A Message from the Chair of the Public Law Section

• Publication year: 2017
• Author: Ryan Baron

A Message from the Chair of the Public Law Section

Ryan Baron

Ryan Baron is an Of Counsel attorney at Best, Best & Krieger's Irvine office and the Chair of the Public Law Section Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association.

Dear Public Law Section Members:

Happy New Year! This issue of the Public Law Journal marks the first time the publication will be released under the newly formed organization—the California Lawyers Association (CLA). Although you're likely familiar with the State Bar-CLA separation by now, I want to share a few words in this Chair's Message on the effect of this separation on the Public Law Section and what it means to you as a valued member. The quick and dirty answer is that nothing about your membership or the services you receive will be changed by being under a new organization. All educational services like publications and conferences along with other member benefits remain the same . . . even the cost of a Public Law Section membership!

But before I share all the details, I want to provide you with a little background on the new CLA organization. As you know, on October 2, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 36, a bill which separates all practice area educational sections (Sections) from the State Bar as of January 1, 2018. Up until this point, the 16 Sections¹ and the California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA) had been diligently working to form CLA as the new "bar" of California attorneys responsible for producing MCLE and networking programs and providing all the attorney educational services that are currently provided by the Sections. While the State Bar continues as the sole government entity in charge of attorney admissions, discipline and MCLE compliance, the Sections and CYLA now work under a private 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation. In other words, think of the State Bar as licensing and disciplinary and CLA as education.

As of the publication date of this issue, CLA consists of approximately 108,000 members and is the second largest voluntary association of lawyers in the nation, smaller only than the American Bar Association. The CLA is governed by a board of directors comprised of representatives from each Section and the CYLA, selected by the individual Section executive committees. The board of directors and other volunteers recently met in early December to plan the necessary launch details, such as CLA management, logo, programming, website, and other transition details. The board is also in the...