______________________________________________________________________________________
Minutes of the meeting of
President Birdsall called the
meeting to order at
ATTENDANCE: Members present were: Al Azen (IOLTA), President,
Arthur Birdsall (PBA), David Blaner (Allegheny County), Sandy Brydon-Smith
(Erie County), Marianne Canning (Lehigh County), Bruce Fleischer (Centre
County), Don Ivol (USI Colburn), Susan Kenny (Monroe County), Barbara Kittrell
(Berks County), D. Susan Kost (Schuylkill County), Diane Krivoniak
(Westmoreland County),
PRESENTATION BY CITIZENS BANK
Christopher Ritchie and Christopher Nardo made a brief
presentation about Citizens Bank interest in teaming up with the State Bar
Association as well as the Local Bar Associations in
President Art reminded
everyone to call Nemacolin on Monday to make reservations for the PABE retreat
on May 11-13. Use code PA0503, phone
724-329-8555, Ext. 6052. We briefly
discussed programs and noted that we received two sponsorships, USI Colburn and
Citizens Bank.
MINUTES: The minutes of the
TREASURER’S
REPORT: Diane Krivoniak, Treasurer
reported that our current balance is $2,936.63 after paying $2,000 towards our
Nemacolin retreat. After some discussion
about doubling our dues to help pay for speakers, Nancy Paul moved to increase
our dues to $125; Liz Price second the motion;
vote: all in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
Pennsylvania Bar Institute
Board of Directors Meeting,
Liz Price, PABE representative on
this board, reported that she enjoyed the meeting. They discussed ways the local bar
associations can help PBI. Alleghany
& Philadelphia are marketing online CLE electronically to their members.
Pat Martin reported that they have
installed a satellite dish and had their first satellite presentation; it was a
great success.
Roger Meilton, PBI, Executive
Director reported that 200 people have used the trial online CLE in the first
couple months of its implementation. The
PBI is marketing its online CLE program by:
·
sending ads to over 9000 email addresses
·
sending program flyers
·
electronic notices to members of Philadelphia & Alleghany Bar Associations
Roger
mentioned that classes on how to use online education is not CLE accredited.
Ken Shear thanked the PBI for taking
advantage of the newest technology changes and noted that an online CLE
demonstration will be presented today.
He noted that all future announcements coming out of the Philadelphia
Bar Association will be maid online and not by flyers.
Many Bar Executives reported
emailing agendas and minutes to their board members.
It was also noted that the program
“Bridge the Gap” will be delayed until May.
PABE Open Discussion
Pat Martin asked how many keep their
buildings open 24-7? Diane
Krevoniak said the Westmoreland County
Bar Association allows its members to sign out a key and it must be returned
the next day. She also noted that those
who sign contracts to hold depositions will be charged extra if they stay over
the time noted in the contract.
Francis X. O’Conner, President of
the Conference of County Bar Leaders visited with us and thanked all the Bar
Executives for supporting the attorneys in their counties and supporting the
CCBL.
PBA Report
President Art reported the bylaw
change request coming to increase the size of the PBA Board of Governors. The increase is to place a Unit County
Representative on the Board. The
rotation for the governor position is as follows:
OLD BUSINESS
USI
COLBURN
Don Ivol reported on the following
plans:
·
Health Insurance sponsored plan rolled over to Highmark, Blue
Shield. The change over is slower in
·
Professional Liability Insurance is maintaining retention but prices
are still on the high side.
·
Disability Program underwritten by Baltimore Life has been down graded
to B+; we are looking for an A rated provider.
American General has an A+ rating and is the largest writer in the
country. The only change will be a new
policy; rates will remain the same.
PBA
President, Timothy Carson stopped by to thank the Bar Executives for all their
support. Tim noted that the support of
the E.D.’s is vital because they stay around for many years while Bar
President’s come and go. He also noted
that relations with the following groups has increased:
·
Legislators
·
Governors
·
Judiciary – PBA’s relationship with Justice Cappy
·
State Conference of Trial Judges
In
the near future we will be seeing a change in the structure of the PBA
Foundation. They are studying how other
States in the country are structured.
The fund drive for the Foundation will be taken to the House of
Delegates members for donations before going to the entire PBA membership.
PBA
President-elect, Thomas Golden came to visit and asked the Bar Executives to
attend future mid-year meetings. He
plans to do programming for us that has not been provided at prior mid-year
meetings. The meeting will take place at
the Breakers Hotel in
Tom
asked that each association create an active legislative component to assist
the PBA when law related issues are being considered; for instance the
re-introduction of charging sales tax on lawyer fees. Bring in your State representatives once a
year and develop relations with hem.
Also, identify lawyers who already have close relationships with the
legislators.
Al
Azen from IOLTA, thanked the local E.D.’s for their grass roots efforts to get
the Access to Justice Act passed. This
act increases filing fees in the Recorder of Deeds office by $10. Recognition awards were presented by the
Pennsylvania Legal Services office.
There has been one wrinkle. In the Chester County Court of Common Pleas,
the Recorder of Deeds office thinks it should interpret this statue on its own
and not by the Supreme Court. The
current plan shares 38 million; 10% to the IOLTA Board for legal aid; 2.5
million to Legal Service’s programs; 90% to the Supreme Court to implement new
electronic systems. As of this date,
actual revenues are lower than the projections.
The
next PABE meeting will be held on April 24th in
The
meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully
Submitted
by________________________________
Becky
H. Morgenthal
Arthur
J. Birdsall Nancy R.
Paul Becky
Morgenthal Diane
Krivoniak
Penna.
Bar Assoc. Montgomery
Bar Assoc. Cumberland Co. Bar
Assoc. Westmoreland Bar Assoc.
Tel.
800-932-0311, x. 2218 Tel.
610-279-9660, x. 202 Tel. 717-249-3166 Tel. 724-834-6855
FAX 717-238-7182 FAX 610-279-4321 FAX 717-249-2663 FAX 724-834-6855