CBJ - May 2010 #01. Fourteen candidates vie for five board of governors seats.

California Bar Journal

2010.

CBJ - May 2010 #01.

Fourteen candidates vie for five board of governors seats

The California LawyerMay 2010Fourteen candidates vie for five board of governors seatsFourteen lawyers are running for five seats on the State Bar Board of Governors in a hybrid election that for the first time permits voters to cast ballots electronically or with a traditional mail-in ballot.

The would-be governors include two candidates who have run previously, two with a discipline record, big- and medium-firm lawyers as well as several solo practitioners, a public defender, bar activists and candidates running as outsiders.

Three women are seeking a seat. One of the seats in Los Angeles is the most heavily contested, with four lawyers running for election.

Two candidates castigate the bar for a variety of complaints, including perceived corruption, bloated bureaucracy and alleged misbehavior of bench officers. Others take a far more measured approach, focusing on issues such as access to justice and service to attorneys and the public as well as traditional areas of MCLE reform, streamlining the discipline system and reducing bar dues.

Ballots were mailed April 30 to voters in districts with an opening on the board; they must be returned by June 30. The winners, who will take their seats in September, will serve three-year terms on the 23-member board.

The candidates are:

DISTRICT 2 (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Napa, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma, Tuolumne and Yolo counties)

Sonora attorney MARK S. BORDEN quotes two film characters in his candidate statement, complaining a la Howard Beal that, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore." Borden, 57, has more than 30 years of legal experience and believes the bar "offers no benefits for its membership" and in fact is interested only in "exercising its bureaucratic powers and collecting monies from lawyers." Hearing from the bar, he says, is akin to hearing from the IRS. "They either take your money or you have a heap of problems, generally not of your own making."

Borden believes the bar should be voluntary, be more financially responsible and that the discipline system should be governed by the state.

KAREN M. GOODMAN has a long resume of bar activities, ranging from involvement in California Women Lawyers (where she was past president) to the Conference of Delegates to the Legal Malpractice Specialization Commission. The 50-year-old Sacramento trial lawyer is a principal in Goodman and Associates, where she handles professional liability, business and real estate litigation.

Goodman's candidacy focuses on fair and affordable justice for Californians, a transparent judicial selection process that will enhance the public's trust in the justice system, and removing barriers to advancement in the legal profession, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender.

She has the support of several bar leaders in her district.

DISTRICT 3...

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