Board
of Governors to meet next week
The
ISBA Board of Governors will come together for the Winter 2014 BOG Meeting at the Meadows Events and Conference Center in Altoona Dec. 8. Members are encouraged
to reach out to their district representatives prior to the meeting to discuss
any concerns with items on the agenda.
On
the consent agenda, the board is expected to fill a vacancy on the Iowa LawPAC
Board of Directors, approve a resolution honoring deceased ISBA members, and
discuss land title standards changes provided by the ISBA’s Real Estate and
Title Law Section.
On
the legislative agenda, ISBA Legislative Counsel Jim Carney will provide a
status report on proposed legislation. Parties with vested interests in this
year’s legislation will also provide reports.
Other
discussion items include courthouse security concerns, Iowa Legal Aid’s
proposal for a $100 assessment on Iowa attorneys, Rural Practice Committee
updates, budget updates and informational reports in response to the Basic
Skills Course and the Board of Law Examiners.
Members
interested in learning more about the topics to be discussed may view the BOG
meeting agenda here.
Members can find their BOG representatives’ contact information on the
iowabar.org website by navigating to "Member Groups,” then clicking on "Board
of Governors,” or click here.
Also, phone numbers to all the current BOG members can be found on page 3 of
every issue of the Iowa Lawyer magazine.
Recommendations
issued for reducing racial and ethnic disparities
 Iowa’s
state court administrator and the director of Iowa’s Department of Human Rights
released a final report Nov. 20 from the Community and Strategic Planning
(CASP) Advisory Committee regarding racial and ethnic disparities found in
Iowa’s juvenile justice system.
The
report titled, "Recommendations and Action Plan for Reducing Disproportionate
Minority Contacts in Iowa's Juvenile Justice System,” includes a total of 33
specific recommendations in seven general categories. The full report can be
viewed on the Iowa court’s website here, or
by navigating to www.iowacourts.gov,
clicking on "Administration,” then, "Reports.”
In
cooperation with the Iowa DHR, Iowa's state court administrator appointed the
diverse 23-member CASP Advisory Committee in October 2013. The committee
included representatives from state and local agencies and professional groups
that are directly involved in decision-making in juvenile delinquency case
processing in Iowa, and representatives from various organizations that
advocate for the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
Foundation meeting rescheduled
 The
Iowa State Bar Foundation meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1
p.m. at The Iowa State Bar Association building in Des Moines. The meeting was
originally scheduled alongside the Board of Governors’
meeting Dec. 8.
Grant
requests from the following organizations will be discussed during the meeting:
ISBA YLD Know Your Constitution Committee, ISBA Center for Law & Civic
Education, ISBA Public Relations Committee – Media Relations Subcommittee, ISBA
Rural Practice Committee and the ISBA Loan Repayment Assistance Program.
Results
of the scheduled meeting will be printed in the January/February issue of the
Iowa Lawyer. For questions about the foundation, to donate, or to become a life fellow, email isbf@iabar.org or call
515-697-7870.
U
of I’s 2014 Cornshucker Challenge in need of attorney-judges
 The
University of Iowa Mock Trial Program has hosted a tournament called the
Cornshucker Challenge every year for the past 14 years. To run this tournament,
the organizers rely on local volunteers to
help judge the rounds.
This
year, the tournament will be held on the University of Iowa campus Dec. 6-7.
The event is coming up soon, yet the group is still in need of judges. Each day
of the competition there will be two rounds, one beginning at 9:30 a.m. and the
other at 2:30 p.m. with a judges’ meeting a half an hour before each round to
explain judging expectations.
The
University of Iowa was one of the founding institutions for the American Mock
Trial Association (AMTA). It participated in the first ever National
Championship Competition in Des Moines in 1985. The University of Iowa Mock
Trial Club was founded in 1991, six years after the Hawkeyes began competing in
AMTA.
For
more information about the program, visit the University of Iowa Mock Trial
website at www.uimocktrial.com. For
questions or to sign up to be a judge, contact Kimberly DePalma, president of
the University of Iowa Mock Trial Program at judging.shucker@gmail.com.
Government
job opening: Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
The
U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Iowa in Sioux City is
seeking an attorney to work on a variety of narcotics and narcotics-related
criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Applicants
must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S.
jurisdiction), and have at least one year post-J.D. legal or other relevant
experience. Applicants will be expected to do their own legal research and
writing, and must be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day
correspondence and pleadings.
Application
deadline is Dec. 10. For more information regarding this opening visit www.justice.gov, or click
here for the job listing.
2015
Iowa Lawyer magazine changes
 Beginning
in 2015, readers of the Iowa Lawyer may notice a few changes. The magazine will
go from 32 pages to 40 pages per issue, the entire issue will be full-color and
the number of issues will reduce from 11 issues to eight issues annually.
The
issues will be published bi-monthly starting in January, and two special
editions will be published once in the spring and once in the summer. The
following is when the Iowa Lawyer is tentatively scheduled to hit members’
mailboxes:
January/February -
Jan. 20
March/April
- Mar. 18
Special
Edition
I
- Apr. 15
May/June
- May 15
July/August
- July 15
Special
Edition
II
- Aug. 15
September/October - Sept. 15
November/December
- Nov. 20
Advertising
will not be affected by the upcoming changes. Those interested in advertising
in the Iowa Lawyer can do so by contacting Alex at Larson Enterprises at alex@larsonent.com or by calling
515-440-2809. Anyone interested in submitting editorial content to the Iowa
Lawyer should contact the ISBA communications office at communications@iowabar.org or by
calling 515-697-7896.
In Other News...
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Small communities
struggle to recruit lawyers
Douglas
and Janice Secrist sat in the Knuth Law Office to finalize their last will and
testament, entrusting the certification to Adrian Knuth, a lawyer they've
worked with for 25 years. Not surprising, there are no lawyers working in their
unincorporated hometown of Viola. But considering their rural location, having
legal services 15 minutes away is a luxury these days, and one some fear will
become more concentrated in metros as aging attorneys retire.
The
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Law School Deans
Question Sharp Drop in Bar Exam Scores
Law
schools are turning up the heat on the nation’s leading bar exam group over
what they say is an inexplicable drop in student scores on the most recent
test. Dozens of law school deans across the country attached their names to a
letter sent to the National Conference of Bar Examiners on Tuesday demanding a
"thorough investigation of the administration and scoring” of the July 2014 bar
exam. The letter followed reports of many states, including Texas, Idaho, Iowa,
Oregon and Washington, seeing an unusually steep decline in bar exam scores
compared with last year’s performance. Passage rates plunged by more than 10
percentage points in some cases.
Associated
Press via The Wall Street Journal Law Blog
US
high court asked to review Iowa law school case
University
of Iowa law school officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a
second trial over whether they improperly passed over a conservative scholar
for a faculty position. The filing last week is the latest development in a
hotly contested, five-year-old lawsuit that has been closely watched in higher
education. But justices only accept a tiny fraction of petitions for review,
and an attorney for Teresa Wagner — who claims she was discriminated against by
liberal professors — said Monday he would oppose the request later this month.
Associated
Press via Times Union
Get
Ready for Some Law Schools to Close
In
the world of law schools, every day is sort of like Black Friday. OK, slight
exaggeration. But with applications in free fall, schools are locked in a
brutal competition to attract students who might theoretically one day be qualified
to sit for a bar exam. And that, the New York Times reports today, has meant
slashing tuition and dolling out discounts. At Northwestern University School
of Law, one of the top ranked institutions in the country, "74 percent of
first-year students this academic year received financial aid, compared with
only 30 percent in 2009,” the paper notes. The University of Iowa, University
of Arizona, and Penn State University have cut their prices. J.D.s are on sale!
Slate
The Register's
Editorial: Agencies trying to price citizens out of access
Is
the Iowa Department of Corrections a model of government inefficiency, or does
it simply want to keep secret the reports of people sexually brutalized while
in the agency's care and custody? Perhaps neither. But it's hard to come up
with alternative explanations for the agency's response to an information
request from the Marshall Project, a nonprofit organization that monitors the
nation's criminal justice system.
The
Des Moines Register
Debate: Should
Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?
Since
Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill in 1997,
more than 700 people have taken their lives with prescribed medication — including
Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old with an incurable brain tumor, who ended her
life earlier this month. Advocates of assisted-suicide laws believe that
mentally competent people who are suffering and have no chance of long-term
survival, should have the right to die if and when they choose. If people are
have the right to refuse life-saving treatments, they argue, they should also
have the freedom to choose to end their own lives.
NPR
via Iowa Public Radio
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The Iowa Lawyer Weekly is an electronic newsletter published
every Wednesday. Please submit comments, letters to the editor, articles, or
photos, to communications@iowabar.org.
Contact information should be included with submissions. The ISBA reserves the
right to refuse any submission, but will take all submissions into
consideration for future publication.
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SUPREME COURT OPINIONS
Nov. 19
No. 13–0888
IN THE INTEREST OF D.S., Minor Child. D.S., Minor Child
On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Allamakee County, Alan D. Allbee, Associate Juvenile Judge.
The State seeks further review of a court of appeals decision reversing a juvenile court order adjudicating a child delinquent based on a finding that she committed harassment, in violation of Iowa Code section 708.7(1)(b). DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; JUVENILE COURT JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED.
No. 13–1228
STATE OF IOWA vs. DAVID JOSEPH HELLSTERN
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Joe E. Smith, Judge.
Defendant appeals from his conviction for operating while intoxicated (first offense), claiming violation of his right to consult privately with legal counsel before submitting to chemical testing. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
No. 14–0806
IN THE INTEREST OF A.M., Minor Child. HEATHER THOMAS, Subpoenaed Witness
Certiorari to the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Constance Cohen, Associate Juvenile Judge.
Mental health therapist filed an appeal, treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari, challenging juvenile court order compelling her testimony as to treatment of mother in child-in-need-of-assistance action. WRIT ANNULLED; CASE REMANDED.
TIPS & TRICKS
BENEFIT OF THE WEEK
The Iowa State Bar Association and Go Next are pleased to present wonderful travel
opportunities available to you, your family, and friends. Take advantage
of the great savings and conveniences when traveling with Go Next. On
many of our programs, you can select from daily optional excursions or
experience these destinations on your own.
To obtain tour brochures and details about the latest trip, call (800) 842-9023 or visit here.
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