Ron Cass called the meeting to order shortly after 9:00 a.m. Present were: Chairman Cass; members Bruff, Buck, Cardwell, Secretary Drew, Franklin, Gellhorn, Kinney, Budget Officer Leo, Vice-Chair Levin, Ortiz, Neet, Troy, Williams, and Chair-Elect Young.

Minutes of the prior meeting were approved without amendment.

Chairman Cass reported that the APA project was moving forward. The first portion, a skeletal form of the adjudication section, will be presented at the annual meeting. The next, a skeletal form of the rulemaking section, will be presented at the fall meeting. Early comment is appreciated, and members can keep in touch as to the project=s progress through either Ron Cass or Paul Verkuil.

Chair-Elect Young announced that most committee assignments had already been made. These earlier assignments would facilitate obtaining the commitments needed to produce the annual developments summary for the fall meeting. Meeting plans are also being developed more in advance; the Dallas meeting will be planned shortly.

Ernie Gellhorn gave the report of the delegates to the ABA House of Delegates. He noted that Ron Cass would act as the alternate delegate for the annual meeting, which Ernie would be unable to attend.

At the delegates' last meeting, Ted Olson had asked to speak regarding reauthorization of the independent counsel statute. While Ted did not ultimately speak, there were several comments that the statute was offensive before debate was ultimately stopped because of time constraints. The majority opposed reauthorization; others suggested changes that should be made if the statute were to be reauthorized.

As a general matter, Ernie reiterated the need to identify issues before the delegates' meeting, so that we can get our views in early. Council members identified several issues of likely continuing concern, including current legal education issues involving the Departments of Education and Justice, non-lawyers' controlling firms, and pay-to-play issues.

Ernie also noted that our seeking an opportunity to comment on the due process/health protocol issues went down in flaming defeat. Since the doctors and the bar had come up with these proposals, they were a done deal. In the future, we need to have more and earlier committee involvement, especially when recommendations concerning their areas of expertise are coming up. Ron Cass reiterated that our committees need to keep us better informed, noting that, in this regard, the liaisons had been less than 100% effective.

Ernie reported that the section had been asked by the ABA to designate which older section/association policies should be archived. The Executive Committee made a first cut at identifying those believed no longer to be timely. Council members should refer to the written materials and let the Executive Committee know of any disagreement.

Budget Officer Leo noted that this has been a good year for staying within the budget. With respect to next year, he will need to have budget requests well before the August meeting. He will be preparing next year=s budget earlier than in the past, so that the proposed budget can be approved at the August meeting. He needs to know if any assumptions made in next year=s draft budget should be changed, especially with regard to meetings. He has ratcheted up membership, in light of the needs in that area, and included a hefty budget for committee activities. He has budgeted $20,000 for the APA project, though we may be able to obtain grant money instead CLE projects were not individually budgeted, but should themselves show a balanced budget. He anticipates some increased expenses for the newsletter, and a 3% increase for the Administrative Law Review. We need to work together to reflect the section=s goals and targets in the budget.

Jonathan Rusch reported on future membership efforts, particularly commenting on the plan to a survey the 13,000 current ABA members with identified areas of concentration in administrative law. General discussion included the ideas that the section should also market itself to these ABA members; the section should get more involved in law reform issues; the marketing/recruitment efforts should involve the committees, especially building upon and promoting committee activities (e.g., the environmental committee's including both membership and marketing materials to ABA members of other sections' environmental committees regarding a recent CLE seminar); not all members join to be active; and the section also suffers from general ABA trends to not retain younger lawyers and to drop multiple sections.

Jim O'Reilly solicited any further nominations for next year.

Sharan Levine gave an information report on the Ad Hoc Ombudsman Committee Project. She noted that there were a variety of ombudsman models in different states, and a need for a consistent set of standards. The section has been an early leader in this effort, especially in supporting the two distinct models: the classic public sector ombudsman, and the ombudsman who operates within an organization. The committee plans to finish this definitional project, which has been co-sponsored by the ADR, litigation, business, and labor sections, by June or July.

Council members commended the project; suggested membership/recruitment efforts to ombudsmen; and discussed the ombudsman function in multinational corporations, the "investigative" function of ombudsmen, and the need to be prepared to make a case for what ombudsmen can do.

The Council next discussed the following items originally scheduled for the April 25 agenda.

Ed Schoenbaum presented the action item on the Proposed Resolution Supporting Standards of Education for the Administrative Judiciary, adoption of which was moved by David Cardwell and seconded by Jack Young. Council members encouraged support of the standards; noted that the standards were drafted as a catalogue of things to be looked at, and need more flesh on their bones; suggested working with state and national education manuals and training proposals; and urged that they pay attention to what state ALJ=s really need. Schoenbaum suggested that the point of the proposal was to raise the issue and to come back with more specifics later. The motion to approve the proposed recommendation passed unanimously.

Schoenbaum then presented the information report on the State Administrative Committee State Survey, on which he has worked with Bill Funk and Michael Asimow. This survey, an outreach to state/local bars, was sent to chairs of administrative law sections to compare their perspectives with those of ALJ's. Some respondents had not been aware of the state administrative law database. Concerns of respondents continue to reflect the need for training/education; the relatively low salaries of ALJ's; and the idea of a central hearing agency. Ron Cass noted that approval of the Council should be sought before sending out such surverys. Bill Funk commented on potential conflicts between administrative adjudication and administrative law issues.

Jack Young and Jeff Lubbers presented plans for the section's annual developments publication, to be completed in time for distribution at the fall meeting. Each committee chair will be responsible for compiling a summary of significant developments in the substantive area of that committee. Such a summary will be published annually. The first will be distributed to all section members. Drafts are due by August 15, and there will be a quick turnaround, with any needed editing being completed by September 15. Sample formats will be sent to committee chairs soon. This project will only be as good as the committees make it.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:30 a.m.