BOARD of GOVERNORS MEETING Late Materials July 24, 2020 Webcast and Teleconference
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Board of Governors Meeting Late Materials July 24, 2020 Webcast and Teleconference Board of Governors BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING Late Materials July 24, 2020 Webcast and Teleconference Page Description Number Executive Director’s Report LM-3 Treasurer’s Report LM-32 Law Clerk Board Discussion LM-37 Budget & Audit • Proposal for Governors to attend NCBP Virtual Meeting LM-49 • FY21 Draft Budget LM-55 WSBA Committee and Board Chair Appointments LM-97 Comments • Mission Statement – Staff Feedback LM-115 • Mission Statement – Public Comment LM-122 • June BOG Meeting Complaints LM-135 June Financials LM-145 1325 4th Avenue | Suite 600 | Seattle, WA 98101-2539 800-945-WSBA | 206-443-WSBA | [email protected] | www.wsba.org LM-2 TO: WSBA Board of Governors FROM: Interim Executive Director Terra Nevitt DATE: July 20, 2020 RE: Executive Director’s Report COVID19 Response The WSBA Coronavirus Internal Task Force has continued working to deliver resources and programs to support WSBA members and the public during these unprecedented times. In addition to the activities outlined below, check- our WSBA’s COVID19 Resource Page at https://www.wsba.org/for-legal-professionals/member-support/covid-19. • Developed and delivered 14 free, on-demand CLEs on COVID19 related topics. As of June 15 those CLEs have been downloaded 15,628 times through the WSBA Store. • Developed six live webinars as part of the Practicing During a Pandemic series. The live programs attracted 8,552 attendees. • Michael Cherry, Deputy Chair of the External Coronavirus Task Force recruited the Regional Director of the Small Business Administration in Washington to provide a free webinar to WSBA members about the second round of funds that were made available through the CARE Act for PPP loans. WSBA staff coordinated with the speaker and had the webinar ready for the members to view in less than a week! • Published approximately six pages of COVID19 related content in the June 2020 issue of Bar News. • Published five COVID19 related articles on NWSidebar, the WSBA Blog since April 27, including: o Can You Practice in a New Area of Law During COVID-19? (May 22) o Addressing Data Security and Privacy – Especially While Working Remotely (May 11) o Unemployment, Civil Legal Aid, and the COVID-19 Crisis (May 8) o Online Dispute Resolution in the Time of Coronavirus (May 6) o Coronavirus and Cannabis: How the Essentialness of Marijuana Varies State By State (May 4) • Disseminated a weekly update of resources, updates, and educational opportunities to approximately 10,000 members through the WSBA’s numerous administered list serves. • In collaboration with the external Coronavirus Response Task Force, developed Reopening Safely: A Guide for Washington State Law Offices which is available here. Also disseminated the reopening guide to members through the various list serves, social media and Take Note. • The WSBA CLE Summer Sale is underway and in order to better support members throughout the COVID pandemic, the discount has been increased to 50% off our on-demand seminars and the sale has been extended an extra week. It is running from July 7th to July 31st. • In collaboration with WSBA staff the Access to Justice Board is: 1) developing a COVID legal health check- up document so the public can issue-spot if they have a legal issue and find resources to help; b) convening partners to address the lack of easy to understand information about accessing local courts during COVID; and 3) working with the Legal Foundation of WA to work with the media to get the word on COVID related problems and how civil legal aid can help. 1325 4th Avenue | Suite 600 | Seattle, WA 98101-2539 | 800-945-WSBA | 206-443-WSBA | [email protected] | www.wsba.org LM-3 Update on Free Ethics CLEs Our CLE team delivered two of the free ethics credits approved by the Board of Governors earlier this year. The two credits were focused in technology privacy and wellness. We had 3,080 people register for the live webinar which delivered July 21st. We will convert it to an on-demand seminar within eight weeks and offer it for free to members until we develop a new program in the same topic areas next year. Update on July Bar Exam The Admissions staff is hard at work responding to the changing landscape for the “summer” bar exam. To recap what’s happened this spring and summer: • on April 17, the Board voted to recommended against offering diploma privilege and for WSBA employees to work to hold to bar exam in the safest manner reasonably possible; • on May 13, 2020, the Court issued a letter directing WSBA to administer the bar exam in both July and September in the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett area and the Spokane area in multiple separate test sites. • on May 15, 2020, the Court issued an order temporarily reducing the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) minimum passing score from 270 to 266 for the July and September 2020 exams only. The order also temporarily expanded the terms of the Rule 9 license, which permits limited graduate practice. • June 12, 2020, the Court issued an order granting current applicants registered for the July or September 2020 exams in Washington that have received a JD from an ABA accredited law school the option of receiving diploma privilege to practice in Washington instead of taking the UBE. Diploma privilege is also an option for applicants currently registered to take the LLLT examination in July 2020. Applicants must meet all other requirements for admission and licensing but have the option to be admitted without taking the UBE. As a result, 571 Bar exam applicants and all seven LLLT applicants opted for diploma privilege. Between that and applicants withdrawing or transferring to later exams, the number of applicants taking the July Bar exam has decreased dramatically with fewer than 60 applicants taking the exam on the west side of the state, and 21 or fewer taking it on the east side. Because the numbers were so small and the Greater Tacoma Convention Center is so large, the administration plan we developed utilizes the GTCC as the only west side exam site, but divides applicants into multiple rooms, so there will be fewer than 30 applicants in any testing room, with staggered entrance times. On the east side, the exam will be administered only in Gonzaga Law School, with a maximum of five applicants per exam room. We have received approval from state and local health departments for the exam administration plans. We have also verified that the Court continues to direct the administration of the exam and agrees with the plans that were developed. We will administer the exam for LPOs on July 27, and the Bar exam on July 28 and 29. We have been advised that, in light of observed current trends with Covid19 infection rates, we should plan to administer the September exams in rooms with fewer applicants than we are using for the July exam. We will revise our existing Tacoma plan with this in mind, and may request that University of Washington Law School assist with providing rooms, depending on final numbers for the September Bar exam. As it stands right now, there are fewer than 40 applicants who have actively chosen the west side September exam, but eight who have not answered the question, and three applicants who have elected to take the September exam in Spokane. Update on Executive Leadership Team Positions As you know we have two positions on the Executive Leadership Team that are in transition following the recent departure of Human Resources Director Felix Neals and the upcoming retirement of Chief Regulatory Counsel Jean 1325 4th Avenue | Suite 600 | Seattle, WA 98101-2539 800-945-WSBA | 206-443-WSBA | [email protected] | www.wsba.org LM-4 McElroy. I am pleased to let you know that we have identified a human resources firm to support WSBA in the interim, while we assess our ongoing needs and recruit for a Human Resources Director. With regard to our other opening, we have posted the Chief Regulatory Counsel position for internal recruitment. Reallocations of Unspent Funds Due to COVID-19 As you know, while WSBA has incurred some unanticipated costs due to COVID19, the larger impact on the budget has been savings due to fewer events and related travel. The Access to Justice Board has approximately $8,000 in unspent funds that have requested to reallocate to COVID19-related projects including translating a pandemic- specific legal check-up document into multiple languages, convening partners to create an online resource for members of the public to find up-to-date court information, and hiring a law student to manage these and other COVID19-related projects. This reallocation can be approved by the Executive Director under the Fiscal Policy which permits the reallocation of budgeted expenditures where there is a change of intent, up to $10,000 per item. Additionally, the Diversity Committee has approved returning $16,500 of unspent funds gifted by the Washington State Bar Foundation with a suggestion that the Foundation use the money to support MBA scholarships targeted to underrepresented law students and recent law graduates. For more details, please see the attached memo. 50 Year Member Luncheon We are postponing this year’s luncheon to honor those who have reached the milestone of 50 years of WSBA membership in 2020. We anticipate COVID-19 safety limitations on large gatherings continuing through October, when the event was to occur; and even if allowable under state/county guidance, we do not feel comfortable proceeding when our guests of honor are in a vulnerable demographic due to age.