay as dues in order to maintain our bar licenses. Right now the Arizona Bar is charging over $500 annually for basic membership while I am only paying $265 a year for my Florida Bar dues and there is no good reason for this cost differential. Extra frills that the Arizona Bar governors want to spend should be paid by voluntary contributions.
    Carrie Ann Donnell
    New Member
    Posts:2 New Member

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    02 Feb 2024 11:45 AM
    Carrie Ann Donnell
    American Juris Link
    7000 N 16th St. #120-155
    Phoenix, AZ 85020
    [email protected]

    I support the proposed rule to reduce State Bar membership dues to the cost of regulatory functions. I have worked in public interest law my entire career, providing pro bono services to the most vulnerable clients in Arizona. I have also offered legal services in Arizona at very low market rates while working part-time as a stay-at-home mom. It is critical that attorney bar dues are minimal in order to maximize access to justice. Any extra overhead, even a few hundred dollars a year, increases client costs and reduces lawyer availability for those who can least afford it. This is unjustifiable when the extra fees are completely unrelated to the lawyer's qualifications or ability to adequately represent her clients -- and especially when the fees are for services, functions, and positions that the lawyer doesn't use or actively opposes. For these reasons, I support the proposed rule.
    James C. Mitchell
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    08 Feb 2024 09:38 AM
    James C. Mitchell
    Rua António Gonçalves
    LT 4, Apt 3A
    3040-375 Coimbra, Portugal
    [email protected]
    U.S. phone 520-907-2478

    I write to support this proposal and to stress a requirement for the legitimate regulatory activities suggested by Petitioners: to be essential, a program must work. No mandatory bar function should be undertaken without proof that it is likely to achieve its asserted goals. No existing function should be continued without periodic proof of performance.

    One State Bar function identified by Petitioners as permissible is enforcing mandatory continuing legal education. Permissible, but unproven. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to reduce wasted time, onerous costs, and the State Bar’s temptation to push political viewpoints. At present, however, MCLE as imposed here fails any realistic standard of necessity for regulation of the practice of law.

    Consider the recent appraisal of a distinguished task force appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to study lawyer competency. After a two-year research project, the task force in 2023 “found no scientific study or empirical evidence to support the claim that compulsory CLE is an effective means of maintaining and enhancing lawyer competence, and after 40 years of mandatory CLE in Georgia and elsewhere, the absence of such support is striking. And yet, mandatory CLE requirements impose real costs upon lawyers, year after year.”

    That conclusion is astonishing for its clear-eyed candor. Bar regulators nationwide have avoided any careful examination of MCLE for decades. To my knowledge, the only other state to rigorously study its forced CLE scheme was Michigan. There, the mandate was rescinded, with one Michigan Supreme Court justice finding that it had “no more value than chicken soup.”

    MCLE’s futility is obvious to millions of its dragooned customers, but a hard sell to bar associations that cherish their cut of the course fees and the warm fuzzy bragging rights for promoting “education.” As I noted in 1999, MCLE represents “the unseemly mating of cash cow and public relations bull.” Our State Bar once boasted about the profit it was making, apparently forgetting that the State Bar’s CLE profit was the members’ loss.

    As the Georgia report indicates, customary rationalizations for compelled CLE are crumbling in their vacuum of verifiable value. Over the years, however, some MCLE supporters have attempted to thwart informed criticism by arguing that the mandate is a done deal. “That train has left the station,” they say.

    Yes, but what a muddled metaphor. Nobody ever bought an overpriced train ticket for the purpose of leaving a station. Travelers want to get somewhere. MCLE’s asserted destination was always a mirage, a mythical land where forced torpid seminars protect the public and ensure that all the lawyers are above average. That train has not arrived. For all we know, it’s off the rails and spinning its wheels in the desert sand somewhere, feigning optimism by puffing, “I think I can, I think I can….”

    But it can’t, given the proven paucity of evidence supporting it. That train is a half-century late in some states, thirty-five years in Arizona. This is no way to run a railroad or regulate a learned profession.

    Petitioners’ proposal would help eliminate the mandatory bar mission creep that sucked Arizona into the MCLE swamp. It could help lead to MCLE's elimination or at least to substantial mitigation of its harm. I therefore respectfully ask this Court to approve the requested rule.
    _____

    The Georgia Task Force report:
    https://www.gasupreme.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/LCTF-Final-Report.pdf
    (I am a former member of the State Bar of Arizona. Resigned in good standing upon retiring and moving to Portugal.)
    Pearlette J. Ramos
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    28 Mar 2024 03:54 PM
    Pearlette J. Ramos
    President, Arizona Black Bar
    P. O. Box 628
    Phoenix, AZ 85001
    [email protected]
    (480) 213-8339
    www.arizonablackbar.org

    The Arizona Black Bar (“ABB”) opposes the petition, dated January 10, 2024, filed by the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at the Goldwater Institute that amends Rules 32(b) and (c) (“Rule 32”), of the Arizona Supreme Court (“Court”) governing membership in the State Bar of Arizona (“State Bar”) which would: (a) maintain the current mandatory membership requirement for all lawyers; and (b) eliminate the membership dues for “non-regulatory functions.”

    The petitioners urge the Court to reduce the State Bar membership dues to only mandatory requirements related to regulatory functions. However, the State Bar has a responsibility that goes beyond the regulation of Arizona lawyers as its mission is to “serve and protect the public with respect to the provision of legal services and access to justice.”

    The State Bar performs vital functions that affect the legal profession, Arizonans and the community as a whole which are intertwined and interrelated. The proposed Rule 32 amendments would compromise the State Bar’s ability to offer the following:

     Ethics Hotline that provides proactive advice to prevent ethical mishaps
     Fee Arbitration Program that efficiently resolves disputes between the public and attorneys
     Maintain programs that improve access to justice
     Provide resources and assistance to partner bar organizations
     Engage in initiatives specifically aimed at improving lawyer well-being
     Offer educational programs that substantially benefits lawyers, the legal community and the public
     Organize pro bono legal service events for low and middle-income Arizonans

    These and other State Bar programs are germane to lawyers’ ability to participate in pro bono work, educate the public about legal issues, and maintain the integrity of the legal profession.

    In conclusion, the State Bar is the heartbeat of the Arizona legal community. It is the foundational element upon which lawyers engage with one another and the public. The ABB and other partner bar associations rely on the services and functions provided by the State Bar. As such, the ABB urges the Court to refrain from adopting the proposed Rule 32 amendments.

    kielsky
    New Member
    Posts:2 New Member

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    01 Apr 2024 05:28 PM
    Michael Kielsky, #021864
    Attorney
    KENT LAW, PLC
    7540 S. Willow Dr.
    Tempe, AZ 85283
    480.359.5368
    [email protected]

    I support this proposed rule change, for all the reasons provided in the petition. As former (Maricopa County Bar Association) and current (East Valley Bar Association) president of local, voluntary bar associations, many if not most non-germane activities of the State Bar of Arizona are already activities, programs, and services lawyers seek and find in voluntary bar organizations.

    The State Bar of Arizona's inability to out-compete and displace the voluntary bars should stand as proof that the State Bar of Arizona's use and abuse of mandatory bar dues for non-germane activities is not the exclusive, the best, or the only way for such. Even with its (Supreme Court sanctioned) near-monopoly and its mandatory dues (costs plus) model, the State Bar fails to out-compete the voluntary bars in the market-place. That alone is proof positive that limiting the State Bar by rule to ONLY the core of its regulatory functions will not harm the legal profession, and will most likely help further improve the legal profession and the better serve the public.

    /s/ Michael Kielsky
    Aditya Dynar
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 Apr 2024 08:13 PM
    Aditya Dynar (031583)
    Pacific Legal Foundation
    3100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1000
    Arlington, VA 22201
    (602) 582-0356
    [email protected]

    I support this rule-change petition. A vast majority of Arizona lawyers are required to interact with the State Bar of Arizona's website on only two occasions every year. The first is to electronically fill out and submit the yearly CLE affidavit around June. The second is to pay the bar dues and fill out related electronic forms in January. The petition strikes the appropriate balance between protecting SBA's core functions and permitting the collection of annual dues to cover only those functions.

    My office address is provided for identification purposes only. I submit this comment as an individual. This comment is not submitted on behalf of my employer or anybody else.

    /s/ Aditya Dynar
    Dustin Romney
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    03 Apr 2024 03:10 PM
    Dustin Romney
    Frazier Law, PLLC
    7702 E Doubletree Ranch Rd., Suite 300
    Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
    480-352-5256
    [email protected]
    Arizona State Bar #034728


    I fully support this rule change. It is manifestly unjust for anyone to be forced to fund political speech or activism with which they disagree. Fortunately, the United States Supreme Court has recognized this as a constitutionally protected right. It is long past time for the Arizona bar to respect that right.
    Kevin S Ruegg
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    05 Apr 2024 04:33 PM
    Kevin S. Ruegg, CEO
    Arizona Bar Foundation
    4201 N. 24th St, Ste 210
    602-340-7356
    FAX - N/A
    [email protected]
    Bar # - N/A

    The Arizona Supreme Court established the State Bar of Arizona and tasked it with not just regulating the practice of law but gave it a mission “to serve and protect the public with the provision of legal services and access to justice.” In turn, and pursuant to this mission, the State Bar of Arizona created the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education (AZ Bar Foundation) as a separate 501(c)(3) organization in 1978, to assist in promoting access to justice for all Arizonans.

    In partnership with the State Bar, the Foundation strives to fulfill this mission through shared responsibility for several joint programs impacting thousands of Arizonans each year. In 2023 alone: the Modest Means Project - a statewide reduced-cost legal help program - helped 12,300 people; Wills For Heroes – a free end-of-life care and estate planning program for first responders and their families - created 327 wills, and Mock Trial – a trial simulation program designed to engage students in the law - impacted 967 students. Additionally, during the COVID crisis, the AZ Bar Foundation and State Bar of Arizona partnered to create the Covid-19 hotline to help nearly 3,000 individuals understand changes in the law due to the pandemic.

    Second, the State Bar of Arizona facilitates and provides strong support to the AZ Bar Foundation’s programs in numerous ways. In addition to financial support for expanding pro bono efforts, the State Bar organizes a member donation drive and promotes pro bono service and charitable giving to support legal aid services for low-income Arizonans.

    Finally, the State Bar of Arizona serves and protects the public by building trust in the legal system through education of the public about their rights, hosting and promoting free legal clinics, and operating a public service center which receives more than 10,000 calls each year. Through all facets of its operation, the State Bar of Arizona consistently promotes trust in the legal system, access to justice and protects the public.

    It is for these reasons that the AZ Bar Foundation submits this comment opposing the changes proposed in Petition R-24-0030.

    Limiting the State Bar’s activities solely to attorney regulation would strip away the State Bar’s ability to partner with legal organizations and law firms to ensure that Arizona continues to promote access to justice. It would severely hinder volunteer lawyer assistance and campaigns to fund free legal help to those in need. Therefore, with great concern for the negative impact on fellow Arizonans and the AZ Bar Foundation, we respectfully request that the Court deny changes to the State Bar of Arizona as proposed in this petition.

    Attachments
    Yolanda Fox
    Basic Member
    Posts:232 Basic Member

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    25 Apr 2024 11:14 AM
    Mauricio R. Hernandez (#020181)
    [email protected]
    P.O. Box 7347
    Goodyear, AZ 85338
    (623) 363-2649

    COMMENT IN SUPPORT OF PENDING PETITION
    Attachments
    Dennis I Wilenchik
    New Member
    Posts:2 New Member

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    25 Apr 2024 02:10 PM
    Dennis I. Wilenchik
    2810 N. Third Street
    Phoenix, AZ 85004
    602-606-2810

    I am in favor of the amendment.
    Dr Richard Morris
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    26 Apr 2024 06:40 PM
    Dr. Richard W. Morris, J.D., Ph.D.
    Attorney at Law (Retired)
    AZ Bar 002009
    24408 N 40th Ln
    Glendale, AZ 85310-3268
    [email protected]
    Tel. +1 623-582-2574

    I in favor of and support the amendment filed by the Goldwater Institute to amend Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the Supreme Court.
    Charles F. Hauff, Jr.
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    28 Apr 2024 01:24 PM
    I support the pending petition.

    Charles F. Hauff, Jr., P.C.
    office: 602.382.6314 | mobile: 602.361.2800
    email: [email protected]

    Snell & Wilmer
    One East Washington Street | Suite 2700 | Phoenix, AZ 85004-2556

    nlspMember
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    29 Apr 2024 11:11 AM
    I submit the attached letter on behalf of 31 Past Presidents of the State Bar of Arizona in opposition to this petition, for all the reasons stated in the letter.

    DON BIVENS
    DON BIVENS, PLLC
    15169 N. Scottsdale Rd, Suite 205
    Scottsdale, AZ 85254
    President, State Bar of Arizona, 1998-99
    Attachments
    afoster
    New Member
    Posts:18 New Member

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    29 Apr 2024 12:31 PM
    Samuel A. Thumma
    Chair, Arizona Commission on Access to Justice
    Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals
    Division One
    State Courts Building
    1501 West Washington Street
    Phoenix, AZ 85007-3329
    [email protected]
    Telephone: (602) 452-6700

    The Arizona Commission on Access to Justice has authorized Judge Sam Thumma, Chair, to submit this comment opposing Petition R-24-0030.
    Attachments
    James O'Sullivan
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    30 Apr 2024 12:56 PM
    James P. O'Sullivan
    AZ Bar #009236
    Tiffany & Bosco, P.A.*
    Shareholder
    [email protected]
    602-255-6017
    Camelback Esplanade II
    Seventh Floor
    2525 E. Camelback Road
    Phoenix, AZ 85016-4229

    I oppose Petition R-24-0030 and respectfully urge the Court not to adopt the proposed amendments to Rule 32. By seeking to relegate the Bar to narrowly defined regulatory activities, my view is that the requested changes would directly undermine the Bar's ability to fulfill its Court-mandated mission. As an active Bar Member for the past 40 years, my experience demonstrates that the Bar is at its best when serving as more than "The Principal's Office."

    As a business attorney with a considerable number of attorney clients, I have directly witnessed the value of the Bar to my clients and thereby to the greater public good, whether through the Bar Leadership Institute or the Bar's CLE offerings and publications, ethics guidance, practice management and member assistance, or mentoring services. The Bar, at its best, is an invaluable gathering place for the sharing of competing views, as well as an information hub that inspires collaboration and enhances professionalism.

    I note that other Bar leadership forums exist for the thoughtful consideration of these proposed amendments. Both the Board of Governors and the newly-formed State Bar Advancement & Improvement Committee could presumably debate the merits of these proposals and provide recommendations to the Court.

    Lastly, I endorse the previously submitted comments of the Arizona Black Bar, the Arizona Bar Foundation, and Mr. Bivens and his past-president colleagues.

    *The views expressed are my own. I do not presume to speak for Tiffany & Bosco, P.A. nor for my firm colleagues.
    Freddy Saavedra
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    30 Apr 2024 04:59 PM
    Freddy Saavedra
    AZ Bar #030848
    President, Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association
    P.O. Box 813
    Phoenix, AZ 85001
    (602) 753-8917
    [email protected]

    Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association (“Los Abogados”) opposes the petition dated January 10, 2024, filed by the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at the Goldwater Institute that amends Rules 32(b) and (c) (“Rule 32”), of the Arizona Supreme Court (“Court”) governing membership in the State Bar of Arizona (“State Bar”) which would: (a) maintain the current mandatory membership requirement for all lawyers; and (b) eliminate the membership dues for “non-regulatory functions.”

    Ostensibly, the petition’s purpose relates to a reduction in State Bar membership dues, limiting their collection to cover only mandatory requirements related to regulatory functions. However, the State Bar does so much more, and should endeavor to keep doing so. While the State Bar does indeed have a responsibility to regulate the practice of law in Arizona, the Arizona legal community and the public at large depend on the State Bar’s commitment to “serve and protect the public with respect to the provision of legal services and access to justice.” Los Abogados strongly believes that the petition would have a devastating effect on this aspect of the State Bar’s function.

    The proposed Rule 32 amendments would harm Arizona’s legal profession and Arizona as a whole, by compromising the State Bar’s ability to offer the following:

    • Ethics Hotline
    • Fee Arbitration Program
    • Providing Resources and assistance to partner bar organizations, such as Los Abogados and many other important organizations
    • Initiatives aimed at improving lawyer well-being
    • Educational programs that substantially benefit lawyers, the legal community, and the public
    • Pro bono legal service events for low and middle-income Arizonans

    Los Abogados believes that the above services and initiatives of the State Bar are critical aspects to the practice of law and access to justice in our state. Simply put, without these programs, many members of our community – particularly those from vulnerable communities -- would be deprived of much-needed legal services, having a devastating effect on the access to justice statewide.

    Los Abogados strongly supports the State Bar and recognizes its importance in our state. The proposed amendment would have a devastating effect on the State Bar, our profession, and our state. We strongly urge this Court to refrain from adopting the proposed Rule 32 amendments.
    Suzanne Diaz
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    30 Apr 2024 07:07 PM
    From:
    Arizona Asian American Bar Association

    Arizona Black Bar

    AZ-LGBT Bar Association

    Arizona Minority Bar Association

    Arizona Women Lawyers Association

    Iranian American Bar Association, Phoenix Chapter

    Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association

    Native American Bar Association of Arizona


    To the Arizona Supreme Court:
    The bar associations listed above jointly write to oppose the Goldwater petition, which seeks to eliminate the State Bar of Arizona’s ability to fund non-regulatory activities.
    These partner bars, and others who are not specifically named, seek to advance diversity in the Arizona legal community and create meaningful professional development opportunities for our respective members. The State Bar provides essential support to these numerous partner bars by enabling attorneys from all different backgrounds to network and collaborate.
    The proposed rule change would significantly limit the State Bar’s ability to maintain programs that tremendously benefit Arizonans. Regulating the practice of law is about more than lawyer discipline. The State Bar improves access to competent and ethical legal professionals through free legal service events for Arizonans who cannot afford a lawyer, it provides resources and assistance to partner bar organizations, supports diversity initiatives, and develops continuing education programs. Approving this petition would also defund the highly regarded Bar Leadership Institute, which for over seventeen years has successfully provided leadership and skills training to early-career Arizona lawyers.
    This petition will compromise the State Bar’s mission to protect the public by improving the competency, ethics, and professionalism of lawyers practicing in Arizona. The State Bar provides significant value to our community beyond just disciplining lawyers. For these reasons, we ask that the Court deny the petition.

    Respectfully,

    Christopher Heo, President
    Arizona Asian American Bar Association

    Dr. Pearlette J. Ramos, President
    Arizona Black Bar

    Randy McDonald, President
    AZ-LGBT Bar Association

    Alonzo Corral, President
    Arizona Minority Bar Association

    Anya Stangl, President
    Arizona Women Lawyers Association

    Saman Golestan, President
    Iranian American Bar Association, Phoenix Chapter

    Freddy Saavedra, President
    Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association

    Kevin Pooley, President
    Native American Bar Association of Arizona
    Andrew Patrick Schaffer
    New Member
    Posts:12 New Member

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    30 Apr 2024 07:10 PM
    Pursuant to Rule 28 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, Community Legal Services (“CLS”), DNA People’s Legal Services (“DNA”), Southern Arizona Legal Aid (“SALA”), and the William E. Morris Institute for Justice (“MIJ”) submit the attached comments in opposition to the Petition to Amend Rules 32(b) and (c), Ariz. R. Sup. Ct.

    Respectfully submitted this 30th day of April 2024.

    ANDREW P. SCHAFFER, AZ Bar. No. 037352
    BRENDA MUÑOZ FURNISH, AZ Bar. No. 027280
    MICHELLE J. SIMPSON, AZ Bar. No. 020199
    WILLIAM E. MORRIS INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
    3707 North Seventh Street, Suite 300
    Phoenix, Arizona 85014-5095
    (602) 252-3432
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    Attachments
    State Bar of Arizona
    Basic Member
    Posts:163 Basic Member

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    30 Apr 2024 08:33 PM
    Comment of the State Bar of Arizona

    Lisa M. Panahi
    Bar No. 023421
    General Counsel
    State Bar of Arizona
    4201 N. 24th St., Suite 100
    Phoenix, AZ 85016
    602-340-7236
    [email protected]
    Attachments
    CoreyLovato
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 May 2024 12:09 AM
    Corey Lovato
    Chair, Council on Persons with Disabilities in the Legal Profession
    Phone: (623) 688-3250
    [email protected]
    AZ Bar #: 034202
    Re: Petition to Amend Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the Supreme Court

    The Council on Persons with Disabilities in the Legal Profession (CPWDLP) opposes the Petition. We encourage the Court to reject the Petition as it undermines the Arizona Bar’s ability to accomplish its Court-mandated mission to serve and protect the public regarding legal services and access to justice.

    The Petition purportedly seeks to decrease membership fees by limiting the State Bar to performing only narrowly defined “regulatory activities” in order to oversee the legal profession in Arizona. However, the Bar’s mission goes far beyond mere regulation. It performs a multitude of nonregulatory activities that protect the public and sustain Arizona’s legal profession, including:

    - Fee Arbitration Program: Provides a free and efficient way to resolve disputes between clients and attorneys.
    - Ethics Hotline: Provides Arizona attorneys with a way to navigate ethical hazards and avoid ethical missteps in practice, thus enhancing the profession’s protections and perception.
    - CLE Programs: Offer Arizona attorneys an array of diverse and affordable CLE options, thus ensuring attorneys have access to pertinent, well-presented CLE material.
    - Provide outreach to the public and legal community.
    - Maintain educational programs on substantive law, best practices, procedures, ethics, and discussion forums for administration of justice, law practice, and report recommendations.
    - Host the Annual Bar Convention, which offers 45-50 seminars on a wide variety of substantive legal topics that advance Arizona attorneys’ knowledge and skills.
    - Organize pro bono legal services that expand access to justice and the Arizona court system to all Arizonans.

    Each of the above programs furthers the Bar’s mission to serve and protect the public, and this is far from an exhaustive list. The CPWDLP values its partnership with and support from the State Bar in order to expand access to the legal profession to persons with disabilities who have been traditionally overlooked in the legal profession. Continuing that partnership is vital to our mission. Accordingly, we urge the Court to refrain from adopting the proposed Rule 32 amendments in the Petition.
    Ted Schmidt
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 May 2024 01:22 PM

    Ted A. Schmidt
    SBN: 005030
    SCHMIDT, SETHI & AKMAJIAN
    1790 East River Road, Suite 300
    Tucson, Arizona 85718
    Direct Line: (520) 545-1670
    Fax: (520) 790-1163
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Attachments
    Simon Goldenberg
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 May 2024 04:14 PM
    Simon Goldenberg
    Chair, Council on Minorities and Women in the Law
    Phone: (602) 816-3928
    [email protected]
    Bar # 034104

    To the Arizona Supreme Court,

    The Council on Minorities and Women in the Law (“Council”) of the State Bar of Arizona (“State Bar”) writes to oppose the petition (“Petition”) filed by the Goldwater Institute on Jan. 10, 2024, entitled “PETITION TO AMEND RULES 32(b) AND (c), RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT,” as it would limit the State Bar’s ability to fulfill its mission and core values.

    The Petition’s proposed changes to the Rules would prevent the State Bar from providing the leadership and educational resources for all attorneys, especially newly admitted incoming members. For example, the State Bar runs the Bar Leadership Institute, which is an annual nine (9) month program that helps train and connect newer practitioners across the state. A number of Council members participated in the BLI before joining the Council, thereby creating a bridge for the next generation of Arizona attorneys to get involved in community leadership roles. The development of the legal field is part of the State Bar’s values and in the interest of the public.

    The State Bar hosts a number of education-oriented activities that serve its mission to improve the competency and ethics of the legal field. The State Bar’s Annual Convention is a multi-day conference that addresses a wide range of topics from ethics to specific practice areas that help develop attorneys’ competency and professionalism. Throughout the year the State Bar offers a number Continuing Legal Education programs available to all attorneys. An attorney’s education does not end in law school, and the State Bar’s extensive educational programming helps protect Arizonans’ access to capable attorneys.

    The State Bar is more than a regulatory institution certifying that attorneys satisfy the minimum licensing requirements. Whether it is focused groups that connect attorneys, educational resources, or establishing a leadership pathway, the State Bar provides a number of resources to its members and, by extension, Arizonans. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Court deny the Petition.

    Respectfully,

    The Council on Minorities and Women in the Law
    Jessica Sanchez
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 May 2024 06:58 PM
    Jessica S. Sanchez
    c/o Udall Shumway PLC
    1138 North Alma School Road, Suite 101
    Mesa, Arizona 85201
    480-461-5300
    [email protected]
    #024982

    I am submitting this comment on behalf of the Latina Mentoring Project

    To: The Honorable Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court:

    We, the undersigned co-chairs of the Latina Mentoring Project (“LMP”), write to express our strong opposition to the petition currently before this honorable Court which seeks to defund the Bar’s non-regulatory activities.

    As many of you know, the LMP was founded by Presiding Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Mary Murguia. What began as a book club has grown into a statewide mentoring and pipeline program with over 350 members. LMP's goal is to provide support and foster mentoring relationships between Latinas at all stages of life, with a focus on the legal profession. LMP has an active community of women, mentors, and mentees who exchange information, update one another about job and scholarship opportunities, give and request referrals, seek and give advice, and so much more. In furtherance of its goal of increased representation, LMP takes an active role in Arizona's judicial and commissioner appointment processes by reviewing application materials and submitting letters of recommendation, as appropriate.

    Similarly, the State Bar of Arizona, beyond its regulatory duties, engages in critical activities that directly benefit the public and the profession, including: improving access to justice, enhancing diversity, increasing attorney competence, providing mentorship and networking opportunities for members, and educating the public about the rule of law. Several of our members currently or have previously served on Bar committees, participated in the Bar Leadership Institute, or sit on the Board of Governors. One of our co-chairs most recently served as the State Bar President and was the first Latina in that role. The Bar has been an invaluable partner in our efforts to promote diversity within the profession.

    These crucial efforts would be severely impacted if the Bar’s mission was limited to just regulatory activities. The Bar’s current structure is an indispensable part of Arizona’s thriving and ethical legal profession. There is simply no reason to alter the Bar’s structure and doing so would be a great detriment to our legal community.

    We respectfully urge the Court to reject this petition and maintain the Bar’s ability to continue supporting our legal community.

    Sincerely,

    Latina Mentoring Project Co-Chairs
    Hon. Mina Mendez
    Jessica S. Sanchez
    Hon. Ashley Villaverde Halvorson
    Julieta Carrillo
    Annelise M. Dominguez


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    Elena Nethers
    New Member
    Posts:1 New Member

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    01 May 2024 09:00 PM
    Elena Nethers
    Arizona Lawyers for Equal Justice
    3511 E Claremont Ave
    Paradise Valley AZ 85253
    602.576.5793
    [email protected]


    The attached comment in opposition to R-24-0030 is submitted on behalf of the Steering Committee of Arizona Lawyers for Equal Justice.


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