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Utah State Bar June eBulletin

Summer Convention 2019 is Coming Home! Make Sure to Join us in Park City July 18-20

You wouldn’t know it from the weather we’ve had, but the calendar says summer is upon us, and with it the Bar’s Summer Convention. For the first time in many years, the convention is “coming home” to Park City, and this year’s lineup promises one of the best Summer Conventions ever. Please join us!

In addition to the usual offering of extraordinary CLE, we’ll be joined by CNN political anchor Wolf Blitzer, Andrew McKenna, author of “From Federal Prosecutor to Federal Prisoner” and Antonia Hernandez, a prominent advocate of community dialogue and problem-solving. And on Saturday we will take in the second annual Utah Supreme Court dialogue where you’ll hear the entire Court discuss a variety of topics including judicial ethics, media coverage of our courts, and effective appellate advocacy. This Supreme Court dialogue was an extraordinary success last year and we are grateful to the Court for reprising their open discussion.

The opening reception will be held this year at the spectacularly beautiful Red Pine Lodge, with a stunning (and free) gondola ride up the mountain to the event. In Park City you will again find the traditional law school receptions, the highly popular family picnic dinner and carnival, this year with live music, and the golfers will have their tournament. And in Park City, the Convention will offer a variety of new events as well, including a Park City foodies tour, a late-night ghost tour, and a YLD after-hours event at Jupiter Bowl. And of course there are a multitude of world-class outdoor adventures to choose from.

Very importantly, for those of you needing to get a last few CLE hours in for the June 30 reporting period, a special exception from the MCLE Board will allow this Summer Convention’s CLE hours to be applied retroactively for the CLE reporting due June 30, 2019. So, if you’re looking for a chance to wrap up your hours, this is a great opportunity to experience the Summer Convention at the same time. For details on applying hours to the June 30, 2019 CLE reporting cycle, go here .

There’s still time to register, but rooms are filling up fast, so make sure to book your room and register today by clicking here .

Reminder: Odd Year Compliance CLE Hours Due June 30; MCLE Reporting Due July 31

For those of you needing hours to comply this summer for the 2017-2019 (odd year, ending June 30) compliance years, you will be able to attend the Summer Convention in July and use the hours for compliance without any late fees/penalties. Hours cannot be split between cycles. Full details can be found here .

MCLE hours for the odd year reporting cycle are due June 30, (except for the above noted Summer Convention hours), and your MCLE report must be filed by July 31. For more information and to obtain a Certificate of Compliance, please click here .

If all of your required MCLE hours are in the database, all you need to do in order to fully comply is to login to your Member Dashboard to pay the $15 reporting fee. Once this fee has been paid, you will not need to report again until July 2021, and we will not require a Certificate of Compliance from you.

Below are step-by-step instructions to pay the fee online:

Log into the Practice Portal.
Select pay MCLE Compliance fee under Utah Bar Portal Control Card.
Follow prompts to pay MCLE Compliance fee.

Utah State Bar to Honor Legal Contributors with Awards at Summer Convention in Park City

As part of Summer Convention, the Utah State Bar will present awards to members of the legal community who made outstanding contributions to the legal profession. Awards include Lawyer of the Year, Committee of the Year, Section of the Year, Judge of the Year, Distinguished Service Awards, and Lifetime Service Awards.

The Lawyer of the Year award goes to Paul Burke, of Ray Quinney & Nebeker. Burke graduated from the S.J. Quinney School of Law at the University of Utah, and currently works at general counsel of the firm. Burke has been named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the Bar and maintains a broad civil litigation practice.

The Bar Journal Committee was named Committee of the Year . The committee has been chaired by Bill Holyoak for the last 20 years. Holyoak has been a staunch defender of the Bar Journal as a forum for attorneys. Other committee members include Alisha Giles, Nicole G. Farrell, Lee Killiam, Andrea Valenti Arthur, Victoria Luman, Judge Catherine E. Roberts (Ret.), LaShel Shaw, Judge Gregory K. Orme, Hal Armstrong, Paul Justensen, Todd Zagorec and Grace S. Pusavat.

Section of the Year is awarded to a Section that "has made outstanding contributions of time and talents to Bar activities and provided outstanding services to the public and the profession. This year the award went to the Litigation Section. The section offers a variety of resources to help attorneys, including the popular "Bench Books" which outline procedure in different courts and a lawyer resource service that provides support for attorneys as they try a case. Heather Sneddon is the Section Chair, with Jen Tomchak the chair-elect, Erik Christiansen the treasurer and Jess Krannich secretary.

Judge of the Year goes to Judge John Baxter of the Salt Lake City Justice Court. Judge Baxter was appointed to the Salt Lake City Justice Court in 2002. He presides over Salt Lake City's Homeless Court and Veterans' Court. Judge Baxter chaired the Utah Judicial Council's Committee on Access to Resources for Self-represented Parties and served on the Utah Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Professionalism and the Committee on Judicial Outreach.

Distinguished Service Awards goes to Dean Robert Adler of the S.J. Quinney College of Law and Steven G. Johnson.

Adler is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. He recently stepped down after a six-year term as the Jefferson B. and Rita E. Fordham Dean. He teaches and writes in the areas of environmental law and water law. Before coming to the College of Law in 1994, he practiced environmental law for 15 years at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Trustees for Alaska, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.

Johnson has spent a good part of his career serving in the Bar and serving the Courts of the State of Utah to enhance access to justice. He has served as an officer of both the Corporate Counsel Section and of the Dispute Resolution Section of the Bar. He has been a member of Utah State Bar’s Fee Arbitration Panel since 1999, and chaired the Panel from 2006 to 2010. He was appointed as a member of the Supreme Court’s MCLE Board in 1999, and served as Trustee of the Board for 4 years. He served 7 years as an Associate Editor of the Utah Bar Journal beginning in his second year of law school, and served for 10 years as a member of the Bar’s Government Affairs Committee.

Lifetime Service Awards were given to Pat Christensen, Judge Paul Warner and Judge Brooke Wells.

Judge Warner is the Chief United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Utah. He was appointed on February 19, 2006. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Brigham Young University in 1973. He graduated in the Charter Class of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU in 1976. In 1984, he received a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Marriott School of Management at BYU.

Judge Wells served as a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah from 2003 until her retirement, June 3, 2019. Judge Wells received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from the University of Utah and then continued on to receive her Juris Doctorate degree, also from the University of Utah. Following graduation, she spent three years as a legal services lawyer in San Antonio, Texas. She then returned to Utah and worked for the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association for fifteen years.

Christensen is of counsel to Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, a former Judge pro tem of the Third Judicial District Court, a former adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah’s S. J. Quinney College of Law, and a former legislative assistant in the United States Senate. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and an officer and director of a number of charitable, civic and professional organizations.

Congratulations to all the award winners.

Second Annual Expungement Day Set for June 26 at Utah Law and Justice Center

Many attorneys took advantage of the opportunity to participate in last year's Expungement Day event. Salt Lake County has received so many calls requesting another, that they've decided to do it again.

Having a criminal record makes it difficult to get housing, stable employment, and get back on your feet. Many have been crime free for several years but continue to pay for their past mistakes because they cannot afford to clear their records. The Salt Lake County Mayor's office is collaborating with the Department of Public Safety to put on a two day “Expungement Day” initiative. This event is designed to help former offenders who cannot afford expungements clear their records, free of charge.

The first phase of Expungement Day will be on June 26th from 8:00-1:30 PM , at the Utah Law and Justice Center, 645 South 200 East.

REGISTRATION 7:30 - 8:00 AM.

The CLE, presented by Hollee Peterson from Utah Legal Services, will be from 8:00-9:30, followed by a direct service event from 9:30-1:30 PM, to help individuals determine their eligibility for, and (if eligible) fill out applications for, a criminal record expungement. If an individual is not eligible to expunge their record, attorneys will also advise on other options, such as 402 reductions, and pardons. The second phase of Expungement Day will be held in October to complete the petition paperwork and obtain judicial orders of expungement.

Breakfast and lunch will be served for all attorney volunteers. Attorneys must stay for the volunteer event to get CLE credit.

Mandatory Online Licensing Began June 3, Runs Through July 1

The annual online licensing renewal process will begin the week of June 3, 2019 , at which time you will receive an email outlining the renewal instructions. This email will be sent to your email address of record. You may email licensing@utahbar.org or call 801-297-7023 if you have any questions or need technical support.

Online renewals and fees must be submitted by July 1 and will be late August 1. Your license will be suspended unless the online renewal is completed and payment received by September 1.

"and Justice for all" Celebrates 20th Year of Operation

“And Justice For All” (AJFA) raised more than $450,000 in May as it celebrated its 20th year of operation. Since 1999, the organization has raised funds to support free and reduced-cost civil representation across the state.

At a special fundraiser breakfast, AJFA’s staff honored four of the organizations who have significantly impacted the organization, namely: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, the Utah Bar Foundation, and the Utah State Bar.

A representative from the Church accepted an award from AJFA and made a one-time gift of $100,000 in support of AJFA’s 2019 campaign. A representative from the Eccles Foundation accepted and award and presented AJFA’s executive director, Kelly Striefel, with a $50,000 special one-time gift.

“We are so grateful to our many supporters who understand the importance of legal aid in Utah,” said Striefel. “For every dollar invested in civil legal aid, our community receives $7.24 in social return. Legal aid family law programs not only provide over one million dollars in annual cost savings to Utah’s court system, they help lessen demands on state welfare and social service organizations.”