YOLO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

P.O. Box 1903

Woodland, CA 95776
www.yolobar.com <http://www.yolobar.com>

Newsletter March 2003

MARCH BAR MEETING
March 20, 2003 Meeting, Carrousel Restaurant at 12 noon
(417 Main Street, Woodland):
"Yolo Superior Court: Amendments to Summary Judgment Law"
> Our MCLE program for this month will feature Courtenay McKeon, Court Counsel. She will be discussing amendments to summary judgment law.

> The Yolo County Bar Association has been approved as a provider of Minimum Continuing Legal Education by the State Bar of California. This program will provide one (1) hour MCLE credit!
>
> Advance reservations are greatly appreciated. You may RSVP right back from this newsletter for the meeting to Lisa Lance by email (another great benefit for having your newsletter delivered via email), or you may mail a check in the appropriate amount ($15) to Jim Nolan C/O Yolo County Bar Association, P.O. Box 1903, Woodland, CA 95776. Alternatively, you may phone Jim Nolan at (530) 662-2859, or, finally, you may register at the door.
>
> The cost for the lunch is $15.
>
> > OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS
> (Please submit information to Lisa Lance no later than the first Friday of the month)
>

1) UNIFIED FAMILY COURT OF YOLO (UFCY)

The Yolo Superior Court recently received the Unified Courts for Families/Mentor Court Grant. Yolo Superior Court was one of six courts selected statewide to receive approximately $300,000 from the Judicial Council's Center for Families and Children. Many of you participated in the grant writing and planning by attending stakeholders' meetings and providing suggestions for the project. The Court is very appreciative of your input in this successful effort and there will be more news about the UFCY in future newsletter articles.

Yolo's Juvenile Violence Court was the winner of the 2002 Ralph N. Kleps Award. The Juvenile Violence court is a therapeutic model in preventative approaches to addressing juvenile violence. It is a collaborative effort between the Yolo Superior Court and the Yolo County Probation Department that has resulted in an effective and cost efficient response to reducing juvenile violence.

For more information, contact Kathlyn Lamoure, Court Administration, email address: klamoure@yolocourts.com <mailto:klamoure@yolocourts.com> or phone: (530) 666-8377.

2) Message received at bar post office box:

Dear President Adams (& members of the Yolo County Bar Association):

Thank you so much for the Yolo County Bar Association's generous contribution to the Yolo County law Library in honor of Judge Lebov's retirement. We look forward to using the Bar's donation in the new Law Library.

Sincerely,

Shelly Crouse-Monarez,

Juliet M. Gede

3) The Judicial Council of California has released a substantial number of proposed revisions to criminal and civil jury instructions for public comment. The materials are available online at www.courtinfo.ca.gov <http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov>.
>

4) The California Law Revision Commission seeks public comment on its tentative recommendation relating to the jurisdictional limits for small claims cases and limited civil cases. Basically, the Commission proposes to increase the jurisdictional limit for a small claims case from $5,000 to $10,000, to adjust for inflation and improve access to justice. Similarly, the Commission proposes to increase the jurisdictional limit for a limited civil case from $25,000 to $50,000. To receive timely consideration, comments should be submitted by March 31, 2003 to www.clrc.ca.gov <http://www.clrc.ca.gov>

5) Knights Landing information, submitted by Mark Simon:

The Knights Landing Family Resource Center is Open!

Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM

For more information contact Octavio Melchor or Mark Simon at 735-1776

Information & Referrals

Health Insurance Enrollment

Mentoring

Tax Assistance

Parenting Classes

Get Ready Program

Community Projects for Youth & Adults

Coming soon:

Primary Medical Care

Community Work Day:

Saturday, February 22nd

9:00 - 3:00

Knights Landing Community Park

Between Playground & FRC

Install Irrigation

Plant Trees

Flowers

Shrubs

FAMILY LAW BAR SECTION NEWS

The Family Law Bar Section of the Yolo County Bar Association, chaired by DeKristie Adams, met on February 13, 2003. As a result of the suggestions at that meeting, the mediator's schedule is posted on the Yolo Superior Court's website under the Courts-Family Law. The Court website is www.yolocourts.com <http://www.yolocourts.com/>.

Another topic addressed at the meeting, was the court-appointed attorney for the minors pursuant to Family Code § 3150. For faster payment, attorneys should submit their invoices to Court Administration, Room 308. The contribution of the Family Law Bar in the role of attorney for the minors is greatly appreciated. It is recognized that the $400.00 fee does not adequately cover the time spent by attorneys in these difficult cases.

Please let Karen Blank know if you would like to volunteer as a back-up pro tem to Judge Warriner in Family Law settlement conferences. The Court is developing a current list of interested volunteers. The Bar has always been very supportive in the past.

For your convenience, and at the suggestion of the Family Law Bar Section, Martin Dean's Essential Forms package is loaded on the Dissomaster computer in Room 118 (the room next to Department 7.) It is available for attorneys to prepare orders for signature immediately after hearings.

The Judicial Council is now posting on its website, interactive "fillable" Judicial Council Forms in the area of family law. To use these forms on the internet, go to www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/family/famforms.htm <http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/family/famforms.htm>.

There is a new video tape available titled "Being a Guardian" that is available for check-out by attorneys and in pro pers. The video was developed by Solano Superior Court as part a grant project, however, it is applicable to all California courts. The video that explains mediation in family law cases, is also available on loan. Please contact Karen Blank if you would like to borrow either video for yourself or your clients.

Please feel free to send your questions or comments to Karen Blank, Court Counsel, email address: kblank@yolocourts.com <mailto:kblank@yolocourts.com> or phone: (530) 666-8372.

YCBA 2003 MEETING SCHEDULE

Mark your schedules for the entire year. Normally, the YCBA Meetings are at Noon on the third Thursday of each month. Here are the upcoming dates:
>
> March 20, noon @ Carrousel: "Yolo Superior Court: Amendments to Summary Judgment Law"
April 17, noon @ Carrousel, Woodland: Tom Stallard, "Legislative Intent Services, Statutory Construction and Legislative Intent"
May 1, noon: LAW DAY
> June 19, noon @ Carrousel, Woodland: TBA
> July and August: no Meetings
> September 18, noon @ Carrousel, Woodland: TBA
> October 16, noon @Carrousel, Woodland: TBA
> November 20, noon @ Carrousel, Woodland: TBA
> December 18, noon @ TBA
>
> Your 2003 YCBA Officers:
> DeKristie Adams, President (530) 750-1919 or dekristi@mother.com <mailto:dekristi@mother.com>
> Barry Melton, Vice President (530) 666-8165 or bmelton@yolocounty.org <mailto:bmelton@yolocounty.org>
> Jim Nolan, Treasurer (530) 662-2859 or jvnolan@yololaw.com <mailto:jvnolan@yololaw.com>
> Lisa Lance, Secretary (530) 304-6111 or llance@yolocounty.org <mailto:llance@yolocounty.org>>
>
> Please contact Lisa Lance if you have not submitted your 2003 Renewal/Membership Application and paid your dues and she will send out an application to your office. This is the second newsletter sent out in email format. If you have any problems with reading this newsletter, please contact Lisa as well. For those persons still receiving your newsletter by mail, please advise Lisa of your email address if you do not wish to have her send the newsletter to you via email rather than mail. Thank you for assisting your bar association with this changeover.