Sexual harassment seminar, survey offered by @AZStateBar @SBAMemberServ amid #MeToo era

Next Wednesday, May 9, a free seminar offered by the State Bar of Arizona examines the timely issue of sexual harassment. Called “Changing the Conversations,” it will include lawyers, judges and other experts discussing workplace environments and culture and the associated behaviors we all have grown too familiar with in media reports.

The Bar adds, “The program is not intended to offer CLE credit as it will address sexual harassment as a workplace culture issue instead of a legal issue, and therefore has not been developed with MCLE rules in mind. It is available as a service to the legal community.”

The event will be offered in person at the Bar’s CLE Center, and as a webcast. It is free but registration is required. Click here for more information and to register.

Here is the seminar faculty:

• Chief Justice Scott Bales, Arizona Supreme Court
• Hon. Margaret H. Downie (ret.), AZ Commission on Judicial Conduct
• Hon. B. Don Taylor III, Chief Presiding Judge, Phoenix Municipal Court
• Denise M. Blommel, Denise M. Blommel PLLC
• Samara Cerven, Psy.D.
• Don Decker, President, InReach
• Kim Demarchi, Partner, Osborn Maledon PA
• John F. Phelps, CEO/Executive Director, State Bar of Arizona
• Barry G. Stratford, Perkins Coie LLP

This spring, the Bar also distributed a member survey regarding their experiences with sexual harassment – to which almost 2,000 Bar members responded. Among other findings, 71.4 percent of women respondents indicated they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Overall, 43 percent of respondents indicated the same.

Arizona Attorney Magazine will cover the survey and its results in the September issue.

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eFiling now available in Pinal County Superior Court

News from the Arizona Supreme Court:

The Arizona Supreme Court is pleased to announce that Pinal County Superior Court is now accepting electronic filings of civil case initiation and civil subsequent documents through the eFileAZ and AZTurboCourt efiling applications. eFiling is currently available using both applications in Yavapai County, Mohave County, Santa Cruz County, and Maricopa County Superior courts. Plans are underway for the remaining Superior Courts in the State to begin accepting civil documents via efiling in the coming months.

Both efiling applications bring with them the ability to file both civil initiating and subsequent cases electronically, the ability to attach more than one lead document per submission, issue summons and subpoenas, generate the civil cover sheet, and other functionality that will allow for faster filing of court documents.

Your firm may already be using AZTurboCourt eFiling application to file documents in Pima and Maricopa Counties, however, there are several differences between the applications and IT HIGHLY ENCOURAGES YOU TO ATTEND TRAINING! For information on how to register, set up a payment method, information on how to use the application, and training dates and locations please contact the AOC Support Center at 602-452-3519 or 800-720-7743 or visit here for more information.

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Arizona Supreme Court @azcourts clarifies Arizona case citation policy

Today, we talk about parallel citations and what the Arizona Supreme Court says.

In what may be the most legal blog post I’ve ever published, I share below news from the Arizona Supreme Court regarding a change in its policy regarding parallel citations. This may be good news to those of you who suspended their use quite a while ago. Here is the Court:

The Arizona Supreme Court has determined that as of now it will no longer require any appellate briefs, petitions, and other pleadings filed in that Court to contain parallel citations for Arizona cases. This means that when citing Arizona cases to the Court, lawyers and self-representing parties need only cite to the Arizona Reports alone, without a parallel citation to the Pacific Reports.

While the Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure has not required any more than citation to the official reports for civil appeals since January 1, 2015, for criminal matters Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 31.13(c)(vi) currently requires citation “also when possible to the unofficial reports.” A petition that proposes to restyle the Criminal Rules, specifically proposed new Rule 31.10(g), is expected to be on the Court’s August Rules Agenda. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will no longer expect parallel citations in criminal case filings.

Citations for specific points of law within a case still must include “the volume, page number and, if applicable, the paragraph number, of the official Arizona reporter.” See Arizona Rule of Civil Appellate Procedure 13(f).

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Corporatization of criminal justice system examined in 4-14 @ASULawSchool event

This Friday, speakers at ASU Law School will offer a seminar titled “Corporatization of the Criminal Justice System.”

According to organizers, the event will include a variety of speakers including scholars, attorneys, and advocates “working on the pressing issue of the role of private prisons in mass incarceration and immigration detention.”

The keynote speaker will be Ben Jealous, former CEO and President of the NAACP.

The event opens at 1:30 p.m. and ends with an 8:45 p.m. reception.

The complete agenda with panel titles is here.

Other organizations involved include Abolish Private Prisons, Changing Hands Bookstore, Osborn Maledon, the American Constitution Society, and the Carolina Academic Press.

Organizers plan to address numerous topics, including the relationship between private prisons and:

• the length and severity of sentences and availability of parole
• mass incarceration’s impact on communities of color

Speakers at the event will examine prisons, parole, immigration detention, bail, and probation.

The complete conference website is here.

The website for the speaker information is here.

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Fresh off #SCOTUS arguments, @theslants to talk, perform at @ArizonaLaw on 4/6 #TheSlantsVsUSPTO

The Slants are coming to Tucson

Later this week, the University of Arizona College of Law hosts what has to be the best law-related but not so damned lawylerly event of the year when it welcomes The Slants, all-Asian American band—which is all up in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s business.

The event is on Thursday. It begins with a noon talk (room 164) about their current trademark case pending before the Supreme Court. And then, because law school needs a relief valve, they’ll perform a concert at 8 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

OK, so what is all this about?

“The Slants are known as the first all-Asian American dance-rock band in the world. The band is well known in legal circles due to their battle with the United States Trademark Office with In Re Tam, which is now before the Supreme Court of the United States and known as Lee v. Tam.”

All-Asian American band The Slants

“The friction with the USPTO comes from the band’s name—a reference to their ethnicity—which is the subject of a protracted legal debate. After the band’s request to trademark its name was denied, they took the issue to court. In December 2015, a federal appeals court overturned a previous ruling that upheld the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s rejection of the band’s application by striking down part of a law that allowed the government to reject trademarks it deemed offensive or disparaging to others. The majority opinion stated, in part, that ‘[w]hatever our personal feelings about the mark at issue here, or other disparaging marks, the First Amendment forbids government regulators to deny registration because they find speech likely to offend others.’ The band’s frontman, Simon Tam, explained that while the First Amendment should protect the band’s right to use the name regardless of their reasons, they had chosen the name in order ‘to undercut slurs about Asian-Americans that band members heard in childhood, not to promote them.’”

But the USPTO takes its faux disparagement seriously, so now we await a SCOTUS opinion.

If you enjoy more detail that doesn’t come from a law review, here is a helpful article from Chief Justice John Robert’ favorite publication, Rolling Stone.

Meantime, I know you’re curious about the type of music they write and perform. I’ve listened and enjoyed it, but I leave it to the band and the crowdsourced genius at Wikipedia to describe their thang:

“The Slants describe themselves as ‘Chinatown Dance Rock’ and are often compared to electro rock bands such as The Faint or early 80’s synthpop groups such as Depeche Mode, The Cure, Duran Duran, The Cult, and Joy Division. Critics also compare The Slants with modern artists such as The Killers, VNV Nation, and Mindless Self-Indulgence.”

Gotta love me a little synthpop.

Whether you’re an electro-fan or not, the band is here.

You might enjoy this brief video tracking their trip to Washington DC for Supreme Court oral argument regarding their trademark registration. At 1:36, you’ll see the tiniest of concerts they staged on the SCOTUS steps.

And be sure to watch this trailer for The Band Who Must Not Be Named.

You can see more of their work on their own Youtube page.

If you go to the Tucson concert—(please go!)—would a photo or two kill you? Maybe a brief video? A signed T-shirt? Whatever.

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the ASU John Frank Lecture

Justice Sonia Sotomayor greets University of Arizona Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Jan. 23, 2017, ASU Gammage Auditorium, at the annual John Frank Lecture.

This week, I had the privilege to attend the annual John Frank Lecture at ASU. This year’s esteemed speaker was Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who engaged in a dialogue with Hon. Mary Schroeder of the Ninth Circuit (and its former Chief Judge). I’m happy to share excellent reporting of the event (below) by attorney Ashley Kasarjian, of Snell & Wilmer. She’s also a former Chair of the Arizona Attorney Editorial Board, so she’s excellent in multiple ways!

If this blog post were a movie, the opening scene would be the end of the evening—roaring applause and a standing ovation with Justice Sotomayor shaking hands, hugging kids at the end of the aisle, and walking through the crowd at Gammage Auditorium. Now, rewind back… Last night, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor […]

via Justice Sotomayor Visits Arizona State University — Employment and the Law: A legal blog from the perspective of an employment attorney

Keep reading here.

 

New @azcourts site gives court information, legal help for everyday people

Here is some important news from the Arizona Supreme Court. This information may be helpful to you, but it may be even more vital to friends, neighbors, and family members.

PHOENIX – A new website launched on January 12 to offer basic assistance to people of all walks of life who have legal questions or need assistance in resolving disputes in court. AzCourtHelp.org is organized by topic and geographical location to help people find the court locations, forms, and other information they may need.

Geographical information includes court locations, maps, hours, payment terms, parking, and accessibility information. The site also features live chat forums to assist with legal information, legal talk clinics on popular topics, and other information helpful to self-represented individuals. Frequently asked questions are arranged by topic so users can quickly find the information that is most helpful to their situation. The site will also include video tutorials, webinars, and a calendar of free legal workshops around Arizona.

AZCourtHelp.org has a presence on Facebook as a way to expand its reach.

The backbone of the website’s video and interactive component is the Coconino County Superior Court’s Virtual Resource Center, which will be hosting the video outreach for statewide viewing.

Gary Krcmarik, Coconino County Superior Court Administrator

“The Chief Justice challenged us to work together to improve access to justice,” said Coconino County Superior Court Administrator Gary Krcmarik. “We took up that challenge by developing this website in conjunction with our Virtual Resource Center to provide this valuable information statewide. We are grateful to the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, which graciously partnered with us to design the website and curate the information on it.”

Krcmarik said that today’s public launch is a beginning of a larger effort and more information, including Spanish-language content, will be added to the site on a daily and weekly basis.

Like AzCourtHelp.org on Facebook.

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#Election administration missteps in Arizona have a deep history, even back to 1936

Arizona election errors have been making the news … today, and generations ago.

If you haven’t voted yet, stop reading, put down your device, and get to your polling place. Now.

But if you have, then kick back with your I Voted Sticker (you earned it) and enjoy a tale of election administration errors from 1936. In many ways, the lessons it offers are as fresh as 2016.

Our cover story in the November 2016 issue is a terrific one. As attorney–author Joe Kanefield opens his article:

Attorneys Joe Kanefield and Kelly Schwab present at the State Bar of Arizona Convention, June 2013.

“The Arizona Secretary of State faces scrutiny after failing to distribute voter-information pamphlets in advance of an election as required by law. A concerned citizen fears that voters casting ballots for a controversial education proposition will be uninformed and files a complaint to postpone the election. The Secretary responds and urges the election to proceed.”

“No, this story isn’t about Secretary of State Michele Reagan in 2016—it’s about Secretary of State James Kerby, 80 years earlier in 1936. But if the story sounds familiar, that is because history has indeed repeated itself.”

“So, what happens when an election official neglects to perform a mandatory duty required by the Arizona Constitution and state law? What are the consequences? What should they be?”

“This article addresses these questions by reviewing the respective situations in which Secretaries Kerby and Reagan found themselves when they neglected to deliver pamphlets to voters prior to the November 3, 1936, general election and the May 17, 2016, special election.”

You can read the whole story here.

Thank you to Joe Kanefield for conceiving of and writing such a relevant story of ballot woe!

And … Happy Election Day!

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#ProBono Civil Law Clinic by @AZStateBar volunteer lawyers aids veterans

Photos from the Glendale Stand Up for Veterans, Sept. 24, 2016.

Some great news from my colleague Alberto Rodriguez:

On Saturday, September 24, 2016, the State Bar of Arizona and 11 of its members participated in the 2016 Glendale Stand Up for Veterans event at Glendale Community College. The State Bar and volunteer attorneys joined several service providers at the one-day event that offered a variety of free health and human services to 324 veterans in our state. Volunteer attorneys from across the Valley answered questions during one-on-one consultations with veterans seeking legal advice.

The “Civil Law Clinic” organized by the State Bar offered legal consultations by members who practice family law, bankruptcy/foreclosure/tax law, probate/trust law, and real estate/landlord & tenant law.

Volunteer attorneys provided 77 consultations during the legal clinic for the 63 veterans who were seen. In addition, many attorneys offered pro-bono legal services after the Stand Up to veterans who needed additional help. Adding to the legal services provided for veterans, on-site courts coordinated by Hon. Elizabeth Finn, Presiding Judge of the Glendale City Court, saw 231veterans who needed to address court-related issues.

The State Bar offers its sincerest appreciation to the attorneys who committed to helping veterans at the Stand Up event. The following is a list of the attorney and logistics volunteers:

VOLUNTEER ATTORNEYS

Dorothy Brogan, Law Office of Dorothy E. Brogan

Doug Edmunds, Edmunds Law

Rebecca Elliot, Rebecca Elliott Attorney at Law

Nathan Finch, Catalyst Legal Group

Tim R. Geiger, Geiger Law Offices

Steven D. Keist, Keist Law

Tonya MacBeth, Burch & Cracchiolo, PA

Cindy Greene, Simmons & Greene, PC

Ian Hasegawa, Hasegawa Paulsen, PLC

Brant Hodyno, Brant Hodyno, Compassionate Counsel

Janis Villalpando, Community Legal Services

 

VOLUNTEER PARALEGAL

Cory Rade

 

LOGISTICS VOLUNTEER

Katrina Morales, Community Volunteer

 

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100-year celebration of Yavapai County Courthouse this Saturday, Oct. 15

Yavapai County Courthouse (court website)

News from the Superior Court in Yavapai County:

Please join the Arizona Superior Court in Yavapai County for an open-house celebration of the 100th anniversary of the laying of the Yavapai County Courthouse cornerstone. This event will take place on Saturday, October 15, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Prescott Courthouse, 120 S. Cortez in Prescott.

Yavapai County Courthouse cornerstone

We are extremely excited about the addition of an exhibit area on the first floor near the Law Library that will showcase historical items that were used in the courthouse through the last century. Along with exhibits, we will have historical photos displayed throughout the courthouse (images courtesy of the Sharlot Hall Museum) depicting the jewel of Yavapai County.

We will have docents onsite to share their knowledge and help guide you through the courthouse. We also will have folks dressed in period costumes to enhance your experience while celebrating this milestone.

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