Kentucky Law Wish List - Part II

Briefly Speaking
A Kenucky Law Wish List
Part II  Looking Forward

My law school (Washington and Lee) once ran a contribution campaign to increase their endowment styled "On the Shoulders of Giants".  That phrase always rang true to me because who I am and what I am doing today is nothing without me standing on the shoulders of those giants who preceded me and who had the foresight and charity to give me the benefits of what I enjoy today.  Be it the founding fathers and our Constitution, my parents and grandparents who raised me, or even those grand old folks who few of us today remember who have set up the Kentucky Bar Association, Louisville Bar Association, Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys, the Louisville Public Defenders, the Legal Aid Society, and more.

These organizations once were the gleam in someone's eye who had the vision to see what lie ahead, not just the road in front of them, but over the horizon and around the bend.  Through their efforts, the lawyers today reap rewards too precious to buy.

With that said (and suffering no delusion that I am a giant but just a random mind with a keyboard and internet access), I now offer my wish list of things I would like to see come to pass.  They are offered randomly with no weight to be given to any one of them.

• A contested LBA election as new personalities with new ideas compete to invigorate our program.
• A third (fourth or more) Inn of Court for the Jefferson County area.  Imagine one named after the Great Dissenter, Justice John Harlan, living up to his ideals of independence of thought even if standing alone. 
• A less expensive mediation program in the Louisville area, similar to the way the Mediation Center of Kentucky, once operated before it was consumed by the family law format.  Mediation should not be the monopoly of former judges and lawyers, but could also include some assistance using lay members.
• Cheaper and more widely available at-home CLE programs from our bar associations.  It just seems odd that the program is conducted, recorded and then the tape rented for a fee to obtain CLE.  If there has to be a charge, then maybe the funds could be dedicated to the Legal Aid Society or some other organization.
• Bar association services or programs offering the following:
  • Free and secured email for members to allow safe transmissions among the members of the bar for pleadings per the Civil Rules.  It could be hosted on a secure serve at www.ZipLip.com etc.
  • Bar association web or blog pages for sections.
  • Listserver for specialities, etc. such as family lawyers, etc. Secured of course.
  • Bulletin board for discussion forums.  Secured of course.
  • On-line surveys on issues of import. Secured of course.
  • On-line posting of publications in PDF format.
  • Podcasting of guest speakers to bar functions, selected CLE's or other areas of interest, to include Bridging the Gap Series, for example.
  • Podcasting, or mp3 saved files, of CLE updates, case notes, on various topics.  Rather than reading about the new cases, imagine simply downloading a ten minute podcast/mp3 audio to listen to during the commute.
  • Compilation of an on-line forms bank. Secured of course.
  • Local bar association hosting of judicial gatherings before the elections and afterwards to meet the judges.
  • On-line conferencing.
  • Standing committees or a 'think tank' for growing the law in new directions and recommending statutory and rule changes.
• KBA Casemaker with a case citator service.
• Doing something 'special' regarding the Brandeis or Harlan papers housed at the University of Louisville.  Digitize the materials, have a special showing, get the Filson Society involved, and/or . . .
• Next LBA annual dinner - how about one of our own Kentucky jurists or some renown lecturer somewhere who can discuss our own locally grown Justices Brandeis or Harlan.
• A Batson v. Kentucky foray on the 20th anniversary (2006) with a presentation by some of the local personalities on the topics and the case.  Better yet, record their thoughts and ruminations for posterity.
• Having the circuit court judges email the digital versions of verdicts (with the instructions) to the bar association, law libraries (include the Jefferson County Public Law Library) for our reading benefit!
• Use of the PUBLIC ACCESS cable channel for public service stuff - eg. videotaping the call a lawyer night, or showing to the public some of the public service type endeavours with video and commentary by the participants.  For example, the Back 2 School Drive, Summer Intern Program, Middle School Program in which lawyers speak to the students, the KATA presentations at the State Fair, mock trial programs at EKU, Annual Bar dinner speakers, the Joe Elliott show Call a Lawyer night, etc.
• More?......... You add your own comments!

These are just a few random ruminations rotating through my cerebellum.  I am sure others have a wish list of items.  If so, add them to the comments.

Comments

[Robert Klein]

Great wishlists, Michael. I would add a big one: a CourtNet site that was user friedly, reliable and accessible (without having to change passwords periodically for no apparent reason), with access to the actual court records for downloading and printing. The current CourtNet is severly flawed. It is limited in scope to authorized internet users (the Bar) while the same information and much more is publicly available simply by going to the courthouse and using their teminal. The interface is terrible and confusing, and searches should be permitted statewide, not just by county.