ADMINISTRATIVE & REGULATORY LAW NEWS
The Chair's Message
by James T. O'Reilly
Sourdough Bread. Bridges. Gold Rush. Big Ideas. What do these have in common? Our San Francisco meetings at the Grand Hyatt on Union Square, August 1-4, will cap a very productive and effective year of Section activities. This has been a remarkable year and the quality of programs planned for San Francisco, headlined by the Voting Rights panel that attained Presidential Showcase status, illustrate the excellent effort that has been devoted to our programs by many committees of the Section
As the grandson of an immigrant who arrived in San Francisco penniless in 1892, exiled by the British for political activities, the City by the Bay holds a special place in my family's affections. Many of you have found romance and adventure in past visits there. Come on back! I encourage you to join us and share in the big ideas that we will be exchanging and debating in numerous programs
Surveying 1996-97, our Section was effective and our active members showed lively interest in a number of hot topics. We showed in the April ombuds program, and in our selection of fall programs, that our theme of addressing "Administrative Law in Service to People" was a reality. The SSA's new rules controlling claimant advocacy were challenged; the selective certification of ALJs to favor government employee candidates was opposed, and other committee action reflected the need for public service improvements. We had a major debate on Congressional Review, activity on judicial review and remands, and more discussion on state and federal ALJ issues.
Warren Belmar takes over the Chair on August 3d and will benefit, as I did, from your participation and good ideas. Please let Warren and I know if there are ideas you'd like the Section to address. Our successors, Ron Cass '98 and Jack Young '99, will look to your ideas as future plans are devised. Thanks for helping them as you freely helped me. And finally, a big round of applause for our Section's remarkably skilled staffers, Cynthia Price and Carrie Martin, for making the leadership tasks so easy.
At the Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice we are always looking for new and better ways to serve our members, the bar and the public. If you have any comments, ideas or features you would like us to incorporate, or if you have difficulties with any of the links in these pages, please contact the Section's Webmaster.
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For additional information on the Section, please contact Leanne Pfautz at:
Phone: (202) 662-1665
Fax: (202) 662-15299
ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice,
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