In This Issue:

September 1999—Vol. 28, No. 1

Guidelines for Candidates for the Law Student Division’s 2000-01 National Offices of Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer

Eligibility. Any law student attending an American Bar Association-approved law school is eligible to seek national office. A candidate for office must be a member in good standing of the Law Student Division and a student in good standing in law school (not on academic suspension or probation) who has not received his or her first degree in law and will be a law student during the 1999-2000 academic year.

Nomination Procedure. Interested students should write to Law Student Division, American Bar Association, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611 for a set of nomination forms. A candidate’s nomination is completed by the timely filing of the following nominating papers with the Chicago office:

• Notice of intention: This form declares the student’s candidacy for an office and states that the candidate has read and will observe the election rules and campaign restrictions.

• Dean’s certification: This form states that the dean of a candidate’s law school has approved the candidacy and pledges support to the candidate upon election.

• Statement of candidacy: Each candidate shall enclose with the nomination forms a résumé and camera-ready typewritten statement of candidacy. The résumé and statement together must not exceed three 81Ú2 x 11-inch pages (one side of paper equals one page), which may be single-spaced. In the statement, the candidate should state his or her qualifications, platform, and ABA involvement. The three-page statement and résumé will be printed and distributed to the Division’s Board of Governors.

Although a candidate is no longer required to submit proof of membership in the Division, the Chicago office will verify each candidate’s membership with the ABA/LSD, and no candidate who has not paid his or her dues shall be certified as an eligible candidate.

Evaluation Process. Each candidate should be prepared to present a five-minute speech to the Board, which will be followed by small-group round-robin question-and-answer sessions. The Board will then elect the three national officers, with a simple majority needed to win.

Filing Deadline. All candidates must submit the nominating papers set forth above to the Chicago office postmarked no later than Oct. 1. It is the candidate’s responsibility to meet this deadline. The materials must be sent first-class certified mail (return receipt requested) or overnight mail (Federal Express, etc.) to furnish clear proof of sending and receipt.

Board Standing Committee on Elections. The Standing Committee on Elections shall help administer these rules without partiality toward any candidate. The Division chair shall ensure that appointed Committee members are impartial.

Procedure After Filing of Nominating Papers. After the Chicago office has received all candidates’ nominating papers, the Standing Committee on Elections and the Division staff will begin the process of certification. All candidates who have met the conditions of the nomination procedures will be considered nominees for national office. Anyone disqualified for any reason will be notified by the Committee as soon as possible. Certified nominees will be informed around Oct. 15, 1999.

All potential nominees should study the Division bylaws, which are available from the Division’s Chicago office and on the LSD web site at www.abanet.org/lsd. Where appropriate, these will be supplemented by the Standing Committee on Elections, and all nominees will be duly informed.

Change of Office Sought. A nominee may, by written notice to the Division chair at least 12 hours before the scheduled call to order of the meeting at which the Board votes, change the office for which he or she is running. Should any office be uncontested by the deadline for changing office, he or she shall automatically be elected to that office.

Campaign Restrictions. The following restrictions govern all nominees’ campaigns and shall be strictly construed by the Board Standing Committee on Elections. A nominee may be disqualified for failing to comply with these procedures and the bylaws:

• The only campaign materials permitted are the nominating papers filed with and distributed by the Chicago office staff and the official name tag supplied by the staff. No other campaign materials, including but not limited to badges and posters, are permitted before or during the November Board meeting. Nominees shall not spend any money on their campaigns, write letters to Board members, provide hospitality suites or organize parties, or travel to other schools or to circuit meetings outside the candidate’s own circuit before the November Board meeting.

• Supporters of a nominee shall not engage in any campaign activity prohibited to the nominee. A nominee is responsible for the activities of his or her supporters and may be disqualified as a result of actions undertaken by others on his or her behalf.

Furthermore, before the first day of the November Board meeting, no nominee may contact any circuit governor, Division representative, or delegate other than those in his or her own circuit. This rule, however, and any other rule promulgated by the Standing Committee on Elections with regard to the candidacy for national office, shall not be interpreted to prevent noncampaign-oriented communications initiated in the normal course of official Division activities. The Committee shall have the authority to determine whether the primary effect and intent of such communications is within the normal course of official duties. The nominee shall supply the Chicago staff and the Committee with copies of all correspondence to Division members outside the nominee’s circuit. The Committee’s decision will be final.

The Committee, on its own motion or at the written request of any voter or nominee, shall promptly decide any question arising under these rules or otherwise relating to the election, including a complaint that a nominee has broken these rules or otherwise engaged in an unfair campaign practice. The Division chair or his or her designee shall give timely notice to any nominee who is liable to be so disqualified, who may personally appear before the Committee and confront any evidence against him or her. Any such proceeding shall be private and confidential, unless the nominee waives his or her right to privacy and confidentiality. The Committee shall, on the basis of clear and convincing evidence, disqualify any nominee who has broken these rules or otherwise engaged in any unfair campaign practice.

The chair may on his or her own motion, or shall on appeal by any interested nominee, review any decision of the Committee. Any interested nominee who does not immediately appeal such a decision shall have waived the right to appeal. The chair shall affirm the decision, or shall advise the Committee how to cure any error in the election or directly provide for any such error to be cured. The chair shall report his or her ruling to the Executive Committee and the Division delegates promptly, and to the Board as soon after the ruling as the Board assembles. Any interested nominee may then appeal the chair’s ruling, in which case the Board may review and modify the ruling until that meeting adjourns, but not thereafter. The chair’s ruling (as modified, if modified) shall be final with regard to the election in question. •