During my tenure as President, I have attended
several regional and national meetings. Generally those who are in attendance at
the meetings are bar executives of various local and state bar associations and
officers or representatives of those bar associations. What has become very
evident to me is the fact that our Bar Association, although small in terms of
the number of members, is considered a “major player” among bar associations. I
think that such recognition is due primarily to leadership roles which members
of our Bar Association have undertaken over the years.
Those who have recently played significant roles on a national level with the
American Bar Association include Charlie Thompson, Judge Dave Gienapp and Bob
Frieberg. It does not take long before one who is attending an ABA meeting to
see that Charlie, Judge Gienapp and Bob are well respected, and their opinions
and comments on issues are regularly solicited.
Also included within the group of current leaders is Tom Fritz. Tom recently
completed a term as President of the Western States Bar Conference which is a
regional bar association comprised of sixteen states. Tom’s leadership skills
were very evident during the meetings of the Western States Bar Conference, and
the respect and recognition which were shown to Tom were very well deserved.
As further affirmation of the role of our State Bar on a regional and national
level, Tom Barnett was the recipient of the 2008 ABA Grass Roots Advocacy Award.
The award was presented to Tom during the Law Day festivities in Washington,
D.C. As demonstrated by the award, Tom’s efforts and leadership on behalf of the
State Bar have been appropriately recognized on a national level.
There are certainly many other members who serve in a multitude of capacities
and offices in many organizations, and the recognition of the contributions of
Charlie, Judge Gienapp, Bob, Tom and Tom is not meant to minimize the importance
and the significance of the members (past, present and future) who donate their
time and effort to committees and organizations on local, state, regional and
national levels. The intent and purpose is to share my opinion that our Bar
Association, through the contributions and efforts of many of our members, does
not take a backseat to any other bar association.
At its April meeting, the Bar Commission discussed three measures which will be
on the November, 2008, ballot. As you may recall, the Business Law Committee
submitted a resolution at the 2007 annual meeting requesting the Bar to support
a constitutional amendment to repeal certain provisions of the South Dakota
State Constitution relating to corporations including the provision allowing
cumulative voting, the provision requiring the approval of the shareholders
before a corporation can incur indebtedness, and a provision defining
corporations. That resolution was incorporated into House Joint Resolution No.
1001, and via the passage of the House Joint Resolution, the proposed amendments
to the South Dakota Constitution will be on the ballot. The resolution can be
reviewed by accessing the Legislative Research Council website.
The Bar Commission also voted unanimously to submit to the membership at the
annual meeting two resolutions in opposition to two initiated measures which
will be on the November 2008 ballot. One initiated measure is referred to as the
South Dakota Small Investors Act and the other measure is referred to as the
South Dakota Open and Clean Government Act. The Bar Commission was of the
opinion that neither initiated measure was “good law”. Access the Secretary of
State’s website to review the initiated measures.
I hope that each of you will take a moment to review the ballot measures,
educate yourselves as to the content of the measures, and publicly share your
opinions about the measures. Members of the Bar play a significant role in
educating the public about ballot issues, and it is important that we take time
to fulfill that role.
Printed elsewhere in the newsletter is a list of the 11 regional mental health
facilities that have contractually agreed with the State Bar to provide
stress-related and other mental health-related counseling services to members of
the State Bar. As part of that agreement, each of the facilities has agreed to
provide counseling to active members of the Bar, and for those members who do
not have health insurance to cover the counseling services and otherwise lack
the resources to pay for the counseling services, the Bar will pay the cost of
the initial evaluation plus recommended counseling sessions in an amount not to
exceed $500 per member. For this program to be effective, it is incumbent that
each of us be diligent and cognizant of mental health-related symptoms which may
be exhibited by other members of the Bar. Each of us must undertake the
obligation to address the issue with any member who we perceive is exhibiting
signs of unusual or extraordinary stress and/or other mental health-related
symptoms.
As I closed last month’s President’s page, I referenced the hope that I could
state without equivocation or qualification that spring has conclusively spring.
However, I did not take into account that I would be writing this page
immediately prior to the commencement of the Howard Wood Relays. For those who
have had experience with the Howard Wood Relays, it is almost a given that the
weather for the weekend of the Howard Wood Relays will not be conducive for a
track meet or any other outdoor activities, and the forecast for this weekend is
consistent with the historical trend. Thus, I am once again unable to state that
spring has conclusively sprung. Hopefully, that will soon change.
Sincerely,
Richard L. Travis
President