By Naris Khalatian, Chair of LACBA’s Delegation to the Conference of California Bar Associations

LACBA’s Delegation to the Conference of California Bar Associations, a standing committee of LACBA, attended CCBA’s 90th conference in San Francisco, October 17-19 at Golden Gate University School of Law. We invite LACBA’s members to join the Delegation for its new 2024-25 session, beginning on November 1 and bring their ideas for new resolutions! Apply for an appointment to the Delegation.

We Poured our Hearts out in San Francisco!

The Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) serves justice in California by bringing together attorney volunteers from around the State to seek, debate, and promote creative, non-partisan changes to the law for the benefit of Californians.  Attorneys from different bar associations, across the State representing diverse backgrounds, experience, and expertise, gather to hammer, debate, and approve proposed resolutions for the California legislature to adopt as laws.

This year’s participants at the Conference included delegations from LACBA, Orange County Bar Association, Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), San Bernardino County Bar Association, San Diego County Bar Association, Bar Association of Northern San Diego County (BANSDC), San Mateo County Bar Association (SMCBA), Santa Clara Bar Association, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay (NLG-SFBA), and Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA).

This year, twelve members of LACBA’s Delegation, including one law student, flew to San Francisco to attend the Conference in person. Three members attended the Conference virtually via Zoom.  The attending LACBA delegates included three public defenders, one assistant district attorney, several civil litigators, one family-law practitioner, several probate attorneys, one medical physician, one business law attorney and probate referee, and one third year law student. This year’s CCBA chair was Michele Anderson, past chair of LACBA’s Delegation, long time friend and supporter of the Delegation, and current member of LACBA’s Board of Trustees. The chair of CCBA’s Resolutions Committee, the committee that reviews all submitted resolutions and makes recommendations, was Michael Fern, a current member of LACBA’s Board of Trustees.

The event kicked off by a Night Life tour of San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park.  The tour included a visit to the Osher Rainforest and visits to two private exhibits of the Academy.

The Conference offered two MCLE courses in the morning of Friday, October 18, including one on implicit bias. The Conference began on Friday afternoon, when the delegations marched into the conference hall with their respective marching themes. LACBA’s lively and animated delegation marched in, to the tune of “I Love LA,” Randy Newman’s classic take on LA.  The voting on the resolutions began shortly thereafter, around 1:30 pm.

On Friday evening, BARTKO, a boutique law firm, hosted CCBA’s reception at its SF research space, a state-of-the-art mock trial center in a building that can best be described as an architectural gem. During the reception, LACBA presented its annual Charles R. English Spirit Award to Michele Anderson (pictured left in blue). She was the 30th recipient of this award that is given in recognition of being an inspiration to the LACBA Delegation and promoting its interests. Touched by the award, Michele Anderson thanked the Delegation and reminisced fondly about her days as a young lawyer, going up against Charles R. English, an iconic public defender and delegate of LACBA.

Various delegations offered auction baskets to benefit CCBA. The LACBA Delegation’s auction basket, “Take Me to the Ball Game,” found a successful bidder, a BARTKO partner. BASF and SMCBA’s joint auction basket, called “Ruth & Toni – Best Buddies,” filled with action hero dolls and books, celebrated the unlikely friendship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.

All day on Saturday, the delegates continued voting on the resolutions. LACBA’s four resolutions passed the Conference floor:

• Resolution 01-01-2024 (adjusting doctors’ reporting requirements to their Boards in medical malpractice settlements),
• Resolution 02-01-2024 (defining the term “medically necessity health care”),
• Resolution 04-02-2024 (requiring ID numbers to be assigned to search warrants within one day of court issuance), and
• Resolution 04-03-2024 (modifying the time for notice to party from whom information is sought in a search warrant)

The resolutions covered a wide array of legal topics and sections involving the Code of Civil Procedure, and the Business & Professions, Civil, Penal, Probate, Evidence, Family and Elections Codes. Interesting resolutions by other delegates included (1) a resolution abolishing solitary confinement in the California prison system, and (2) a resolution changing the way judicial candidates for the superior court get to identify and describe themselves on the ballot.

The debates were robust, and LACBA’s delegates participated with zeal and passion to convey their personal viewpoints, as well as those of the delegation.  The congenial Conference gave our delegates an opportunity to meet delegates from other counties and learn about the topics that interest and concern our colleagues across the state.  It was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in the process of hammering and voting on resolutions that might ultimately become laws. As an added benefit, attendants earned nine hours of MCLE credit. With our friendships solidified, each delegate returned home with new ideas for adding or amending a statute, to improve the lives of our clients and loved ones.

LACBA’s Delegation would like to extend its sincere gratitude and appreciation to the following individuals, for their generous sponsorship of the Delegation this year:

• Marc Sallus
• Carl Kanowsky
• Naris Khalatian
• Vicki Greene
• Nick Stewart-Oaten
• Pamela Villanueva

Their sponsorship allowed for a law student, Grace Haddad, to attend the Conference in person and participate as a co-author of two LACBA resolutions. Thanks to the generosity of these sponsors, LACBA’s Delegation was also able to provide an auction basket to raise funds for the CCBA.

Together, we can improve our laws, one statute at a time.