BAR BLAST_2012-06-26

STATE BAR OFFICE POWER OUTAGE

The West Virginia State Bar Office was without power and phone service on Monday July 1st. Please be advised that there may be a delayed response in our reply in your emails and phone calls as we have been out of the office. We are currently back open and working diligently to assist members as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!

Within the next day or two you should be receiving information concerning your membership dues for fiscal year 2012-2013 and for completion of your Financial Responsibility Disclosure and IOLTA reporting requirements. For the first time, dues payments can be made online by credit card.  Click Here for a link for further instructions on online submission. Assistance in completing the forms online can be obtained by contacting Mike Mellace (304-558-8920 ormellacem@wvbar.org) at the Bar.  The online or paper forms, should you choose to use them, must be returned no later than September 1, 2012.  Members’ forms received postmarked after September 1, 2012, are subject to separate $25 late penalty fees for both dues and FRD.  On line reporting also has a September 1, 2012, due date with penalty assessments for both dues payments and FRD reports received after that date. For questions regarding membership or FRD please contact Cheryl Petty at membership@wvbar.org  / 304-558-0828 or Anita Casey at caseya@wvbar.org / 304-558-7993.

Failure to comply with payment of dues and FRD reporting will result in an automatic suspension from active membership in The State Bar.   While there is no requirement for West Virginia lawyers to have professional liability insurance, there is a requirement to disclose whether or not you have insurance. Your Financial Responsibility Disclosure information is made available to the public both on the website and by calling The State Bar offices.  NOTE:  Members who are on “active but not practicing” status, do not have to comply with the mandatory FRD and IOLTA reporting requirements.

LAW BOOK AUCTION

A substantial number of law books from the Supreme Court are being placed at auction on www.GovDeals.com. The auction begins June 25 and ends on July 10 at 6:00 p.m.  The books are located at the Pocahontas Circuit Court, 900 Tenth Avenue, Marlinton, WV.   The contact person is Connie Carr (304-799-4604).  Questions?  You may also contact Sherry Fewell at Sherry.L.Fewell@wv.gov.

ENERGY LAW 

The West Virginia Law Review is accepting articles for a special energy issue for the upcoming academic year.  For information outlining the call for papers, click here.  You may also find a link to the website:http://wvlawreview.wvu.edu/call_for_articles.  Questions:  contact Michael Bush, MABush2010@gmail.com, 304-780-2323.

The West Virginia State Bar’s Unlawful Practice of Law Committee has issued an Advisory Opinion addressing the duties and responsibilities of counsel retained or appointed to represent a criminal defendant.  For a full text of Advisory Opinion 2012-001 click here.

MCLE REMINDER

The 2010-2012 reporting period ended on June 30, 2012. The filing deadline is July 31, 2012. If necessary, you may take courses in the month of July 2012 and carry the credits back to meet the 2010-2012 requirement without any penalty. Courses carried back may NOT be split between two different reporting periods. You may carry over six excess general credits earned to the 2012-2014 reporting period. You may check your credits online and file approved activities completed using the State Bar’s website if you have an e-mail on file with the State Bar office. To access your records, go to www.wvbar.org, click on MCLE, then click Member Login.  If you have not used the new online submission program, you will need to go to the Password Reset Feature, enter your e-mail as on file with the State Bar, and click reset password.  You will then receive an e-mail with a link to create your password.  The password must be created within one hour.  You may then review your credits and submit credits online.  You may access the reporting period, the requirements, and forms by double-clicking MCLE on the website.  If you have questions, contact compliance@wvbar.org atcompliance@wvbar.org.

LAWYER DISCIPLINARY BOARD REQUEST FOR COMMENTS: ELECTRONIC MEDIA COMMITTEE

The Lawyer Disciplinary Board has received a request for an opinion concerning the retention and destruction of closed client filed which were kept in electronic format.  The Committee has drafted an L.E.O. to address this issue, and is soliciting public comments thereon.

Click here for a copy of the L.E.O.

Please submit  your written comments to the Electronic Media Committee, c/o Office of Disciplinary Counsel, 4700 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Suite 1200C, Charleston, WV 25304. Deadline for submissions isJuly 20, 2012.

COMMENTS REQUESTED ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CIVIL PROCEEDINGS RULES  

The Court is requesting comments on the Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Practice and Procedure for Domestic Violence Civil Proceedings, Rules 4 and 11. The contact person is the Deputy Clerk, Edythe Nash Gaiser, her contact information is as follows:  phone no. 304-558-2601 and email address:  Edythe.Nash@courtswv.gov

SAVE THE DATE

Court-Approved GAL Training-Trainings for guardians ad litem (GALs) in family court and child abuse/neglect cases will take place on November 14, 2012, at the Charleston Marriott and November 16, 2012, at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown.  Sponsored by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the trainings will meet the new guidelines for family court GALs under the Rules of Practice and Procedure for Family Court, as well as the new training requirement for child abuse/neglect GALs/children’s attorneys under W.Va. Code §49-6-2(a).  Registration information will be available this summer.