Kentucky Law Review

More on the KVA VP Contest aka "How Exciting Can This Oldfather-Keane Thing Get? By jake on Mainstream Hoo boy. How exciting can this Ann Oldfather-Maggie Keane thing get?" from Page One Blog

"Jake" from Page One Blog  (same blogger who relentlessly pursued/developed the UofL Flener story) starts off a recent post with the following opening.  Links to documents/letters etc. are included:

How Exciting Can This Oldfather-Keane Thing Get?

By jake on Mainstream

Hoo boy. How exciting can this Ann Oldfather-Maggie Keane thing get?

Since it’s a slow news day, let’s take a look at some documents…

KBA: "Bar association candidate accused of ethics violation - Keane is seeking state bar office" story by Andrew Wolfson in Courier Journal

Andrew Wolfson with the Courier Journal has written a story concerning the pending election for Vice President of the Kentucky Bar Association involving candidate Margaret "Maggie" Keane.  Click on the heading for access to the entire story and comments.

Bar association candidate accused of ethics violation
Keane is seeking state bar office

By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • December 22, 2008

Just as the Kentucky Bar Association's president was stripped of some of her powers for inappropriate conduct last week, a candidate for another bar office was being accused of ethics violations.

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Historically, the vice president eventually becomes president of the bar.

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Voting in the bar vice president race began Dec. 15 and continues until Jan. 15.

Click on the above title for the complete story and access to comments on line.

Happy Birthday Legal Aid - A week late, and maybe a few dollars short. So please give $$ and help.

Happy Birthday Legal Aid!  Here's an op-ed piece from the Courier-Journal written by Kevin Hable.  Yes, their birthday was Dec. 15, and it's no spring chicken.  But 87 years and going strong.  Read this piece, and look inside to see if you can throw a few bucks their way.  3500 lawyers in Louisville X $10 each is $35,000.  Up it to $50 each and the good gets better.

With a $235,000 revenue shortfall, you do the numbers.  Helping the disadvantaged, helps all of us. 

If you are giving to others this season in the form of free legal work, your church's benevolence fund, or any other form of quiet giving, then thank you.

However, a few bucks thrown this way can make a difference.

Giving up two happy meals can bring a smile to those less fortunate.

You may make a tax-deductible gift to Legal Aid's Justice for All Campaign by visiting their secure Web site at www.laslou.org. You may also mail a gift to Legal Aid Society at 416 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., Louisville 40202.

Editorials
Sustaining Legal Aid for the poor

December 15, 2008

On this day in 1921, 15 visionary leaders founded the Legal Aid Society in Louisville. For these past 87 years the organization has provided free legal services in civil cases to low-income people unable to afford an attorney when their health, safety and economic security are unjustly threatened.

As we celebrate Legal Aid's 87th birthday, we celebrate the vision of those before us who saw this great need in our community and stepped forward to help. We celebrate, too, those in this community who have made it possible for Legal Aid to help thousands of people in need – just last year we helped more than 5,000 clients. Every year, Legal Aid conducts a Justice for All Campaign that raises money to support this critical work.

Never has this annual campaign been more essential to continuing to Legal Aid's services.

I was disappointed to learn earlier this year that Legal Aid received funding cuts from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Metro United Way that reduced its operating budget by more than $235,000. Legal Aid's services have never been in higher demand. In the face of these funding cuts, contributions from the community are more important than ever.

Democracy is not only about the rights of the people; it is also about the duties of the people. Many of us have enjoyed some success in the business or professional world. But many of our brothers and sisters are accompanied all the time by trouble and anguish. I believe that those of us who are blessed and lucky have a moral obligation to help those brothers and sisters. Franklin Roosevelt once said, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who already have much; it is whether we do enough for those who have too little."

Abraham Lincoln spoke these eternal words at Gettysburg: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." In that same speech he uttered the unforgettable phrase about our government being a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." We inherited democracy from our ancient Athenian ancestors, but after Lincoln's famous declaration, equality and justice for all became part of our definition of democracy.

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted and ratified soon after Lincoln's death. It states that "no state shall deny to any person . . . the equal protection of the laws." Since that time, we have made significant progress in our commitment to equality and justice for all. There is still a distance to go, though, until we will have proven that the proposition that all men are created equal is reality.

Advocates for education and social services are understandably disheartened by the cutbacks in spending in those areas by our governments. I, too, am discouraged. I wouldn't attempt to make the case that legal services for the poor are more important than education or health care. The notions of equality and justice for all are, however, part of our core constitutional beliefs. I think, for that reason, our contributions to the Justice for All campaign are justified and significant to our democratic way of life.

It is up to us citizens to make a financial gift to the Legal Aid Society to support its work with low-income clients who have nowhere else to turn. Your contribution will help ensure that our laws guarantee basic rights and protections for all of us, not just those who can afford an attorney.

You may make a tax-deductible gift to Legal Aid's Justice for All Campaign by visiting their secure Web site at www.laslou.org. You may also mail a gift to Legal Aid Society at 416 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., Louisville 40202.

KEVIN HABLE

Chairman

Legal Aid Society of Louisville

2008 Justice for All Campaign

KBA: Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors announces conclusion of its inquiry into the removal of members from the Ethics Committee

FRANKFORT, KY- In August 2008, the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) Board of Governors became aware that President Barbara Bonar had removed several volunteers on the Ethics Committee fi'om their positions before the expiration of their appointed tenus. Although KBA staffhad provided KBA President Barbara Bonar with information regarding the correct expiration dates of the affected members' current terms, she chose to inform these volunteers that their respective tenures on the Ethics Committee had expired on June 30, 2008, and thanked them for their service to the KBA. Several of the volunteers complained or raised concerns about their removal to the KBA. Ms. Bonar offered to reinstate all of the Ethics Committee members she had attempted to remove. Most of these individuals have returned to their volunteer duties.

The Board of Governors initiated an inquiry into Ms. Bonar's removal of these Ethics Committee members. That inquiry was justified under the circumstances and was pursued by the Board of Governors in good faith.

At a specially called meeting of the Board of Govemors on December 13, 2008, the Board found that Ms. Bonar's removal of the individuals was inappropriate. The Board also found that Ms. Bonar had not been forthcoming in her explanation of the reasons for her removal of these committee members. Ms. Bonar disputes the findings of the Board.

Ms. Bonar and the Board of Govemors have agreed to resolve this inquiry. Ms. Bonar has agreed to accept several limitations on her authority as KBA President, including an agreement to seek consent and approval from the KBA Board ofGovemors or Executive Committee for any further appointments or removals of any committee members or chairs and continued non-participation in disciplinary matters pending before the KBA. This concludes the Board of Governors inquiry.

KBA: Election Ballots for Vice President in the Mail - Please mail them in!

I have been asked by others about the upcoming election for Vice President of the Kentucky Bar Association and how I was voting.  To save time and emails, I will share with you that I am voting for Scott Madden. 

In any event, please vote.  If you do not know either candidate, then ask someone whom you trust to give you a good recommendation. 

Ballots for the election for Vice President of the Kentucky Bar Association have been mailed and may be in your mailbox as you read this.  Historically, if the ballot is not completed and mailed the first few days, then it is never mailed at all.  Furthermore, the "turnout" traditionally has been small so that a small group favoring a particular candidate can exercise more influence than they should. 

Recent events in the news show that the people we select are important in position and public perception.  The best way to work on your individual image as an attorney is to select those who will lead your professional association who possess a stellar reputation and image as well. 

If you are not familiar with the candidates, then ask another lawyer; just like your non-lawyer friends ask you about which judges to vote for at election time.

As for me, I am voting for Scott Madden.   I would encourage you to vote for him too.

If you disagree, then vote for the person of your choice; but vote.

BAR: State bar president gets 15 days to respond to report

From the Courier Journal is another story about the alleged "confidential" inquiry.   Again, if it is confidential, then why so much talk before it's final?

State bar president gets 15 days to respond to report

By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • November 24, 2008

The Kentucky Bar Association has given its embattled president, Barbara Bonar, 15 days to respond to a report by a lawyer hired to investigate her.

Bruce Davis, the KBA's vice president, confirmed that Bonar had received time to rebut the findings of Robert F. Houlihan Jr.

Houlihan was asked to investigate whether Bonar abused her power in removing four members from the bar association's ethics committee before their terms expired and whether she was candid with the board about the reasons for the removals, according to board members and other attorneys.

Click on heading for remainder of story.

LOCAL: JCPLL's Great Escape Luncheon offers a Great Escape Package too!

More on the Sixth Annual Jefferson County Public Law Library Great Escape Luncheon and Silent Auction to be held on Dec. 5.  See our earlier post -

LOCAL:  Jefferson County Law Library Annual Silent Auction to be held Dec. 5, 2008 - RSVP

LBA CLE: Love of the Law and the Law of Love Thursday, December 4 @ 4 p.m.

Join us [Louisville Bar Ass'n] as we welcome local attorneys and civic leaders to the Bar Center for "Love of the Law and the Law of Love," a program of enlightenment and sharing of personal epiphanies and powerful stories. Our guest speakers for the event include:

• Donald H. Vish
• Jim Chen
• Jeffrey A. Apperson
• William L. Hoge, III
• Jan Arnow
• Erica A. Lee
• Terry Taylor

Donations of $25 for LBA members and $10 for non-LBA members are requested (checks should be made payable to the Louisville Bar Center). Event proceeds benefit the work of the Louisville Peace Works Subcommittee.

For reservations or information, visit the LBA website or contact Marisa Motley at mmotley@loubar.org or (502) 583-5314.

BAR: "Confidential" inquiry into Bar President

What is there about the word "confidential" that I don't get when I read the following story about an ethics inquiry involving current KBA President Barbara Bonar?

Confidential (from dictionary.com): " spoken, written, acted on, etc., in strict privacy or secrecy; secret: a confidential remark".

Here's the intro to the story by Andrew Wolfson, Courier Journal, that came out this week.  Yes, this story has hit the news before her assumption of duties and President, and now it hits the news again.  And yes, I posted remarks about it then, and again now.  Any "emphasis" of words is mine and no the CJ's.  In addition, the entire story can be found on-line, and do you think there will be a CJ op-ed piece 'extending' this news cycle story?

This comment on "confidentiality" is not one regarding the substance of the story, but rather addresses the concerns over disclosure of bar association business into a matter of serious repercussions to the public's perception on the bar, its president, and now the bar association governing committee.

KBA's president is target of inquiry
Ouster of four from panel is questioned

By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • November 20, 2008

The Kentucky Bar Association hired an outside lawyer to conduct an investigation that could determine the fate of its president, Barbara Bonar, according to members of its board of governors and other lawyers.
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Lexington attorney Robert Houlihan's report was sent to board members on Monday and may be considered by the board at a meeting tomorrow, said the bar association's immediate past president, Jane Winkler Dyche.

Houlihan was asked to investigate whether Bonar abused her power in removing four members from the bar association's ethics committee before their terms expired and whether she was candid with the board about the reasons for the removals, according to board members and other attorneys.

The Courier-Journal reported Oct. 12 that all four ethics committee members had some connection with Cincinnati lawyer Stan Chesley, with whom Bonar has had a much publicized dispute over $18.5 million in legal fees from the Diocese of Covington priest-abuse case.

Dyche declined to release a copy of the report, saying the full board would decide if and how it would be disseminated. The bar's executive director, Jim Deckard, didn't respond to a request for the report.

Thomas Clay, a lawyer for Bonar, who practices in Covington, declined to comment, saying the board had said the matter would be kept confidential.

The bar association's bylaws don't allow the board to remove its president, who is elected by the state's 15,000 lawyers. The most the board could do is ask its president to step down.

LOCAL: Jefferson County Law Library Annual Silent Auction to be held Dec. 5, 2008 - RSVP

The Jefferson County Public Law Library is having its Sixth Annual Great Escape Luncheon and Silent Auction to support the library which supports the Louisville legal community.  We have the best county law library in the state, bar none.  And much of the credit goes to Linda Robbins and her excellent staff of Sherryl Borders and Amy Hilliard who have worked hard over the past years during some incredibly lean times to provide local lawyers with the legal research materials critical to an active practice.

Our law library is located in the Old Jail, and there is no truth to the rumor that incarceration is a substitute for late fees. 

The luncheon is great and the moneys derived always support a local charity.  This year it is the  Healing Place.  For pictures of last years event, click here.

Here is the flyer.  Be there, be square, and with your money do share.