March 2011 • Join a Committee
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Dear Fellow SBM Member:
As president-elect, I invite you to apply for an appointment to one of many State Bar committees. In late Spring the State Bar will begin reviewing and evaluating the work of each committee and its membership and I will begin making appointments for the 2011–2012 bar year.
Committee service is an excellent way for State Bar members to make a difference in the profession and in our system of justice. While service can take time from your day, the availability of technology minimizes the degree of interference with your personal, family, and work commitments. Meetings often take place by conference call, and materials and agendas are generated electronically. Also, the State Bar's use of an online SharePoint portal makes it easier than ever for committees to communicate and share information.
Committee service also gives you the invaluable opportunity to meet and work closely with a diverse group of lawyers and judges from all over the state, with different backgrounds and areas of practice. Together you will help implement our Strategic Plan and build effective programs that benefit Michigan lawyers and the public. Unquestionably, these benefits will long outlast the duration of your service.
The Committee page has a list of standing and special committees, including each committee's jurisdiction and current membership. When considering committee service, please be aware that the State Bar does not reimburse for travel, lodging, and other expenses of your participation.
Applying for a committee appointment is easier and quicker than ever. Begin the application process by clicking the Electronic Application link below.
Please accept this invitation and apply for a committee appointment by the May 13, 2011, deadline. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.
Sincerely,
Julie I. Fershtman
President-Elect, State Bar of Michigan
Questions: Candace Crowley, SBM director of external development
e-Mail: ccrowley@mail.michbar.org
Phone: (517) 346-6319
Upper Michigan Legal Institute
Date: June 10-11, 2011
Location: Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
More Information
You won't want to miss this opportunity to get the latest developments in case law while enjoying the ambiance of the historic Grand Hotel on beautiful Mackinac Island! Join your friends and colleagues for two days of comprehensive legal education featuring top-notch presenters, panels, and invaluable technology and practice management tips. Seminars will include criminal, family, real property, and business law updates, as well as estate planning, technology tips, and much more.
Join us and see why so many Michigan attorneys rely on the Upper Michigan Legal Institute to provide them with the latest developments in case law!
Calendar
The State Bar has launched a new, interactive calendar on its website. This enhanced calendar includes events of interest to attorneys offered by the State Bar as well as local and special purpose bar associations, law schools, and others.
Visitors can customize the layout from a traditional calendar grid view to a list view, week view, day view, or year view. Internet Explorer viewers can filter events by category. View the Interactive Calendar
New Career Center
- A highly targeted focus on employment opportunities in a certain sector, location, or demographic;
- Anonymous resume posting and job application—enabling job candidates to stay connected to the employment market while maintaining full control over their confidential information;
- An advanced “Job Alert” system that notifies candidates of new opportunities matching their own pre-selected criteria;
- Access to industry-specific jobs—and top-quality candidates;
- Employer access to a large number of job seekers.
The career center is free for job seekers. Employers will pay a fee to post jobs. For more information visit the online center
In February, the State Bar of Michigan launched an online career center to connect employers in the legal profession to eligible and qualified candidates looking for job opportunities. Since the site launched, we've had more than 6,900 job views, 298 jobseeker signups, 250 resume postings, 58 employer signups, and 23 job posting purchases.
The Bar partnered with JobTarget, an industry leader in job board development, to build a unique SBM employment marketplace with features that are different from generalist job boards in a number of ways, including:
Pro Bono Circle of Excellence Applications Due March 31
The State Bar of Michigan invites all law firms with two or more attorneys to apply for the Pro Bono Circle of Excellence, which recognizes every firm that has fully complied with the SBM Voluntary Pro Bono Standard. The application deadline is Thursday, March 31, 2011.
“Full firm compliance with the Voluntary Pro Bono Standard helps us address the tremendous unmet legal needs of the poor, and inspires other lawyers to join us in that service,” SBM President W. Anthony Jenkins said.
The Circle of Excellence is published frequently in the Michigan Bar Journal, posted on the SBM and the Michigan State Bar Foundation’s websites, and is distributed at the Annual Meeting. Application Form
Member Discount Specials
Office Supplies
The State Bar of Michigan has partnered with Staples Advantage to provide members a full range of products and services with impressive savings of up to 60% off list prices on thousands of items! View the Spring Specials
Car Rentals
Avis and Budget have car rental rewards running through the end of the year. View Reward Details
Visiting Hawaii before February 2012? Avis and Budget have discount coupons available for island activities such as snorkeling, helicopter flights, whale watching, sunset cruises, and more!
Casemaker Research
Casemaker will soon launch its new upgraded version CasemakerELITE. A free benefit provided to members, this service provides case law, constitution, and statutes for all 50 states, including the District of Columbia, Michigan primary law, administrative code, state court rules, federal court rules, attorney general opinions, and the model civil jury instructions. In addition to all of the free functionality, new advanced features will be available via subscription: CaseCheck+ , a Sheppard/KeyCite like product, and BriefCheck, a personal cite checker where a members can simply upload their pleading, brief, or other document in MS Word, Textfile TXT, or Searchable PDF and Casemaker computers will read it, automatically extract the case citations, and provide the user a list of the cases with subsequent treatment within 90 seconds. The Casemaker website averages 3,500 visits from our member area each month.
To access this member benefit simply log in to your member area and select the Casemaker tab on the left. There are several helpful user guides published within the Casemaker system. In addition, you can click on Live Training at the top of the Casemaker site and sign-up for Casemaker webinar training.
Not sure how to log in to the member area? Just follow these 4 simple steps!
Deadline Approaching for State Bar Awards
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Nominations are due April 1 at 5 p.m. for the major State Bar of Michigan awards which will be presented at the September 2011 Annual Meeting in Dearborn. Any State Bar member can propose candidates for the awards. Apply Online
Diversity Pledge Signatories List Continues to Grow; Next Up: Assessing Progress
The Pledge to Achieve Diversity and Inclusion in the Profession continues to gain signatories. At last count, over 300 individuals and over 100 entities representing over 12,000 lawyers across the state have signed on. President W. Tony Jenkins recently sent a letter to Bar section and committee chairs and bar association leaders offering to attend their meetings and discuss the Bar's efforts. A number of them have invited him as a result, and the opportunities continue to be extended.
Through the Presidential Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group, a group of 20 volunteer attorneys appointed by the president to focus on diversity efforts, there will be continued work done to gain signatories and to develop assessment tools and models for the improvement of the profession. The group is co-chaired by Judge Victoria Roberts, past bar president and current federal judge for the Eastern District, and John Nussbaumer, associate dean at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Auburn Hills. The group is preparing a survey that will ask law firms about diversity and inclusion in order to begin to create benchmarks to track progress and to build a database of resources for the members. Other similar surveys will target additional areas including general counsel, law schools, and public interest lawyers.
View the Signatory List
Sign the Pledge!
Today's Practice Management Tip
Each week a new Tip of the Week is posted at the Practice Management Resource Center.
Online File Sync Services
Dropbox, SugarSync, Wuala, and Spideroak are terms you might be hearing around the water cooler or in the courthouse halls. If you haven’t a clue what these terms refer to, it is online data synchronization. Online data synchronization service provides access to your files whenever you need it, regardless of your location, if you have access to the Internet. If you are still at a loss, Dropbox has a three-minute video clip which explains the service. Watch the clip here. Most of these services offer free storage for up to 2 GB of data. The cost of increasing storage GB varies with each service but is reasonable.
The four listed services protect data using encryption. Some encrypt at their server level; others encrypt at your desktop level. If you are going to use one of these applications for secure client data, be sure you understand who holds the encryption key. Spend some time exploring the options because to get started costs you nothing, and the potential for increased efficiency may be worth the effort!
Are you Connected?
- e-Journal provides daily summaries of opinions released from the Michigan Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Subscribe Online
- SBM News provides a daily summary of law-related news articles, editorials, and columns carried in major local, state, and national media. Subscribe Online
- Public Policy Update is a weekly journal highlighting public policy issues of interest to the profession. Subscribe Online
- Disability News is a quarterly newsletter addressing issues faced by people with disabilities in the courthouse setting. Subscribe Online
- What's New in Practice Management is a weekly e-mail offering tips and tools from the Practice Management Resource Center. Subscribe Online
The State Bar offers five electronic publications delivered to your e-mail inbox at no cost to you.
Bar Journal Online