Commissioner's Report

• Publication year: 1997
• Pages: 6
• Citation: Vol. 10 No. 9 Pg. 6

Commissioner's Report Vol. 10 No. 9 Pg. 6 Utah Bar Journal November, 1997

Looking Into the Crystal Ball

Debra J. Moore, J.

Perhaps few Bar members realize that the Bar Commission has a standing committee whose purpose is to forecast the future and recommend action on issues the Bar will confront in the years ahead. The Long Range Planning Committee currently consists of its Commissioner Dave Nuffer (Chair), Bar Executive Director John Baldwin, State Court Administrator Dan Becker, Commissioner Scott Daniels, Young Lawyers Division President-Elect Brian W. Jones, Minority Bar Association Ex Officio Dane Nolan, Commissioner Ray Westergard, and me. The Committee is now putting finishing touches on an ambitious set of recommendations, and will soon present its proposed Long Range Plan to the Bar Commission for consideration. Watch for distribution of the proposed Plan in the coming months. The Commission will welcome your comments as it considers the Committee's recommendations and determines the Long Range Plan of the Bar.

THE ON-GOING PLANNING PROCESS

The Committee envisions that the Long Range Plan will be a living document, subject to continual revision to meet the changing landscape (or should I say cyber-scape?) of the future. The planning term is at least five years, and the Committee has attempted to project even further ahead. Once a complete Plan is in place, the Committee will continue to meet on a quarterly basis to review each area of the Plan in turn, so that a complete review occurs over a period of ten years. Every ten years, the Committee will conduct a zero-based overhaul of the entire Plan.

CONTEXT INFORMATION

To provide a context for drafting the Plan, the Committee reviewed a large volume of materials. Those context materials, summaries of which will be appended to the Plan, fell into several categories:

1. Framework for Administration of Justice and the Practice of Law.

The Committee reviewed the structural framework of Utah's system for the administration of justice and the practice of law, identifying each of the numerous standing committees of the Judicial Council, of the Bar, and other committees supervised by the Supreme Court, that play a role in the administration of the state's justice system. Although somewhat labyrinthine at first blush, Utah's framework for the administration of justice follows a highly participatory model, providing Bar members abundant opportunity for input. As D. Prank Wilkins...