General Practice, Solo and Small Firm
J Thomas Howell (Mercer University-Walter F. George School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Attended the August 2007 ABA Annual Meeting; the Feb 2008 ABA Midyear Meeting; and will be attending May 2008 Spring Meeting GP SOLO. I have participated and spoke at both meetings that I have attended. Part of the role is to be a member of council in which case I am responsible for one portion of that meeting. There, I speak about the law student programs and projects that have been going on as well as member recruitment. We have met our goals and have been very successful during my tenure.
ISSUES: We will always be concerned about recruitment and retention. We have a variety of projects in the work that should help us obtain our goals as usual.
PROJECTS: Currently, I am on a committee that is responsible for keeping the "GP SOLO mentoring certificate program" on track. Alan Fowler heads up the group, but he frequently requests feedback, solication, and participation in that regard to which I comply. I am also looking into recruitment tools for law students.

Government and Public Section Lawyers
Sunita Krishna (University of Arizona-Rogers College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended a meeting via telecommunication. the meeting occurred at the beginning of my term
ISSUES: The newest info for the ABA main Government Division is that the ABA issued a resolution in 2006 to encourage public sector lawyers to do more pro-bono work. Likewise, the ABA government hompage has set forth guidelines on how to establish pro-bono programs in your office, something that would be of interest to newly graduating law students.
PROJECTS: I feel there is a need for the ABA Law Student Division to work with career centers of various schools. It might be useful to divide the US into various regions. As I echoed in my previous reports, a lot of students simply do not know about the opportunities that are out there. It would be useful for students to receive emails about ABA sutff through school email for example, which would require some kind of partnership with the school career services.

Judicial
Michelle Marjon Raji (Loyola University - Los Angeles - School of Law)

Senior Lawyers
Stephen Hamm (Nova Southeastern University-Shepard Broad Law Center)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the Midyear meeting in Los Angeles in February. I attended and participated in every SLD committee meeting that I could, as well as the SLD Council meeting. Prior to that, I attended an SLD-sponsored CLE event in January held in in Miami on the topic of Elder Law.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I was present for the Liaison Caucus at the Midyear meeting.
ISSUES: The topic of the provisional admission to the practice of law (H.O.D. Resolution #112) led to discussion, debate, and eventual endorsement at the Senior Lawyers Division Council meeting. The SLD continues to consider a name change that might better attract Elder Law practitioners of all ages without alienating the 55+ "senior lawyer" base. The SLD is moving forward in taking over the responsibility for the Women Trailblazers project from the Commission on Women in the Profession. This project entails interviewing women selected as "trailblazers" in the legal profession. This may present an opportunity not only for law student involvement, but also an eventual resource for law students, student ABA groups, and Student Lawyer magazine.
PROJECTS: I have proposed the creation of a writing contest, with the winner to published in either the Senior Lawyers Division's magazine or newsletter. This has met with initial support from the SLD Chair. More details will be discussed at the SLD April meeting. My prior plan to write an article for Student Lawyer has been rendered moot with their recent publication of an article about Elder Law, which included reference to the Senior Lawyers Division.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: I will be attending the Senior Lawyers Division Quarterly meeting April 10-12 in Chicago. April 16th is National Healthcare Decisions Day http://www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org/. It is a joint effort of dozens of organizations including the ABA-SLD, AARP, and the AMA. I would also like to bring attention to some of the SLD-sponsored CLE programs for the annual meeting in NY that may be of value to soon-to-be lawyers looking to do things the right way with respect to their own financial planning and business decisions.

Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice
Nancy  Eyl (Georgetown University Law Center)

Antitrust Law-Membership and Equal Opportunity Committee
Daniel J Boyle (University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Since the fall report, I have participated in the Section's monthly conference calls. In addition to the contributions described in the fall report, my involvement is described below.
ISSUES: I have communicated those throughout this reporting period to the appropriate division personnel. The key issues have been:

• publicize the Steiger Fellowships;
• publicize a new Section fellowship for persons who take unpaid internships at key antitrust and consumer protection organizations; and
• support the Section in its plans to host a series of Why Antitrust? brown bag seminars around the law school circuit over the coming months and years.

PROJECTS: The three projects are described above:

• Steiger Fellowship promotion;
• Intern Fellowhip Promotion; and
• Why Antitrust? Brown Bag Series Coordination.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: Provided feedback on web site links, content and navigation. Obtained commitment from McGeorge Antitrust Professor, Franklin Gevurtz, to support the Why Antitrust brown bag luncheon series in a session to be hosted at McGeorge.

Business Law
Adam Ross Pearlman (George Washington University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Attended the Section's Spring Meeting in Dallas, April 10-12, including its Law Student Program at Southern Methodist University on April 9. The list of events the Section wants me to attend is forthcoming. My role in planning for the meeting is described below.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended the Eleventh Circuit's fall planning meeting and spring meeting, as well as the regional fall round-table.
PROJECTS: The chief project the Section has asked me to handle was to update its spreadsheet of contact information for "diversity bar associations" for the Dallas area to add to the depth and breadth of the Spring Meeting. With the help of Thirteenth Circuit leadership, I obtained the contact information for several such organizations for the Section, and re-organized and clarified their existing spreadsheet compiled from previous meetings.

Criminal Justice Council
Cynthia G. Jones (South Texas College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have attended the annual meeting in San Francisco, the fall council meeting in Washington, D.C., and the spring council meeting in Charleston S.C. I am a voting member of the council and I have fully participated.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended the Law Student Division Job Fair in San Francisco.
ISSUES: The Criminal Justice Council is currently working on a number of important issues. I just returned from Charleston, South Carolina where we worked on some important resolutions.

1. The section has lent its support to the ongoing legislative process regarding loan repayment assistance.
2. The section is working closely with congress to assist in the reevaluation and changes being made to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Particularly, a couple of CJS members testified before congress about the ABA policy on the unfairness in crack/powder cocaine sentencing. The section not only supports a more fair sentencing practice but would also like for the new guidelines to be retroactive.
3. The council supported a resolution that would call for a more uniform approach across all federal district courts when they are compiling presentence investigation reports. These reports are used by judges to decide on post-conviction sentences and currently there is enormous disparity across the country as to how and with what information those reports are compiled. The council approved in principle a resolution that would urge the federal district courts to require a "discovery" like sharing of information with each party in order to ensure that the information contained in the PSI's is accurate.
4. There has been a resolution placed before the council recommending a change to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6. This amendment would allow a lawyer to reveal otherwise attorney/client privilaged information if the attorney is aware that an innocent person is serving time for a crime they did not commit and the attorney comes by this information through his/her attorney relationship with his/her client. There was very strong debate on the subject and the council voted to continue to explore the changes. No resolution has been made.
5. The CJS is supportive of the Second Chance Act that was recently passed in congress that allows for non-violent criminals to have a chance to avoid the long lasting implications of criminal behavior and offers assistance to help avoid recidivism.
6. The council passed a resolution that calls for independent oversight of all federal and state prisons and jails. This would be an inspection body that would be charged with the responsibility of identifying and reporting issues in our country's jails and prisons and would have enforcement power to require the state and federal governments to rectify the issues noted.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: Loan repayment assistaace continues to be an important issue for the section. The meeting of the Federal Sentencing Commission will also be closely watched as the guidelines are once again in the spotlight as a result of a ruling from the Supreme Court that affirms the unfairness in federal crack/powder cocaine sentencing. As a result of the passage in November of the amendment to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8 with the addition of subsections g and h, the section is working on amending model rule 1.6 to comport with the requiremets of 3.8. This is a very contentious change and there are strong views on both sides. There is likely to be considerable debate.

Criminal Justice-Corrections and Sentencing Committee
Candace Cromes (University of LaVerne College of Law)

Criminal Justice-Defense Function and Services Committeel
Sara Dresser (Southwester Law School)

Criminal Justice-International Crimes Committee
Leslie  Frost (Santa Clara University School of Law)

Criminal Justice-Juvenile Justice Committee
Olivia  Hyatt (North Carolina Central School of Law)
No new activity to report this time.

Criminal Justice-Prosecution Function Committee
Joshua M. Templet (University of California-Berkeley-School of Law)

Criminal Justice-Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Joseph Dennis Carlson (Catholic University of America-Columbus School of Law)
No new activity to report at this time.

Criminal Justice-Victims Committee
Abby Allford (Oklahoma City University School of Law)

Criminal Justice-White Collar Crimes Committee
Tracey Johnson (Washburn University Law School)

Dispute Resolution
James P. Sasso (Seton Hall University School of Law)

Environment, Energy and Resources Law
Andrew Jacoby (Tulane University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have attended the SEER Fall Meeting in Pittsburgh, the ABA's Annual Conference in San Francisco, and a Fall Meeting Conference Planning Committee meeting in Phoenix (for the upcoming Sept 08 conference). I will attend the SEER Annual Conference in Colorado at which I have arranged for six student attendees, including arrangement for their accommodations. I will be working with the Phoenix committee as a vice chair to encourage students to attend.
PROJECTS: There are a number of SEER committees and task forces in need of my help as the student liaison. I am assisting the following:

• MEMBERSHIP SERVICE GROUP: Increase student membership by (1) promoting a reduction in student section dues (from $5 to $0), and, (2) encouraging law schools with environmental law programs to promote ABA membership.
  • I spoke to the Education Committee in February to promote this dues reduction, which the committee is considering.
  • I have obtained student membership data from the ABA staff as part of my effort to create a marketing strategy to target underrepresented schools by encouraging the schools with the lowest SEER attendance rates and the strongest envtl law programs to in turn encourage their students to join the ABA and SEER.
• EDUCATION COMMITTEE increasing student participation in Quick Teleconference series; Carbon Offset Fall Meeting initiative (possible bus to fall meeting for students); ABA sponsorship of student-run conferences (along with the Section Committee on Section Sponsorships); Law School externship research and database development; Continue to promote student attendance at SEER conferences, in part via my activity on the 2008 fall meeting planning committee. I continue to represent this committee as the student vice-chair, and attended the planning meeting in Phoenix in January. We will not proceed with a bus sponsorship to deliver LA-based students to the conference, but instead will use alternative promotions. So far, since I ve been helping as both liaison and conference planner, our section has seen increased student attendance at SEER conferences.
• COMMITTEE ON PESTICIDES, CHEMICAL REGULATION, and RIGHT-TO-KNOW Nanotechnology project (need for student volunteers). I have promoted this volunteer opportunity both directly to students and via the SEER student web page.
• WORLD JUSTICE PROJECT This is not an initiative run by SEER, but environmental issues will have particular interest to students, which I am currently considering how we can help. I have not participated in anything with respect to this project yet.
• RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES COMMITTEE Initiatives with Yale Law School and NAELS (National Association of Environmental Law Societies). I have not participated with respect to this committee yet.
• SPECIAL COMMITTTEE ON YOUNG LAWYERS Student involvement in mentoring programs, and development of Quick Teleconferences. I have promoted the QTs to students, and also asked SEER to encourage student participation by reducing the cost and promoting the opportunities itself to students.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: -Work with SEER Council and its efforts to develop and promote minority students to join the section. I have not moved forward on this project but hope to before the end of my term.

• Assistance with the Energy Challenge, which promotes law firms (and hopefully soon, law schools) to reduce their environmental footprint. In January, the committee directing the Law Office Climate Challenge informed me that the Challenge is available to law schools. I am promoting this activity to environmental law societies both through the ABA and through NAELS.
• I have promoted environmental law writing competitions on the SEER web site.
• Development of a new student liaison manual for the incoming liaisons. This manual aims to put the calendar in perspective and suggest helpful things that new SEER liaisons can do.

Family Law
Callie Renee Weed (Stetson University College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Family Law Section's Spring Conference in Chicago in May. At that conference, the liaison from the YLD and I hope to introduce to the Council an idea about a mentorship program between the Family Law Section and YLD.
ISSUES: The Family Law Section recently had a resolution passed - the ABA Model Act on Assisted Reproductive Technology. This may be of interest to the Division as many egg and sperm donors are either in college or graduate school.
PROJECTS: We are working on the mentorship program, as well as strengthening the Family Law Student listserv.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The Section sponsors a Law Student writing contest - the deadling is in May.

Health Law
Katie Rose Fink (Saint Louis University School of Law)

Individual Rights and Responsibilities Law
Margaux Day (Case Western Reserve School of Law)
ISSUES: AIDS Coordination Project, April 9-10, 2008:HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference - Dallas, Texas: The ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee, chaired by Shelley D. Hayes of Washington, DC, will host a national continuing legal education (CLE) conference on HIV/AIDS Law and Practice: From Local Client to Global Workforce, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Tex. The conference will examine a broad range of cutting-edge domestic and international issues in HIV/AIDS law, with an additional focus on the pandemic s impact on the private sector and the pivotal role the business community (including corporate counsel) can play in stemming the spread of HIV. Ambassador Mark R. Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, will give a keynote address on April 9. Registration for the conference (or for individual sessions, if desired) is now open via the Committee s web site.
PROJECTS: Hope to attend April meeting on HIV/AIDS.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: I am keeping up to date through the entity's listserve. I make sure to keep track of relevant issues, upcoming events, and if there are any student opportunities, I will continue to let the Student Division know.

Intellectual Property Law
Kristina Kirby (ITT-Chicago-Kent College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Committee 505 (Membership)meetings. I joined the committee to aid in the re-design of the website. They have monthly meetings.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended the 7th Circuit spring meeting in Chicago. I attended all the sessions.
ISSUES: The IP Section is redesigning their website. Currently, they do not have information for law students, so I am working with the Section to get my contact information on the website, a news and events section tailored for law students, and an updated scholarship section.
PROJECTS: Website redesign. Also, working to establish a mentoring program where students will be matched with a practicing lawyer in their area of interest and communicate with them via email. I am also attempting to get a list of committees that have projects for students. One of the main complaints I get is that there is no way for students to be involved in the Section. So, we are polling committees for projects students might be interested in, and I am going to post the opportunities on the student section of the website.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: I attended the Annual Conference on Intellectual Property Law on Friday, February 29, 2008. The program gave updates in the different areas of IP law. I am going to get electronic versions of the PowerPoint slides to post of the student section of the website.

International Law
Cameron Smith (Northern Illinois University College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Leadership retreat in Sonoma, CA - attended several roundtable discussions to discuss Section policy and goals. Section of Int'l Law Fall Meeting in London, UK - attended several programs on various int'l law issues. Met with the Section's membership committee to discuss law student involvement with the Section. Attended Council meeting to discuss and debate Section policy. Section of Int'l Law Spring Meeting in New York, NY - attended several programs on various int'l law issues. Met with the Section's membership committee to discuss law student involvement with the Section. Attended Council meeting to discuss and debate Section policy. Was informed at Council meeting by the Publications Officer that the Section is going to have opportunities in the future for law students to work as volunteer student editors of the International Law News.
ISSUES: As mentioned above, the Section of Int'l Law is planning on offering opportunities for law students to volunteer as student editors of the International Law News. I will keep the LSD informed as this progresses. The Section is also discussing the possibility of scholarship opportunities in the future. As above, I will keep the LSD informed on this issue.
PROJECTS: Increasing law student involvement with the Section's individual committees, and working with the Publications Committee on creating student editor positions for law student members. Also, the Section is working hard on increasing law student attendance at their meetings. For the recent Spring Meeting, a major discount was offered to students as well as a voucher that could be applied to Section activities. Scholarship opportunities for the future are in the works, and I am working with the Membership Committee on that issue.

Labor and Employment Law
Kerrie Riggs (The George Washington University Law School)

Law Practice Management
Margrit Parker (University of Colorado Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the LPM's Midyear Meeting in LA.
PROJECTS: I have been working with various committees and task forces in LPM to suggest that they can rely more on me in the liaison position for things they would like to do that are geared towards students. The e-Lawyering Task Force visits a local law school during each Section meeting and gives a presentation on the burgeoning world of practicing law using the internet. However, marketing the program at the host school has been somewhat lax. I have asked them to let the Student Liaison take on the role of contacting theh host-school and making sure that all potentially interested student groups hear about the program. I will be doing this for the Spring Meeting in Santa Fe if any law schools are in session then. I am also working with the Section to provide some programming for students at the Annual Meeting. I am very excited about this prospect because the LPM has a lot to share with students.

Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Christine Brady (William S. Boyd School of Law-UNLV)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Fall council meeting in Chicago; Winter council meeting in Arizona; Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles. I was actively involved in helping to revise and coordinate issues re accredidation issues/standards.
ISSUES: The ABA Council on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar made changes to the accredididation standards, requiring the law schools to report and maintain a 75% bar passage rate for first-time takers of bars in the respective jurisdictions. I worked with the Division to help make recommendations and adjustments to draft changes.
PROJECTS: The SBA presidents are interested in proposing a change in ABA Standard 302. I helped them through the process of getting their proposed change on the Council's agenda.

Litigation
Scott A Mason (University of San Diego School of Law)

Public Contract Law
E. Abigail Raines (The George Washington University Law School)
No activities to report at this time.

Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law
Christina Switzer (Vermont Law School)

Real Property, Trust and Estate Law-Trust and Estate Section
Susan Strachan (University of Montana School of Law)
DIVISION MEETINGS: Attended Fall meeting in Minneapolis. Fully participated in this meeting as the student liasion. I am not able to attend the Spring meeting in Washington D.C. due to my class schedule.
ISSUES: The Probate & Trust Section is actively gathering ideas to get more student membership and interest. They held a meeting in Chicago last fall that was very well attended by law students (80 sudents from 5 different schools attended). The format was as follows: 4 attorneys gave 10 minute presentations on their careers and how ABA Section Membership supported them. They talked about benefits of section membership such as resources, and contacts in other related areas of law. Then there was a Q&A session with the law student attendeer. This meeting was deemed to be a great success, and other meetings are planned.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: I am alwasy included in monthly conference calls.

Real Property, Trust and Estate Law-Real Property Section
Veronica Lopez (ITT-Chicago-Kent College of Law)

Science and Technology Law
Mitchell A Tobias (Capital University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Since the Annual Meeting, I have participated in three conference calls with section members. I participated in two conference calls with the Section Council to discuss the Section's support for several Midyear Meeting resolutions; during the second call, I was able to vote on motions to support, oppose, or take other action on the resolutions. The third conference call was with the Membership Committee, where I participated in various discussions related to Section membership.
DIVISION MEETINGS: As discussed in the October report, I attended the fall roundtable at Duke University. I also attended the spring meeting for the 6th Circuit at the University of Dayton. At that meeting, I spoke to all of the attendees about the liaison program; I beleive that at least two students left with the intention to apply for a liaison position.
ISSUES: One of the major concerns is law student interest/participation. The Section sponsored a writing contest with the prize of airfare and accommodations for two nights to the Annual Meeting in New York. As of 5 days before the entry deadline, no submissions had been made. The Section is very interested in why there seems to be so little involvement by law students.
PROJECTS: My next project, in furtherance of the Membership Committee's goals, is to send e-mails explaining the benefits of Section membership to 18 of the top science & technology-related law reviews in the U.S.

State and Local Government Law
Jacqueline Dao (University of LaVerne College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: My Section was present at the Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles and hosted a panel on careers in State and Local Government Law. At the meeting, I was able to speak with local law students to tell them about the ABA and about the Section's free membership. Every student that I spoke to was impressed with the Section Member's friendliness and willingness to assist students in resume review and to answer any questions in the field of state and local government. I will be attending the Section's Spring Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina in a few weeks (March 27-30).
DIVISION MEETINGS: I was unable to attend the 9th Circuit's Spring Meeting in San Diego because I was representing the Section at the Government Career Fair at Chapman Law School. We provided students with brochures for the Section and I was able to speak to students about getting involved with the ABA and LSD. I would like to thank Nicholas Garces, a 1L at Southwestern School of Law, for the great idea of having the Section present at the career fair. I met Nick at the Section's career panel at the Midyear Meeting in LA.
ISSUES: The Section has waived its membership fees to law students. Because the ABA fiscal year begins in August, those students wishing to join the Section for free must call the 800 number. Online registration still indicates a $10 fee and the Section has distributed brochures reflecting the waived fee. Law students will receive all of the membership benefits in electronic form - includes the Urban Lawyer (National Journal on State & Local Government Law) and the quarterly State & Local Government Newsletter.
PROJECTS: I am currently working on redesigning the Section's law student web page to be presented at the Spring Meeting.

Taxation Law
Venay Puri (University of Pittsburgh School of Law)

Tort Trial and Insurance Practice
Terry C. Bruner (Southern Medhodist University-Dedman School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Annual Meeting, San Francisco - very involved
TIPS Fall Meeting (via teleconference) - moderate involvement ABA/TIPS Midyear, Los Angeles - very involved DIVISION MEETINGS: Orientation - involved Telephone and e-mail contact with circuit governor - moderate involvement
ISSUES: TIPS Council will participate with the larger ABA in conducting law school accreditation visits in the coming months. The Section also wants to bolster its scholarship program to encourage more law students to participate in meetings and social activities that occur at those meetings.
PROJECTS: I am trying to organize a couple of Coffee with Experience events in the coming months, with a particular focus on getting TIPS leaders and members out to law schools in their areas.

Affordable Housing and Community Development
Mickey Northcutt (Suffolk University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I continue to participate in monthly conference calls with the Forum's Governing Committee. I also attended a conference in February in New Orleans put on by the Forum entitled "Lessons Learned from Katrina and Rita."
ISSUES: The Forum will host their annual meeting in Washington, DC May 21-23. A discount rate of $75 is offered to law students.
PROJECTS: I am working with the Forum and Suffolk University Law School to plan a law school forum on careers in Affordable Housing and Community Development Law to be held in Spring 2008.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The Forum recently held their 2008 Writing Competition. Submissions were due March 1, 2008, and the winner of the competition will be announced shortly, and the winner will receive a $1,000 award and a trip to the annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Air and Space Industry
Jeremy E Juenger (Saint Louis University School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Washington DC - Air and Space Law update meeting and Governing Committee Meeting. Took notes and presented LSD liaison report at GC meeting. Attendee at update meeting. Attended numerous conference calls for Washington meeting, upcoming Montreal meeting, and for the Law Student Writing Competition.
ISSUES:

• Scholarships for two law students to each meeting.
• $5,000 Law Student Writing Competition.
• ABA Forum on Air & Space Law Online Forum and Blog.
• Forum will sponsor a "speed mentoring" event in Washington, DC in early April.

PROJECTS:

• Created ABA Forum on Air & Space Law Online Forum and Blog.
• On committee to judge the Law Student Writing Competition mentioned above.
• Will continue to administer the website for the online forum and blog and hope to keep growing this resource to the benefit of the Forum and law students.
• If schedule permits, would like to write a liaison notes column.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: The Forum continues to be very receptive to the needs of law students. The law students have taken notice, as evidenced by the Forum's 11% increase in law student members over the last year.

Communications Law
Julie Marie Hofmeister (University of Missouri-Columbia-School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have participated in phone calls.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I I read through the materials regarding the February conference and participated in communications via the internet. I have also spread information to the 8th circuit that I have received pertaining to the Communications Law forum.
PROJECTS: I would really like to create more events for those interested in communications law for the upcoming annual conference. It was great meeting with other liaisons at the annual conference; however, there were not many (if more than 1-2) specific discussions related to communications law or hosted by the forum.

Construction Industry
Joshua  McLane (Brigham Young University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have participated in many conference calls.
PROJECTS: I assisted in marketing the ABA Construction Forum's Women & Minority Fellowship Program to the Utah Minority Bar Association. Additionally, the committee I served on--the membership committee--finalized it's Liaison Program Memorandum, Timeline, and Survey.

Entertainment and Sports Industries
Erin M. Jacobson (Southwestern Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have attended the Entertainment Law Initiative luncheon as an attendee and have had meetings with the Forum's chair, Lon Sobel about ideas for new programs we can implement.
ISSUES: Implementing beneficial and relevant programs for students.
PROJECTS: We are working on ideas for programs for students interested in the entertainment industry.

Armed Forces Law
Ryan Edward Calef (Pennsylvania State University-Dickinson School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles, CA in February. I had the opportunity to interact with Committee and propose a new program which generated sustantial interest.
PROJECTS: I have been working with the Navy to establish a visiting professor program with the Dickinson School of Law. Similar to the CIA's visiting professor program, a high ranking navel officer will serve as an adjunct faculty, paid by the Navy. The officer will then teach international law related classes, thus increasing the knowledge of students. This pilot program will hopefully start within a year along with the new school of international law being formed as a joint project between the law school and the university. My hope is that it will be a model for future military / law school relations.

Legal Services
Maria-Vittoria Carminati-Garbino (University of Houston Law Center)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the ABA Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles in February. I mingled and made connections at the event.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended a Sp. Committee meeting and was able to get to know the members of the committee in person. I was there for a few hours, and also attended a luncheon.

SUMMARY OF ABA MIDYEAR MEETING, LOS ANGELES, CA

• Appointments: The Family Law Section and the Judicial Division responded to the Committee s invitation to appoint liaison by appointing J. Croew and M. Bernal respectively.
• Report to the House of Delegate: The informational report to the House of Delegates is posted at www.abanet.org/legalservices/delivery. This is the best source to stay updated on both present and future activities of the Committee.
• National Judicial Conference on Self-Represented Litigants: The Committee heard a report regarding a Conference on Self-Represented Litigants. A total of 155 people attended, representing 32 states and four territories. The conference s goal was to encourage and assist with the development of a curriculum for judges handling pro se matters. As of the date of the report, eighteen states had started developing a curriculum.
• Southwestern Law School Conference: A report on the Conference stated that the program was strong, but the turnout was too low. The Committee decided a law school is not the best place to hold these types of programs, and that in the future it would be better to join with a local bar association and invite young lawyers.
• Enterprise Fund: The Committee will request funding for a conference to bring together state teams to discuss ways to address the needs of pro se litigants. The goal will be to stimulate state plans that address issues of pro se litigants.
• Low Bono Incubator: Ms. Herrera informed the committee that she is working toward the creation of a low-bono incubator to provide legal services to people in the Compton area, where very few lawyers office. She has established a group known as Community Lawyers. She is seeking community partners, considering ways to bridge practitioners with legal aid, looking at the use of technology, seeking sources for training on the nuts and bolts of practice management, building a board of mentors and creating fellowships.
• Certificate Program for Law Students in Public Service: Prof. Staudt also shared his work at Chicago-Kent Collage of Law. Most recently he has developed a certificate program for law students in public service. Each year between 10 and 12 students graduate with the certificate. The students are active in a variety of projects, including the A2J authoring tool. This software assists non-tech people build guided online documents that usher people through their legal needs and then creates the necessary documentation. Prof. Staudt indicated that much of this effort was pioneered by Bob Cohen.
  

ISSUES: The entity applied for and received funds from the Enterprise Fund. The Sp. Committee also gave an award for involvement in the field of delivery of legal services. Additionally, these were the positions taken by the Sp. Committee on the various issues addressed at the Midyear.

• Recommendations Before the House of Delegates:
  • Recommendation 10B, calling for the adoption of black letter Protocols for Judges in the Settlement and Trial of Cases Involving Unrepresented Litigants in Housing Court: the committee decided to co-sponsor.
  • Recommendation 102B, urging the establishment of programs for representation of victim of identity theft. After discussion, the committee agreed to remain silent.
  • Recommendation 108, urging the enactment of legislation that promotes the provision of legal services to veterans in obtaining benefits: Mr. Hornsby indicated that the Standing Committee on Legal Assistance to Military Personnel was not a co-sponsor. After discussion, the committee asked Ms. Richardson to follow the lead of the LAMP Committee.
  • Recommendation 110B, creating a best interest lawyer for children in abuse, neglect and custody proceedings: Mr. Cassidy reported that some thought this was inconsistent with the Model Rules, but that alternatives may be add expense or alternatively be ineffective. After discussion, the committee voted to support the recommendation.
  • Recommendation 111A, supporting fee levels for immigration services that do not deter applicants from filing: The committee concluded that this recommendation was related to its mission, but not sufficiently so to justify co-sponsorship. The committee voted to support the recommendation.
  • Recommendation 112, creating conditional admission for those who had recently received treatment for addictive or mental health issues and were in recovery: The committee had voted to support this recommendation prior to the 2007 Annual Meeting. At the request of the sponsor, it revisited it at this time. After discussion, the committee again voted to support the recommendation.
  • The committee then discussed its hearings on the use of technology in the delivery of legal services. The first hearing will take place at TechShow, on March 13. Mr. Granat, Prof. Charn and Mr. Hornsby will be present to preside over the hearing. The second hearing will be on May 9, at the Equal Justice Conference. Prof. Charn, Ms. Segal and Mr. Hornsby will preside at that time. The final hearing will take place at the Annual Meeting in New York. Prior to the first hearing, Mr. Hornsby will prepare materials and seek out those who may be interested in providing testimony.
    

PROJECTS: Currently the Sp. Committee has plans regarding technological improvements to aid access to legal services by people of median income. Hearings will be held. Here is the summary I provided the LSD in February regarding this issue.
HEARING ANNOUNCEMENT: The ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services will hold a series of hearings on the use of technology to provide personal, civil legal services over the Internet and the policies that govern that use. Specifically, the Committee expects to examine:

• The range of providers who are using technology to provide legal services through the Internet and the scope of those services. The Committee s initial observations indicate that corporations, state courts and governmental entities are using the Internet to provide document preparation and collateral legal services more commonly than practitioners who provide personal, civil legal services;
• The benefits and detriments that have resulted from the use of technology to provide legal services over the Internet. The Committee is interested in feedback from various legal service providers and other interested entities, as well as documentation from any entities about harms that have resulted from the use of technology to provide legal services;
• Emerging trends and possible future directions of technology providing legal services via the Internet; and
  The policies and authorities (rules, statutes, case law, ethics opinions, etc.) that have emerged to govern the use of technology for the delivery of legal services and whether those policies are consistent with the need to balance consumer protection with access to affordable legal services and justice.

The hearings will be held at the following times and locations:

• March 13, 2008, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, in conjunction with the ABA TechShow, Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605;
• May 9, 2008, Noon to 3:00 PM, in conjunction with the Equal Justice Conference, Hilton Minneapolis, 1001 Marquette Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55403;
• August 2008, TBD, in conjunction with the ABA Annual Meeting.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: - Future Meetings:

• Spring meeting will be held at the Equal Justice Conference, in Minneapolis, on May 10. The meeting will be held from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM so that members can return home in time for Mothers Day.
• The summer meeting will be held on July 11-12. Staff will look at options in the Cape Cod area.

Election Law
Cindy Lewis (Drake University Law School)

Judicial Independence
Jessica L. Emch (Capital University Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the 2008 Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles. I participated in the Committee's business meeting held on Feb. 9th and attended the SCJI and the Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements Joint Dinner held at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
PROJECTS: Over the past year, I have been involved with the Least Understood Branch Project with SCJI and the Ohio State Bar Assocition. This project encourages members of the legal profession to carry the message of the importance of fair and impartial courts in our democracy to every possible venue in their communities.
Prgram materials are available to law students and can be found on the Committee's web site: http://www.abanet.org/judind/toolkit/impartialcourts/home.html.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: I received the Silver Key Award from the 6th Circuit Governor.

Law and National Security
Erik F. Swabb (Harvard Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law Conference hosted by the Committee from Nov. 15-16 in Washington, D.C. I also attended the fall Committee business meeting on November 17. At the meeting, I presented a report on the growing student interest in the field and my goals as liaison. I plan on attending the next Committee meeting in May.
ISSUES: The main issue facing the entity that concerns the Division is the student writing competition that I am trying to set up. Please see below.
PROJECTS: The main project of my term, setting up a student writing competition, is moving forward. I submitted a proposal to the Staff Director of the Committee on February 22. The proposal detailed the eligibility, topic, selection, award, conditions, format, and submissions process. We hope to submit the request to the ABA Board of Governors in the next few months. The goal is to establish the competition by the summer, advertise it through the 2008-2009 academic year, and give the first award at the Committee-sponsored national security law conference in November 2009.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The Committee has sponsored two breakfasts since the last liaison report. The new Attorney General spoke on December 19. At the second breakfast, on March 3, officials from the DOJ and Congress will discuss FISA reform. The Committee is also advertising an upcoming conference hosted by the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security as well as other departments at Duke University School of Law. Their spring conference, "Combating Terrorism: Charting the Course for a New Administration," will take place from April 10-11 at Duke.

Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants
Dino L Pollock (Valparaiso University School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have attended both meeting of the SCLAID committee since my appointment last August. I attended the fall meeting in Tucson, AZ and the SCLAID meeting and summit at the ABA Mid-Year Conference in Los Angeles in February. I also participated in Chief Justice Karla Gray's Access to Justice subcommittee meeting in LA. SCLAID put together an outstanding summit on defender caseload problems, access to justice issues including civil right to counsel and federal and state funding for legal aid services.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended the Law Student Division Liaison Caucus meeting in Los Angeles during the ABA Midyear convention. I spoke extensively with Daniel Suvor, the ABA Law Student Division delegates, and other liaisons about division priorities at the upcoming ABA Day and the national convention in New York City.
ISSUES: The SCLAID deals with several issues of importance to thew division. The most pressing at the moment are the issues of loan forgiveness and loan repayment programs for public interest and governmental agency legal positions. The entity works closely with the ABA Legislative Affairs to lobby Congress on various issues affecting the pipeline of lawyers into public interest. The debt service of many new lawyers is astounding and the Committee was very instrumental in the passage of the College Cost Reduction Act signed into law by President Bush last fall.
PROJECTS: I plan on assiting Julie Strandlie of ABA Legislative Affairs and the ABA Law Student Division leadership and delegates prepare for and attend ABA Day on Capitol Hill in April.

Legal Assistance for Military Personnel
Daniel J Spurgeon (Southwestern Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I attended the LAMP Committee meeting in Seattle, WA, and participated personally in the Thursday CLE presentations, the Thursday evening formal dinner, and the Friday business meeting.
ISSUES: Not directly related to the LAMP Committee is a pending educational bill which would give all military students in American higher education a right to re-enrollment following a military-mandated withdrawl from the same school.
PROJECTS: I am solicting advice from my Dean of Students concerning an informational campaign to inform law schools of the issues that military law students face during deployments and activations. The AALS may provide a pre-existing forum for this purpose.

Public Education
Molly J. Timko (City University of New York at Queens College)

Substance Abuse
Amy Ingram (Loyola University-New Orleans-College of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: November committee meeting. Midyear Meeting: suggestion of bringing substance abuse awareness program into the law schools; LSD support on the PDMP recommendation
DIVISION MEETINGS: Fall roundtable, spring roundtable for the 13th Circuit -ran for circuit governor
ISSUES: The committee is attempting to expand its jurisdiction to include mentl health abuse. In addition, they are attempting to find ways to find additional participation in the CoLap programs. Finally, the committee is trying to increase awareness of warning signs of substance abuse and depression
PROJECTS: I am working on putting awareness programs in law schools incorporating the new mental health initiative and the committee's programming.

AIDS Coordinating Committee
Kitty Tyranne Harris (William Mitchell College of Law)

ALI/ABA Continuing Professional Education
Lance L. Morley (Florida A & M University College of Law)

Center for Children and the Law
Hasmik Badalian (University of San Diego School of Law)

Commission on Domestic Violence
Amy Marie Pritchard (Seattle University School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: I have participated in monthly conference calls and participated via phone during the annual fall meeting.
DIVISION MEETINGS: I attended the 12th Circuit LSD meeting and helped coordinate the speakers for the event.
PROJECTS: I will be helping to read the DV writing contest submissions.

Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs
Miniya Maskal (University of Maryland School of Law)

Commission on Mental and Physical Disabilities Law
Shariff L. Jones (Georgia State University College of Law)

Center for Professional Responsibility
Hannah J. Yancy (Thomas M. Cooley Law School)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Did not go to the Midyear meeting because neither the Center nor the LSD had enough programing to make the trip worth while. However, I plan to attend a Conference in May.
PROJECTS: Wanting to set up some kind of Honor Code/Professionalism week at my individual school. Then want to encourage other schools to do the same, if they do not already have something like it set up.

Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession
Natasha Walwyn (Suffolk University Law School)

Rule of Law Initative-European and Eurasian Law Program (CEELI)
Amanda F. Mowle (Vermont Law School)

Commission on Women in the Profession
Jasmine T Parson (Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis)

Commission on Youth at Risk
Callie Renee Weed (Stetson University College of Law)

Arbitration Competition
Davina R. Eads (Stetson University College of Law)

Client Counseling Competition
Paula K. Gregory (William S. Boyd School of Law - UNLV)

National Appellate Advocacy Competitions (NAAC)
Elijah J. Haahr (University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Meeting last fall to plan for upcoming competition
DIVISION MEETINGS: Conference calls discussing upcoming competitions
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The regional competitions are beginning this weekend. I will be attending the regional competitions in Dallas, Las Vegas, and Boston in March and then the national competition in Chicago in April.

Negotiation Competition
Julia Kim Whitelock (Catholic University of America-Columbus School of Law)
ENTITY MEETINGS: Since the committee meeting in September, I was involved in the National Negotiation Competition held at the ABA Midyear meeting last month. For the first day and half of the second day of the meeting myself and the sub-committee went over rule changes and other committee functions and changes. I observed one of the final negotiations and talked with a number of the volunteer judges who are attorneys in the area. I spoke at the finals reception and announced the winners of the regional competitions and the national competition. I drafted a press release regarding the national competition and its winners.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
Danette  Kobolt (Thomas M. Cooley Law School)