PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Bar President for 2012. I am excited about the events and activities coming up for YCBA this year. We started off the year with our annual "Meet the Judges" luncheon, and as always we had a wonderful turnout from the bench. We will be sponsoring a "Judicial Forum" on March 22, which will feature Judge Daniel Maguire and judicial candidate Clinton Parish as they exchange their views on the judicial process prior to this year's election.

The Law Day committee is very pleased to announce that this year's Law Day speaker and honored guest with be Tani Cantil Sakauye, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. This event will occur on April 26th at noon at the Woodland Community Center and we anticipate that it will be an exciting and well-attended event. Credit goes to the members of the Law Day committee who have been working for the last several years to reinvigorate Law Day. Planning is still underway to do community outreach with local schools and to involve the Yolo Superior Court in the event as well.

As President of YCBA, I invite all members to get more involved with our local bar. If there is a topic of interest for the monthly meetings. or if you know of a speaker that you might recommend, please send me an email at sarahorrlaw@gmail.com I look forward to working with all of you to make this a successful year for YCBA.

-- Sarah Orr, President, Yolo County Bar Association

FEBRUARY 16 MEETING

The Yolo County Bar Association is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. This program is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit.

Please R.S.V.P. to Allison Zuvela by Tuesday, February 14, to assure seating and lunch.

YOLO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION IS SOLICITING NOMINATIONS FOR 2012 LIBERTY BELL AWARD

The Yolo County Bar Association is accepting nominations from the community through Monday, April 9th for its 2012 Liberty Bell Award. The Liberty Bell Award is presented by the Yolo County Bar Association each year to honor a non-lawyer who has promoted better understanding of the rule of law, encouraged greater respect for law and the courts, stimulated a sense of civic responsibility, or contributed to good government in the community.

The Liberty Bell Award was established more than 30 years ago to acknowledge outstanding community service.

This year’s Law Day theme is "No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom." Law Day was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a "day of national dedication to the principle of government under law," and will be celebrated with events throughout the country. Law Day celebrates the American heritage of liberty, justice and equality under the law. Every year, Law Day provides legal professionals and others with opportunities to help students and the public understand the importance of our legal system and how the law protects our freedoms.

Nominations can be submitted by contacting Sarah Orr by email, by phone at 530-753-4450 or by fax at 530-753-9457.

Please provide contact information and a brief description of the nominee and why she or he is deserving of the award.

2012 MEMBERSHIP DUES

It is time for members to renew their dues for 2012, and of course The Yolo County Bar Association always welcomes new members. The Application for 2011 YCBA Bar Membership is HERE.

Dues are $50 for private sector attorneys and $25 for government sector attorneys.

If you would like to become a member, or renew your membership, please download and complete the application and mail it in with your payment. The mailing address is: Yolo County Bar Association, P.O. Box 1903, Woodland, CA 95776-1903.

Bar Association Committees - When filling out your application please express your interest in participating in the several committees that help our group serve our community.

The YCBA committees include:

Your Practice Area - Be sure to complete the part of the application that deals with your area of practice. Your contact information, including areas of practice, is listed on the Member Lookup area of the website, which can be searched by name and by area of practice. There have been well over 1,000 searches on that information thus far in 2010. If you are a current member, please check your listing here.

Bilingual? There have been a number of requests for information about attorneys who provide services in languages other than English. There is a place in the application where attorneys can provide this information, which will then be listed in the Member Lookup area of the website.

Support the Yolo County Law Library - When completing your YCBA membership form, please consider including a donation to the Yolo County Law Library. Please see the renewal application for more details.

Mandatory Fee Arbitration Procedures Have Changed

The Yolo County Bar Association has announced that its Mandatory Fee Arbitration program is now administered by the California State Bar rather than by a local administrator.

The State Bar will utilize local arbitrators from Yolo and Sacramento counties to conduct fee arbitrations when fees charged by Yolo County attorneys are disputed and mandatory fee arbitration is initiated.

All requests for Mandatory Fee Arbitrations should be directed to the California State Bar. The main telephone number for the Mandatory Fee Arbitration department at the State Bar is 415-358-2200. Mandatory Fee Arbitration forms and resources are available at the State Bar's website at www.calbar.ca.gov. Once contact is made with the State Bar, it will start the arbitration process, accept pleadings, appoint an arbitrator, and issue the arbitration award.

VIP MENTORS

The Yolo County Bar Association is proud to support VIP Mentors (VIP) in its application for the Second Chance Act Mentoring Grant for Nonprofit Organizations.

VIP provides an extremely important support network for parolees, and is a sound investment of funds because it reduces recidivism, saves judicial, law enforcement, and correctional resources, and most importantly makes a positive difference in the lives of its participants and its mentors. We strongly support this program, and recognize the vital gap that VIP fills in our community.

VIP Mentors invites you to participate in its program. VIP Mentors (VIP) is the only program in California that recruits attorneys, and only attorneys, to be guides, advisors, friends and role models for men and women on parole as they struggle to turn their lives around. Although all VIP mentors are attorneys, they are not required or permitted to offer legal assistance to their mentees. Instead, time is spent however you and your mentee choose, and usually involves one phone call a week and one to two meetings throughout the month. Whether you grab a cup of coffee, see a game, play sports, or go for a walk, the most important thing is that you listen and encourage as the parolee learns how a successful person lives his or her life.

Please contact Jesse Navarrete, the Sacramento/Yolo Program Director, with any questions you might have, or to sign-up as a mentor. Jesse can be reached by phone at (916) 324-4141 ext 259, or by email at vip-sacramento@vipmentors.org. VIP Mentors' website, www.vipmentors.org, also has a wealth of information including a short video on what mentoring is all about.

LAW LIBRARY NEWS

New Material

The Law Library has just received a very generous donation of books from the Sacramento County Public Law Library.

We now have publications on Internet Law, Copyright, newer material on Defense of Drunk Driving and Illegal Substances, a copy of the Model Penal Code and many more. The gift also includes an up-to date set of Corpus Juris Secundum.

Additionally, the library has added Forecite to its collection and to its online capabilities. All Forecite updates and peripherals are now available on the law library's public computers.

Input Needed

CEB is coming to town this spring! They will generously sponsor one of our YCBA meetings, but we need to provide them with a topic. Please contact the law library if there is a particular subject you would like to have presented. Please call at 530-666-8918 or contact us by email.

Law Library Birthday Celebration Imminent!

The Yolo County Law Library will be 120 years old this May! Parties, photos and memorabilia, and goodies for patrons will be forthcoming! Watch the YCBA Newsletter and website for more information.