MSBA Life and the Law Committee
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4/21/05 | 3/17/05 | 2/17/05 | 1/20/05 | 12/16/04 | 11/18/04 | 10/21/04
4/15/04 | 3/18/04 | 2/19/04 | 1/15/04
12/18/03 | 11/20/03 | 9/18/03 | 8/21/03 |
5/15/03 | 4/17/03 | 3/20/03 | 2/20/03 | 1/23/03
12/19/02 | 11/21/02 | 10/17/02 | 9/19/02

Participating: Diane Anastos, Dan Brown, Dennis Coyne, Mary Beth Curry, Dwain Fagerlund (via the phone), Lory Hartenberger, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff), Alanna Moravetz (MSBA Staff).

Brown Bag CLE Series:
Lory Hartenberger reported that 22 people attended the April 6 program entitled "Big Firm: Practicing in a Big Way" that was presented by Bob Zeglovitch and David Sasseville. Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown and Rand Park are continuing to work on developing their May 4 program entitled "Other Roads Traveled: Other Ways to Practice."

Convention / Bike Ride:
Alanna Moravetz, the MSBA's Legal Issues Director, attended this meeting and listened as the committee members expressed their concerns about the program curriculum, the track format and the expenses associated with attending this convention. Afterwards, she asked committee members for their suggestions on marketing and improving the convention and will forward this information on to the appropriate MSBA staff person.

At last month's meeting, Sue Bores reported that due to space and location limitations there is the possibility that there will not be exhibitors at this year's convention. As of this meeting, a decision has not been made on this. Sue will again submit the request that the committee be allowed to set-up an exhibit table somewhere at Madden's, even if there aren't any other exhibitors. Also, Dennis Coyne offered an alternative to the exhibit table. He suggested that the committee consider offering a resource table at each program within the Second-Half of Your Career Track and the Associate Track. The committee will take this into consideration but indicated that it definitely wants an exhibit table.

Judie Rush reported that sponsors have pledged $4,200 to help support the bike ride and that the Bike Ride Subcommittee is looking for additional sponsors. Currently, the subcommittee is working on finalizing the bike ride brochure which will be used to promote the ride to past riders and anyone else who may have an interest in participating.

Law School Subcommittee:
Judie reported that the Law School Subcommittee has prepared an initial draft of the law school working group brochure and are currently making revisions to it. The name of the brochure is "Are you Fit to be a Lawyer?" and will outline the bar admission rules; encourage students to get help; emphasize the importance of honesty in both the law school and bar application process and take the fear out of the bar application by explaining the bar application questions.

Judie also reported that the ABA toolkit has been finalized and that the ABA will be presenting it to the law schools soon. Unfortunately, the Law School Subcommittee did not forward their suggestions for revisions in time and so those are not included in the ABA's final version. The subcommittee plans to put together supplemental materials (points of contact list, alternatives stress reduction and socializing ideas, etc.) to accompany the distribution of the toolkit in Minnesota.

Law Day:
The New Lawyers Section has agreed to work with the Life & the Law Committee on a Law Day project that will most likely involve visiting elementary schools and talking to the students about the jury system. Lory will follow-up with Jason Kohlmeyer, Chair of the New Lawyers Section, to work out the specific details.

Life & the Law Committee Brochure:
No report other than the MSBA has discontinued the brochure paper that the committee has used for other brochures and Sue is working on finding a substitution.

New Business:
Judie provided an update on the May 25 program entitled "When Lawyers Can't or Shouldn't Continue to Practice: Responding to the Ethical, Legal, Medical and Moral Dilemmas Posed by an Impaired Practitioner" that is being co-sponsored by LCL, RCBA, HCBA, Hamline University School of Law and the Life & the Law Committee. The faculty for the program will be former Supreme Court Justice James Gilbert, Hon. Elena Ostby of the Ramsey County District Court, Ken Jorgensen, Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Todd Scott of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual and Steve Gordon, a psychologist from TEAM. One ethics and 2 elimination of bias credits will be applied for on this program.

Committee member Dwain Fagerlund is planning a retreat for lawyers entitled "Getting Caught Up: A Retreat for Stressed-Out Lawyers". The retreat will take place on August 18 - 20 and will be held at the Minnesota Institute of Contemplation and Healing in Crookston. Dwain will circulate a brochure on the committee's listserve that has additional details and information on registering.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, May 19 at 8:00 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for March 17, 2005

Participating: Diane Anastos, Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown, Mary Beth Curry, Lory Hartenberger, Judie Rush, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff).

Brown Bag CLE Series:
Joan Bibelhausen reported that twenty five people attended the March 2 program entitled "Legal Services and the Public Sector: Thriving in Tight Times – Remembering Why You Are There" and that an interesting discussion was held on the topic.

Dan Brown and Joan, who will be presenting on the topic of "Other Roads Traveled: Other Ways to Practice" on May 4, reported that they have secured another speaker for their program and would like to add a fourth, preferably someone with a financial background. Anyone with suggestions should contact Joan at jbibel@visi.com or Dan at dpbrown@pressenter.com.

Convention / Bike Ride:
Sue Bores reported that the convention brochure was mailed with the March issue of Bench & Bar and that people are being directed to the convention website to register for the bike ride. They will have the option of registering as either a convention participant or a non-convention participant.

Judie Rush reported that letters to the potential bike ride sponsors have been mailed and that sponsor money is starting to come in. Also, letters have been sent to various organizations and legal publications requesting that they pass on information regarding the bike ride to their membership or include mention of the bike ride in their publications.

Sue gave a "heads-up" on exhibit space at Maddens. Due to space and location limitations, no decision has been made yet as to whether there will be exhibitors this year. Sue will keep the committee posted as the MSBA works this out.

Law School Subcommittee:
Judie reported that the content of the ABA toolkit looks good, although the format continues to cause concern. Erin Keyes has started to make some format changes so that the hard copy of the toolkit will be more useable for the law schools. Judie noted that the toolkit does not have much in the way of specific suggestions for alternatives to non-alcohol social events. The subcommittee plans to put together resource materials to accompany the distribution of the toolkit in Minnesota with a points of contact list, stress reduction alternatives and socializing ideas.

Diane Anastos indicated that the LCL brochures are ready for distribution at the law schools and brought some along for committee members to take. The University of Minnesota plans to provide a brochure to each law student and the Law School Subcommittee hopes to accomplish the same thing at the other law schools.

Judie reported that all four law schools have reached an agreement with the Board of Law Examiners to use a standard Dean's Certificate form.

Life & the Law Committee Brochure:
A discussion was held regarding the development of a brochure that outlines the purpose of the Life & the Law Committee, the committee's accomplishments, current activities and emphasizing how the committee can help attorneys stay connected with other bar members. Joan volunteered to start writing the text for the brochure and will e-mail it to the committee members for comments. Also, the committee plans to insert a slip of paper into each brochure that provides details on upcoming brown bag CLE programs.

Joan also suggested that committee members review the Career Planning Resource Guide brochure and provide ideas for new content. Sue will e-mail the Paigemaker file to Lory Hartenberger, who will try to create a more appealing layout.

Law Day:
May 1 has been designated as Law Day. This year, MSBA President David Stowman would like to get at least ten new Law Day events accomplished through the efforts of the MSBA, its Sections, Committees and Affiliated organizations. Lory has contacted the chair of the New Lawyers Section, Jason Kohlmeyer, and they have agreed to work with the Life & the Law Committee on a project, most likely involving visiting elementary schools and talking to the students about the jury system.

New Business:
Judie provided an update on the May 25 program entitled "When Lawyers Can't or Shouldn't Continue to Practice: Responding to the Ethical, Legal, Medical and Moral Dilemmas Posed by an Impaired Practitioner" that is being co-sponsored by LCL, RCBA, HCBA, Hamline University School of Law and the Life & the Law Committee. Judie reported that while this program is still being developed, it appears that it will be more than three hours in length. In accordance with the MSBA by-laws, Judie will contact Frank Harris of Minnesota CLE to request approval for the Life & the Law Committee to co-sponsor this program. Sue will check on the status of a Managing Partner's Roundtable that was formed by the MSBA several years ago to see if the meeting notice for this program can be distributed to the managing partners.

It was reported that the LCL program with Peter Bell, Chair of the Metropolitan Council and previously of the Hazelden Foundation, is finally coming together. The program will address chemical and mental health issues within minorities and will be held in the Fall.

It was noted that Bench & Bar has a policy of offering free ad space to committees or sections whenever they have unused advertising space in an issue. Because there is no way of knowing when the ad will be used, it needs to be designed so that it is appropriate at any time of the year. Lory printed the ad specifications from the website and will use those to design both a general ad about the committee and an ad about the bike ride that can be used prior to June.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, April 21 at 8:00 a.m.

Participating: Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown, Dennis Coyne, Mary Beth Curry, Dwain Fagerlund, Lory Hartenberger, Tricia Pepin, Judie Rush, Tom Shroyer, Ryan Thompson, Bob Zeglovitch, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff).

Webpage:
Dick Ericson, MSBA's Web Services Director, briefly attended the meeting to discuss updating both the content and, if possible, the layout of the committee's webpage. Dick explained that it is not a problem to update the content and to create additional webpages, such as a Law School Subcommittee webpage. However, he noted that the MSBA needs to maintain a standard look on the committee webpages and will not be able to customize different layouts.

Brown Bag CLE Series:
Judie Rush reported that the February 2 program on "Solo Practice by Choice or Default" was attended by seventeen people and that an interesting discussion was held on the topic. Joan Bibelhausen reported that the Public Law Section has agreed to co-sponsor the March 2 program and will provide additional speakers for the program.

Dan Brown and Joan, who will be presenting on the topic of "Other Roads Traveled: Other Ways to Practice" on May 4, asked for assistance from committee members in developing their program. Anyone with suggestions should contact Joan at jbibel@visi.com or Dan at dpbrown@pressenter.com.

Convention / Bike Ride:
The Life & the Law Committee spent time discussing their programming options at the annual convention. Dennis Coyne, who is also on the Convention Committee, outlined the programming "tracks" and explained how the Life & the Law Committee could be incorporated into the Associates Track, Second Half of Your Career Track or the Small Firm Track. After a lengthy discussion, the committee decided not to sponsor its own program but asked Dennis to consider letting them be a co-sponsor of his "Cycle of Renewal - Managing the Second Half of Your Career" program. It was also noted that the committee could be a presence at the other programs by providing handouts relevant to the topics being discussed.

Dwain Fagerlund indicated that he was going to be a presenter at "The Right Size for a Small Firm" program and asked for assistance from the committee in developing the program. Joan volunteered to follow-up with Dwain to discuss ideas.

A suggestion was made that a proposal be developed requesting that language be included in the convention brochure acknowledging the Life & the Law Committee's contributions to the convention thru their work in obtaining CLE accreditation for professional development programs. Joan volunteered draft the proposed language and will e-mail it to the committee for their approval. Lory will then forward it to the Convention Manager for consideration.

Judie reported that letters to the potential bike ride sponsors will be mailed out within the week. The next step will be to focus on generating publicity for the bike ride by contacting organizations and requesting that they spread the word to their membership or include mention of the bike ride in their publications.

Law School Subcommittee:
Judie indicated that there is no report, as the subcommittee meets on alternate months. The next meeting is scheduled for March 10.

New Business:
May 1 has been designated as Law Day. This year, MSBA President David Stowman would like to get at least ten new Law Day events accomplished through the efforts of the MSBA, its Sections, Committees and Affiliated organizations. Judie suggested that the Life & the Law Committee get involved by contacting schools and asking to speak to the students about the judicial system and the role that attorneys play in it. A suggestion was also made to contact the Criminal Law Section about co-sponsoring a program that explores how jury duty can impact a person. These ideas will be discussed in more detail at the next meeting.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, March 17 at 8:00 a.m.

Participating: Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown, Mary Beth Curry, Lory Hartenberger, Judie Rush, Tom Shroyer, Bob Zeglovitch, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff).

Brown Bag CLE Series:
Lory Hartenberger reported that the promotional flyer for the Brown Bag CLE series will be ready for distribution in a few days and that each of the programs will be designed to qualify for CLE credit. Joan Bibelhausen will contact the Public Law section to ask if they would be interested in co-sponsoring the March 2 program and to ask if they have suggestions for an additional speaker.

Convention / Bike Ride:
Judie Rush reported that the Bike Ride subcommittee is putting together a list of potential sponsors and would like additional suggestions from members of the Life & the Law Committee. Anyone with suggestions can forward them to Judie at either judithrush@attglobal.net or (651) 628-4998. The subcommittee hopes to mail fundraising packets to potential sponsors in early February.

Judie also reported that members of the Bike Ride subcommittee will be meeting with Tim Groshens, Executive Director of the MSBA, to discuss the number of staff hours that will be allocated to this year's ride. Tom Shroyer indicated that LCL may be able to provide a student volunteer to assist with some of the administrative tasks.

Joan informed the committee that Jerry Freeman, who helped to create Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL), recently passed away. A motion was passed by the committee to dedicate the 2005 bike ride in honor of his memory. In addition, the committee decided to send a certificate to his widow expressing their appreciation for his commitment to LCL and quality of life issues. Lory volunteered to create the certificate and Joan volunteered to write a letter that will accompany it.

Lory reported that the Convention Committee has sent program proposals to the sections and committees inquiring if they would like to sponsor a program at this year's convention. If so, the program details that are to be printed in the convention brochure need to be submitted by Tuesday, February 15. This year, there will be five programming "tracks". The committee members spent time brainstorming on program ideas and felt that they would be a good programming resource for the Solo/Small Firm and Second Half of Your Career tracks.

As in previous years, the committee has decided to have an exhibit booth at the convention. Judie reported that Minnesota Lawyers Mutual (MLM) had an extra exhibit booth and has donated to the Life & the Law Committee.

Law School Subcommittee:
Judie reported that the Dean's certification letter is still being discussed. It appears that several of the law schools only recently reached an agreement with the Board of Law Examiners regarding a standard form that will be used by all four law schools.

The subcommittee is continuing to develop a brochure for the Law Student Working Group that they hope will provide guidance to law students with mental health and chemical dependency issues. They also continue to discuss how to get it distributed at the law schools.

New Business:
Judie Rush proposed that the Life and the Law Committee sponsor a CLE program that is a collaboration between LCL, RCBA, HCBA and Hamline University School of Law entitled "When Lawyers Can't or Shouldn't Continue to Practice: Responding to the Ethical, Legal, Medical and Moral Dilemmas Posed by an Impaired Practitioner." The committee voted and approved sponsoring the event. The event will probably be held in May. Anyone interested in being on the planning committee is welcome.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, February 17 at 8:00 a.m.

Participating: Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown, Dennis Coyne (via the phone), Dwain Fagerlund (via the phone), Lory Hartenberger, John O'Neill, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Tom Shroyer, Bob Zeglovitch, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff).

Brown Bag Series:
The committee continued last month's discussion on the Brown Bag CLE series and finalized the topics and speakers. The programs will be scheduled during the months of February, March, April and May. The committee plans to take the summer off and then continue again in September. The spring schedule is as follows:

February: Solo Practice by Choice or Default, Betty Shaw & Judie Rush

March: The Public Sector: Thriving in Tight Times
Joan Bibelhausen offered to contact Jerry Lane, of Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, and ask for his assistance in identifying a speaker. Judie Rush offered to contact the Public Law Section to ask if they would like to co-sponsor this program.

April: Practicing in a Big Law Firm (A speaker has been identified but has not yet been confirmed.)

May: Other Roads Taken, Joan Bibelhausen & Dan Brown

Bob Zeglovitch, Betty Shaw, Dennis Coyne and Tom Shroyer have volunteered to develop programs that will be held in the fall (September thru December).

Sue Bores will check the availability of the MSBA's meeting rooms to see if the CLE's can be scheduled on the same day of each month (ex: the first Wednesday of each month at Noon). The committee hopes that this will make it easier for people who are interested in the series to schedule them ahead of time on their calendars.

The committee spent time brainstorming on promotion ideas for the series. Suggestions included marketing to specific sections (Law Student, General Practice, New Lawyers, and Public Law), advertising the programs in Legal News Digest, and posting the meeting notices on the LCL website and Life & the Law webpage. Also, Lory Hartenberger has volunteered to create a flyer that can be distributed at the law schools advertising the series to students. And, she has created a logo that can be used to help promote the series.

Convention / Bike Ride:
Dennis Coyne reported that he is a member of the MSBA's Convention Committee and shared information on the various CLE tracks that are being developed. There will be a Section/Committee track and program proposals will be sent to the sections and committees soon.

Judie distributed a list of potential sponsors for the bike ride and asked committee members for additional suggestions. The Bike Ride Committee hopes to send solicitation letters to the potential sponsors by the end of January.

The Bike Ride Committee has been debating whether the ride should be held on Wednesday afternoon, ending in time for the Welcome Barbeque, or Friday afternoon, at the end of the convention. Sue sent an e-mail to past bike ride participants asking if they had a preference as to when the ride is scheduled. The responses that she received indicate that a Friday afternoon ride is more convenient for the participants.

Law School Subcommittee:
No report. The subcommittee's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 13 at 8:30 a.m. at St. Thomas.

Webpage:
It was noted that the bibliography on the webpage has not been updated in recent years. Committee members were asked to start reviewing it and suggest items that can be added/deleted. Dan Brown suggested that the speakers at the Brown Bag CLE series be asked to provide at least three items for the bibliography that relate to their programs. Additionally, the ABA Lawyers Assistance Program has prepared their own bibliography of resources for law students and that should be included on the Life & the Law Committee's webpage.

New Business:
Several people reported on upcoming programs that may be of interest to committee members:

• Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) will be offering a series of free CLE's at its offices starting on January 20 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Additional information on the programs will be available at www.mnlcl.org.

• Tom also reported that LCL, Hamline Law School, and the Ramsey County & Hennepin County Bar Associations plan to co-sponsor a program in the spring entitled "Impairment in the Work Place".

• Additionally, LCL is working on developing a program that will feature Peter Bell, Chair of the Metropolitan Council and previously of the Hazelden Foundation, to speak at an upcoming LCL program on chemical and mental health issues within minorities. The Life & the Law Committee has already agreed to co-sponsor this program. Tom is in the process of contacting the Diversity Committees at the MSBA, HCBA & RCBA to ask if they are interested in co-sponsoring as well.

• Joan reported that on February 10, HCBA will be sponsoring a CLE program addressing disabilities and related issues. Additional information on the program will be available at www.hcba.org.

Bob Zeglovitch reported on a meditation retreat that he recently attended in San Francisco. The retreat was sponsored by The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and was specifically designed for lawyers, judges, and law students. The center has another retreat planned for April and Bob hopes to attend that as well.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, January 20, 2005 at 8:00 a.m.

Participating: Dan Brown, Dennis Coyne, Lory Hartenberger, Sara Peotter, Judie Rush, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff)

Law School Subcommittee:
The Law School Subcommittee has been working with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) to create a brochure that can be distributed to law students. The purpose of the brochure is to communicate to students that LCL is a resource should they need help with alcohol/drug and mental health disorders, marriage and family problems, financial difficulties, or stress and work-related problems. The brochure is in draft form and is currently being reviewed by new lawyers and law students.

The Law School Subcommittee is also developing its own brochure. They hope that it will provide guidance to law students with mental health and chemical dependency issues and are discussing how it can be distributed at the law schools so that it is perceived as being positive.

The ABA has sent the subcommittee a draft of its Substance Abuse in Law Schools Tool Kit for Law School Administrators and asked them to provide feedback on it. The group was surprised by the format, which is as a PowerPoint presentation, and will clarify with the ABA that this is indeed the format in which they are planning to distribute it.

Convention / Bike Ride:
Judie Rush reported that the 2004 Scenic Superior Bike Ride had a total of 40 registered riders (not everyone actually rode the ride due to the weather), 26 sponsors and that the donation to LCL was $3,485.42.

Dan Brown has expressed interest in helping to plan the 2005 convention in Brainerd. His name has been submitted to the MSBA and Dan is waiting to hear if he will be appointed to the Convention Committee.

Brown Bag Series:
The committee continued its discussion of last month regarding the brown bag CLE series that it would like to offer next spring and brainstormed on topics, speaker ideas and themes. Suggestions included:

• Defining a common theme for the programs (Ex.: "Choices People Make: The Law Firm Experience"; The Solo Experience; the Corporate Environment, etc.)

• Include non-practicing attorneys, perhaps by having West co-sponsor/host one of the brown bags programs.

• Develop some type of mentoring program that pairs those who’ve made the choices with those who have questions.

• Ask Steven Keeva or Susan Daicoff to speak at one of the programs.

The committee will continue this discussion at its December 16 meeting.

Betty Shaw had previously offered to present a program entitled "Solo by Default and Related Issues". Dennis Coyne reported that he had located an attorney who is solo by default and who is interested in working with Betty to develop her program. Dennis volunteered to put the two of them in touch with each other. Dennis also suggested a companion program to Betty's entitled "Solo by Choice".

Webpage:
A discussion was held regarding the committee's webpage and new items that can be added to it. Suggestions offered included:

• Providing information on the brown bag CLE series and also on programming by other groups that are consistent with the mission of the committee.

• Adding links to the webpages of other groups such as Res Ipsa.

• Adding brief biographies of the Life & the Law Committee members and links to their webpages.

Next Meeting:
Lory Hartenberger had previously sent an e-mail to the committee asking members if they had a date or time preference for committee meetings. She only received one response and that person requested an earlier start time. The committee members present at this meeting discussed this request and decided that it can be accommodated by starting the meetings 1/2 hour earlier. So, the next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, December 16 at 8:00 a.m.

Participating: Joan Bibelhausen, Dan Brown, Dennis Coyne, Lory Hartenberger, Betty Shaw, Tom Shroyer, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff)

By way of an extended introduction, committee chair Lory Hartenberger introduced herself, shared her background and provided insight into her interest in the Life & the Law Committee.

Reflections On The Last Year:
Joan Bibelhausen had prepared a list of the committee's accomplishments from the 2003/04 bar year and the committee members spent time reviewing it.

Brown Bag Series:
In September, the Life & the Law Committee and Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) co-sponsored a seminar entitled "QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Training for the Legal Community" that dealt with suicide prevention. This was the first program offered in the "Brown Bag" seminar series. The committee decided to schedule additional programs in early 2005.

Betty Shaw offered to present a program entitled "Solo by Default and Related Issues". The committee noted that this topic may be of interest to members of the General Practice and New Lawyers sections and both will be asked if they would like to co-sponsor this program.

In support of Betty's program, a suggestion was made for the committee to develop a mentoring program (similar to the MSBA's Colleague program) that will provide assistance to lawyers who have started a solo practice because they have not been able to find employment and who are struggling. Successful solo practitioners would be recruited to mentor a struggling solo practitioner. Lory will contact the New Lawyers Section to see if they are doing any outreach of this nature and asked committee members to try and identify lawyers who started out solo by default and now have successful practices.

Law Practice Management & Marketing Proposed Joint Programming:
Joan reported that the Law Practice Management & Marketing section has asked if the Life & the Law Committee is interested in co-sponsoring a joint program sometime in the future. The committee members approved this. Joan will follow-up with the section and ask if they are interested in co-sponsoring the "Solo by Default" program.

Convention / Bike Ride:
In past years, committee member Judie Rush has served on the MSBA's Convention Committee to help plan the convention and to promote both the committee and the bike ride. This year, Judie will not be able to do this and Lory asked for a volunteer to continue her work. Interested individuals should contact Lory Hartenberger at either lhartenberger@bitstream.net or (612) 207-5485.

New Business:
A printed copy of the committee's webpage was distributed and a discussion was held regarding improvements that can be made to both the appearance and the content. Prior to the next meeting, Lory will send an e-mail to the committee and ask them to review the webpage and provide suggestions on improvement.

Lory will also ask the committee via e-mail if they want to continue meeting on the third Thursday of the month at 8:30 a.m. This will be on the meeting agenda for November so that it can be discussed further.

Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, November 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen, Dennis Coyne, Lory Hartenberger, Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush. Betty Shaw and Bob Zeglovitch attended by phone.

Agenda was approved and the minutes from the March meeting were approved.

An extended introduction was offered by Dennis Coyne.

Convention Items:
Discussion on the Bike Ride: A list of potential sponsors has been distributed. Committee members were reminded that it is not to be used for any other purpose. Volunteers are needed prior to and on the day of the ride and should contact Judie Rush at either judithrush@attglobal.net or (651) 628-4998. Other details are in process.

Discussion of CLE program being offered by Bob Zeglovitch, "An Introduction to Mindfulness for Lawyers: Enhancing Resiliency and Reducing Stress". Two CLE credit hours will be requested for the expository section. An additional 1-hour experiential section will not receive credit.

Discussion on the Exhibit Booth: We will need staff for it and ideas for materials and the display. Please contact Joan Bibelhausen at either jbibel@visi.com or (612) 373-7013 if you can help with this.

As an aside, a quote was offered: "Life is not a journey that ends leaving one strong, fit, beautiful, well-maintained and perfectly preserved. Rather one should rush along and skid in the grave sideways, used up, exhausted, but full, shouting "Yee Ha!! What a ride!"

Future Programs & Initiatives:
The committee decided against a single newsletter publication and elected to offer a series of lunchtime programs with an accompanying article to be placed on the committee website. Topics and the member potentially responsible will include:

• Solo by default and related issues - Betty Shaw

• Additional training on mindfulness – Bob Zeglovitch

• Resilience - Dennis Coyne

• Suicide prevention training (2 hours) - Tom Shroyer

• Responding to a complaint and who covers for you when you are "forced" into a break in your practice. - Betty Shaw

• Chemical and Mental Health - LCL - this program will hopefully still occur during this CLE year (before 6/30/04)

Law School Subcommittee:
The next meeting of the subcommittee is scheduled for April 29. They are getting a draft tool kit from the ABA that will be sent to law schools to educate the schools and deans on the relevant issues. The tool kit is on CD-Rom and written format, dealing with chemical dependency, mental health and quality of life issues.

Other Business:
LCL Survey – Co-Lap audit results are available and were quite positive.

"Oklahoma" life balance wants to talk to other "Quality of Life" committees in other states. We have responded and will be included in that network.

Howard Vogel was interviewed as part of the William May lecture that was televised on Channel 17.

The committee recognized Bill Lindberg for his service to both the committee and the profession in anticipation of his move to California.

Meeting adjourned.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Betsy Marvin, who reminds people that she is not known for being a great committee secretary.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Dwain Fagerlund (via the phone), Lory Hartenberger, Bill Lindberg, Judie Rush, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Convention
Judie Rush reported that the letters to potential bike ride sponsors have been mailed and that the Bike Ride Subcommittee plans to follow-up with phone calls. Judie also reported that this subcommittee needs additional volunteers to help coordinate the bike ride. Life & the Law Committee members who are able to help should contact Judie at either judithrush@attglobal.net or (651) 628-4998.

The Life & the Law Committee will be sponsoring a program at the MSBA Convention in Duluth. It will be held on Thursday, June 10 from 9:00 a.m. - Noon. The program, entitled "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Lawyers: An Introduction" will be led by Bob Zeglovitch and will consist of a 1 1/2 to 2 hours CLE presentation followed by a session of guided meditation exercises. LCL will also be participating in this program.

The committee is confirmed to have an exhibit booth at the convention. Joan Bibelhausen asked for volunteers to help set-up and staff the exhibit booth. Interested committee members should contact Joan at either jbibel@visi.com or (612) 373-7013.

Law School Subcommittee
The Law School Subcommittee decided that future meetings should focus on one or two discussion topics that are determined in advance. This will allow each member of the subcommittee to gather information on the topic before the meeting and then the subcommittee can discuss it and decide the next step (i.e. best practices, curriculum, outreach, etc.). The subcommittee will also focus on identifying key contacts at each law school that will disseminate the information back to the students.

Future Programming and Initiatives
Dennis Coyne has expressed an interest in reviving the lunch hour seminars that the committee had sponsored in past years and using them to initiate discussions on Professional Development topics. Joan will provide Dennis with copies of the materials that were discussed at these CLE's to assist him in planning future programs.

On February 19, several committee members attended a lecture at Hamline Law School by Dr. William F. May, who spoke on "The Struggle Between Professional Identity and Careerism". It was noted that this program should have had a larger attendance than it did. Joan volunteered to contact Howard Vogel and offer the assistance of the Life & the Law Committee in advertising upcoming Reflecting on Law as Vocation programs to the MSBA membership.

Several committee members have expressed an interest in publishing an online newsletter, similar to the version that the committee published several years ago. Joan volunteered to send an e-mail to the committee requesting suggestions for authors and topics. The committee will discuss this further at an upcoming meeting.

New Business
Joan mentioned that she will not be continuing as chair of the committee next year, as she is in the final year of her 3-year term. Anyone interested in chairing or co-chairing next year should contact Sue Bores at sbores@mnbar.org or 612-278-6325.

Dennis reported that the October 2002 and October 2003 Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience for Lawyers and Judges programs and the January 2004 program held at HCBA have been approved for CLE credits. The updated CLE application has been posted on the State Board of Continuing Legal Education website and it has been noted that Professional Development credits are listed as a separate category, probably for tracking purposes.

Next Meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, April 15 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Kathleen Newman, John O'Neill, Judie Rush, Tom Shroyer, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Convention
The Life & the Law Committee received approval to sponsor a program at the MSBA Convention. It will be held on Thursday, June 10 from 9:00 a.m. - Noon. The program, entitled "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Lawyers: An Introduction" will be led by Bob Zeglovitch and will consist of a 1 1/2 to 2 hours CLE presentation followed by a second portion of guided meditation exercises. The first section of the program will cover: (1) A review of current data regarding the state of lawyers' mental health; (2) Signs, symptoms and resources related to stress and mental health in the legal profession, (3) Information regarding stress and stress reactivity (the cycle of physical and mental reactions that are caused by one's reactions to stressors); (4) Alternative or adaptive methods of coping with stressors; (5) The practice of mindfulness (paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental fashion); and (6) Practical tips on how to cultivate mindfulness and to apply it in everyday life and in law practice to reduce stress and realize enhanced well-being. The remaining hour of the program will consist of two guided meditations-one in which the participants sit in chairs and a "body scan" meditation where the participants will lie on the floor.

Joan Bibelhausen indicated that additional volunteers will be needed to help with the following:
• Assist Bob Zeglovitch in developing the CLE program.
• Set up the exhibit booth, staff it and/or pack it up.
• Work with the Bike Ride Subcommittee to coordinate the bike ride and/or help the day of the ride.

Committee members interested in volunteering should contact Joan Bibelhausen at either jbibel@visi.com or (612) 373-7013.

Law School Subcommittee
On Friday, January 16, the Board of Continuing Legal Education met to discuss the proposed form that it wants the law schools to use to certify that graduates have the requisite moral character and fitness to practice law. Prior to the meeting, the Law School Subcommittee submitted a letter outlining its concerns. At this time, the subcommittee does not know the outcome of the meeting.

At future meetings, the Law School Subcommittee is planning to pick a topic for discussion and will invite representatives from each law school to attend and share their perspective on it.

Reports & Discussion
On Thursday, January 22, LCL was reviewed by a team of representatives from the ABA's Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs. As part of the review, the team met with members of the legal profession including members of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Board members of the MSBA, staff from the Office of Lawyer Professional Responsibility, and others. The written report has not yet been completed.

Dennis Coyne reported that the Life & the Law Committee membership has been added to the Res Ipsa mailing list and will receive notices of future programs. Dennis also reported that he will initiate a discussion with Res Ipsa about future program collaborations with the Life & the Law Committee and that he plans to write a brief article for the Res Ipsa newsletter that introduces the committee.

On Thursday, January 29, Joan participated in a MSBA conference that discussed the ideas and concepts in the book Bowling Alone, which was written by Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam. The book examines the steady decline of membership and active involvement in civic associations. The MSBA is especially concerned about the implications of this trend among the newer generation of lawyers and law students.

The conference participants spent time brainstorming ways in which the MSBA can try to reverse this trend. Suggestions included involving new lawyers and students in the MSBA sections by including them on executive and planning committees and by conducting seminars at the law schools in the sections’ substantive law areas; personally asking people to get involved; building teams of newer and more senior lawyers to work on pro bono initiatives; and create the expectation within law firms that senior partners should encourage associates to get involved.

Next Meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, March 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Carol Berg, Dennis Coyne, Lory Hartenberger, Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush, Tom Shroyer, Bob Zeglovitch, Sue Bores (MSBA staff). Participating via the phone were Bill Lindberg and Betty Shaw.

Future Initiatives
Dennis Coyne has contacted Dennis Monroe, who is on the Board of Directors for Res Ipsa Loquitur, and they are interested in collaborating with the Life & the Law Committee. A discussion was held regarding ways to accomplish this. Ideas included:

• Inviting the Res Ipsa membership to "brown bag" lunches to continue discussing the topics of the recent Res Ipsa meetings.

• Tom Shroyer, of Lawyer Concerned for Lawyers, is trying to arrange for Peter Bell, Chair of the Metropolitan Council and previously of the Hazelden Foundation, to speak at an upcoming LCL program. The Life & the Law Committee is interested in co-sponsoring this event and has formed a subcommittee, which will develop a proposal that will be presented to Res Ipsa, the MSBA's Diversity Committee and minority bar associations to solicit their sponsorship as well.

Dennis Coyne will ask Res Ipsa if the members of the Life & the Law Committee can be added to their mailing list.

Law School Subcommittee
On Friday, January 16, the Board of Continuing Legal Education has scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposed form that it wants the law schools to use to certify that graduates have the requisite moral character and fitness to practice law. The Law School Subcommittee has drafted a letter outlining its concerns and will have it faxed to Peg Corneille prior to the meeting. A copy of the letter was distributed to the committee for their review.

Convention
Bob Zeglovitch told the committee about a stress relief and yoga class that he will be teaching at Hamline Law School. Committee members thought that this would make an interesting CLE program at the convention and asked Bob to consider it. He will check his schedule and let Joan know if he will be available. The committee needs to submit a program proposal to the Convention Committee by the end of January.

New Business
On Thursday, January 22, LCL will be reviewed by a team of representatives from the ABA's Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs. As part of the review, the team will meet with members of the legal profession including members of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Board members of the MSBA, staff from the Office of Lawyer Professional Responsibility, and others. Afterwards, LCL will be hosting a reception at the MSBA offices from 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. and members of the Life & the Law Committee are invited.

Tom also mentioned that LCL would like to survey the MSBA membership about their perceptions of LCL and its effectiveness. A resolution was passed for the Life & the Law Committee to develop a survey that will appear in Legal News Digest.

On Thursday, January 29, Joan has been invited to attend a MSBA conference that will discuss the ideas and concepts in the book Bowling Alone, which was written by Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam. The book examines the steady decline of membership and active involvement in civic associations. The MSBA is especially concerned about the implications of this trend among the newer generation of lawyers and law students. Joan asked the committee to think about this from the Life & the Law perspective and to forward any comments or suggestions to her prior to the conference.

Minnesota Women Lawyers will be hosting the Midwest Regional Conference for Women in the Law on April 21 - 23. Members of the Life & the Law Committee will be conducting a breakout session on stress management. LCL will also have a presence at the conference.

The New Lawyers section has asked the committee to present a CLE program to its section membership in May. If anyone is interested in either developing this program or assisting in presenting it, please contact Joan at either jbibel@visi.com or 612-373-7013.

Joan and Judie proposed that the committee submit an article to Bench & Bar that reviews the recent changes to the CLE rules and the inclusion of professional development courses. If anyone is interested in contributing to this article, please contact Joan at either jbibel@visi.com or 612-373-7013.

Next Meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, February 19 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Carol Berg, Dennis Coyne, Lory Hartenberger, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Tom Shroyer, Chuck Steffey, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

New CLE Rule
On December 10, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued its response regarding the proposed changes to the CLE rules that have been recommended by the Board of Continuing Legal Education. The court decided "there shall be no limit on the number of credit hours for professional development courses that may be used to satisfy a lawyer's CLE requirements in any reporting period". Congratulations were extended to everyone who helped make this happen!

Convention
Judie Rush reported that the Convention Committee has started planning the 2004 convention and are working to develop a theme and find a keynote speaker. The convention will take place in Duluth on June 9 - June 11 and the bike ride is scheduled to be held on Friday, June 11 at noon.

Future Initiatives
The majority of this meeting was spent discussing future projects for the committee, how to raise the committee's profile within the bar association and how to position itself as a CLE resource.

A discussion was held regarding resurrecting the "brown bag" CLE programs that the committee sponsored several years ago.

Dennis Coyne mentioned a local Res Ipsa Loquitur group that has been meeting regularly. He will contact them to see if they have an interest in collaborating with the Life & the Law Committee.

Tom Shroyer, of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, is trying to arrange for Peter Bell, Chair of the Metropolitan Council and previously of the Hazelden Foundation, to speak at an upcoming LCL program. The Life & the Law Committee expressed an interest in co-sponsoring this event and noted that this would be a good opportunity for the minority bar associations as well.

The committee would also like to establish itself as a "speakers bureau" so that sections and other bar associations will use the committee as a CLE resource.

New Business
A suggestion was made that perhaps the committee's meeting schedule should be reviewed to see if it is accommodating to the schedules of committee members.

Joan shared with the group that Judie has been recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as an Attorney of the Year for her service on a variety of boards and bar committees, including the Life & the Law Committee. The annual Attorneys of the Year dinner will be held on Tuesday, February 10.

Next Meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, January 15 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Tim Groshens, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Linda Schwartz, Tom Shroyer, Howard Vogel, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Proposed CLE Rule
No order has yet been issued with regard to the proposed CLE rule regarding professional development. The committee briefly discussed the hearing, although significant discussion had taken place on-line since the last meeting.

Howard Vogel asked how other states handle the issue of CLE accreditation for courses addressing professional & personal development topics. Two years ago, the Life & the Law Committee had formed a working group which had contacted bar associations from other states to research this specific information. Those committee members that worked on the project provided a brief overview of the results. States that do recognize these types of courses either include them in the Ethics category or create a more specific category, such as Substance Abuse.

Law School Subcommittee
Judie reported that the Board of Law Examiners has made minor revisions to the preamble of the bar admission questions and has removed a reference that related to treatment within the last two years.

Additionally, the Board plans to adopt a Dean's certification form that will be used by all of the law schools. The form currently in use requires the dean to certify that the official school records contains no information concerning conduct that reflects adversely on a graduate’s moral character or fitness to practice law. The proposed certification is based on the form currently used by William Mitchell with two major changes: 1) the dean or assistant dean is to certify based on information “available through school records or through your personal knowledge” rather than through “official school records”; and 2) they are to disclose expunged records from honor code matters. The Law School Subcommittee favors the current certification process. They are currently drafting a letter that will outline their concerns, and will send it to both the Board and the law school deans.

Judie also reported that the Board of Law Examiners and Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board will be submitting a joint petition for approval of conditional admission rules to the Supreme Court. Contact Judie if you would like specific information on the petition.

Future Initiatives
The majority of this meeting was spent discussing future projects for the committee, how to raise the committee's profile within the bar association and how to position itself as a CLE resource. Many suggestions were offered, including:

• Creating CLE program opportunities in conjunction with the MSBA sections.
• Resurrecting the "brown bag" CLE programs that the committee offered several years ago.
• Pursuing writing opportunities in various publications such as Minnesota Lawyer and Bench & Bar.

Joan Bibelhausen will compile the ideas into an e-mail, which she will send to committee members and ask for additional feedback. The discussion on this topic will continue at the December meeting.

Next Meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, December 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for September 18, 2003

Present: Carol Berg, Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Bill Lindberg (via phone), Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Tom Shroyer, Howard Vogel, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Bike Ride
The meeting started with Judie Rush, Chair of the Bike Ride Committee, presenting Tom Shroyer, LCL's Executive Director, with a check in the amount of $3,897.17. The committee was able to make this contribution by donating the proceeds from this year's bike ride. The committee wishes the funds to be used to continue LCL’s educational efforts, including future cooperative efforts between LCL and the Life & the Law Committee.

Proposed CLE Rule and Upcoming Hearing
The Minnesota Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, September 24 at 2:00 P.M. to consider the petition of the State Board of Continuing Legal Education to expand the CLE rules to include courses on professional development. Joan reported that the court received written comments from ten groups or individuals and that nine of those requested to make an oral presentation.

The committee spent time discussing their strategy for the hearing and coordinating the details that will need to be incorporated into the oral presentations. In an effort not to spend the majority of the meeting on this topic, it was decided that a conference call would be arranged for Monday, September 22 at 8:00 a.m. to finalize plans.

Law School Subcommittee
Judie reported that she had a follow-up discussion with Peg Corneille regarding the Continuing Legal Education Board’s general policies and approach to investigating mental health and chemical dependency concerns. The CLE Board decided that they will be making several non-substantive revisions to the preamble, but that they will not be rewriting any of the questions on the application for admission to the bar.

Instead, the CLE Board has decided to focus on The Good Character and Fitness Standard, in particular the Affidavits of Good Character which the law school deans are submitting on behalf of a bar applicant. The CLE Board has proposed standardizing the affidavits so that they are consistent in their content. They have already drafted a proposed format and met with the law school deans to discuss it. Judie volunteered to follow-up with Peg Corneille and will clarify whether the CLE Board only suggested this format or if it has already made it a requirement. Additionally, follow-up with the law schools will be needed to get their reactions.

Other Business
The committee's work on the revisions to the CLE rules will be finished soon and the committee will have time available to work on other projects. Committee members can e-mail their suggestions to Joan Bibelhausen at jbibel@visi.com.

The ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued an ethics opinion on "Mentally Impaired Lawyers in the Firm". A copy of this was distributed and committee members were asked to review it for consideration as a discussion topic at a future meeting. If you were not at the meeting and would like to receive a copy, please contact Sue Bores at either sbores@mnbar.org or 612-278-6325.

Howard Vogel briefly talked about the "Reflecting on Law as Vocation" project that the Hamline Law School is sponsoring. The mission of the project is to provide opportunities for law students and lawyers to explore the meaning and value of their work as a vocation. He also distributed a flyer, which provided an overview of the project and its activities. If you would like additional information, please contact Howard Vogel at either hvogel@gw.hamline.edu or (651) 523-2120. The Project will be sponsoring several events during the upcoming months, including a program featuring Steven Keeva, who will be discussing his findings on American and European lawyers and emerging alternative styles of practice.

Howard has arranged a meeting with Tim Groshens, the MSBA's Executive Director, to discuss the possibility of Hamline hosting a reception for Steven Keeva at the MSBA's offices. He asked the Life & the Law Committee to consider co-sponsoring the reception and the committee approved it.

Next Meeting
The committee decided not to meet in October. The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, November 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for August 21, 2003

Present: Carol Berg, Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Bill Lindberg, Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Howard Vogel, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Bike Ride
Judie reported that the profit from this year's bike ride will be $3,897.17. This year's expenses were lower than in 2002 because Dick Erickson, the MSBA's Web Services Director, made the mile marker and rest stop signs in-house, rather than use an outside vendor.

It was noted that the annual ABA CoLap Conference will be held on October 13-17 in Victoria, British Columbia and that several committee members had expressed an interest in attending. A discussion was held regarding whether a portion of the profits should be set aside to help cover travel expenses. The decision of the committee was to forward all of the money to LCL with the request that the funds be designated for educational initiatives, including future cooperative efforts.

The Bike Ride subcommittee plans to send a survey to this year's bike ride participants. The responses will help the subcommittee plan for the 2004 bike ride and identify areas of improvement.

Law School Subcommittee
The Law School subcommittee did not meet over the summer. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 11. A new William Mitchell representative is needed to replace Professor Ann Iijima. If you are interested in joining the group or know of someone who is, please contact Judie Rush at either 651-628-4998 or judithrush@attglobal.net.

Hamline Professor Linda Rusch is currently developing materials for law professors that will provide a curriculum with lesson plans, educate on opportunities for empathy in the academic setting, and suggest ways to work concepts into the classroom.

Proposed CLE Rule
The committee continued the discussion of last month regarding its response to the proposed CLE rule change. The committee's focus is the limitation of six hours for professional development courses and the concern that people who need this type of information will not receive enough of it in just six hours. Joan will write the committee's response and post it on the listserve for additional comments.

Other Business
The "Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience for Lawyers and Judges" program is scheduled for Friday, October 24. The Life & the Law Committee approved a motion to endorse the program. As in past years, the committee will provide a resource table at the program.

On Wednesday, September 17, the Ramsey County Bar Association will be sponsoring a CLE on "The Impact of Alcohol and Drug Abuse on the Legal System". Registration information is available at http://www.ramseybar.org/.

September has been designated National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery month. Additional information and resources are available at http://www.recoverymonth.gov.

Howard Vogel briefly described upcoming Hamline programs that will include author Steven Keeva and plans to look into the possibility of hosting a reception at the MSBA offices.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Frank Harris, Emil Jalonen, Ken Kirwin, Bill Lindberg, Betsy Marvin, John O'Neill, Karna Peters, Deborah Randolph, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Chuck Steffey, Craig Thielke, Sue Bores (MSBA Staff)

Convention
The Life & the Law Committee will once again have an exhibit booth at the Convention, which will be held on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency Hotel. Committee members will be needed to staff the booth. Joan will send out an e-mail asking for volunteers and soliciting suggestions for handout materials.

As of this meeting, The Power Ride had raised $4,375 in sponsor donations. Unfortunately, the bike ride brochure was still at the printer. Committee members and sponsors will receive copies as soon as it is available. It will also be mailed to bike riders from the previous years and will be included in confirmation packets that are mailed to each convention registrant.

The committee spent time discussing the pros and cons of offering more than one check-in location and whether riders should be allowed to start anywhere on the route. The concern was expressed that people may not want to drive downtown and pay for parking. The decision was made to have all riders check-in at the Hyatt Regency, but they can choose to start anywhere on the route. Joan Bibelhausen volunteered to check on parking availability at 12th and Glenwood, which is close to the entrance of the Cedar Lake Trail.

Law School Subcommittee
In March, the Law School Subcommittee met with Peg Corneille, Executive Director of the Board of Continuing Legal Education, and James Newes, Character and Fitness Administrator for the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. The discussion focused on the CLE Board's general policies and approach to investigating mental health and chemical dependency concerns and they answered hypothetical questions about the bar application questions. Judie reported that the CLE Board will consider rewriting the preamble and the bar admission questions to clarify that the questions ask about current impairment and impairment within the last two years.

Judie also reported that the Law School Subcommittee is working to develop a curriculum for law professors that will introduce them to mental health and chemical dependency issues. Committee members can submit ideas for this project to Linda Rusch. She can be contacted at (651) 523-2118 or via e-mail at lrusch@gw.hamline.edu.

Other Business
Joan reported that Judie has been nominated for the MSBA's Professional Excellence Award for her work on the Law School Subcommittee. The award recipient will be announced during the Keynote Session at the convention.

Joan has indicated that she is willing to continue as committee chair for another year, but would also like other members to consider volunteering as chair or co-chair. If you are interested in either position, please contact Joan Bibelhausen at (612) 373-7013 or jbibel@officenters.com.

Meeting with Frank Harris and Minnesota CLE Board Members
Frank Harris, Ken Kirwin and Karna Peters accepted the committee's invitation to attend this meeting. Both groups have an interest in the proposed CLE rule that was ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court and this meeting provided an opportunity to hear and discuss the other's point of view.

The Minnesota CLE Board's principal concerns are that granting CLE credit for professional development programs will reduce lawyers' exposure to areas of substantive law and the difficulty in defining criteria that will be relevant to lawyers and their practice.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 17 at 8:30 a.m.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Sue Bores (MSBA Staff) and Brad Thorsen.

Brad Thorsen, co-chair of the MSBA's Convention Committee, attended the meeting. Interactive opinion polling software will be used at the Keynote Session, which will be held on Thursday, June 18 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sections and committees have been invited to submit one or two questions that they would like to ask the membership. The deadline for question submission is Monday, May 12. Since there were no other committee members present, Joan will request suggestions by e-mail and submit them before the deadline. Results from the polls will be published in the June 25 edition of Legal News Digest.

In March, the Law School Subcommittee met with Peg Corneille, Executive Director of the Board of Continuing Legal Education, and James Newes, Character and Fitness Administrator for the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. During the meeting, hypothetical situations were discussed which provided some insight into the Board's policies. To obtain a copy of the questions and answers, please contact Sue Bores at either sbores@mnbar.org or 612-278-6325.

Joan will be in attendance at the April 26 Board of Governor's meeting and will be reporting on the CLE rule change. She will also provide an update at the BOG's June 19 meeting.

The Life & the Law Committee will once again have an exhibit booth at the Convention. Handouts and good conversation will be offered. Committee members are needed to staff the booth. Please contact Joan Bibelhausen at either jbibel@officenters.com or 612-373-7013 if you can help out.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 15 at 8:30 a.m. Committee business will be discussed first, followed by a meeting with Frank Harris of Minnesota CLE and members of his board.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Emil Jalonen, Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, and Tram Thai (MSBA staff, filling in for Sue Bores).

Educational Program: It Could Happen To You is scheduled for the morning of May 30 at Hamline. It will be co-sponsored by the Committee, LCL, Hamline, HCBA and RCBA. 3 ethics credits will be applied for.

CLE Rule Change:
March 10 Hearing
The following handouts were distributed at the meeting and copies are available by contacting Sue Bores of the MSBA staff at sbores@mnbar.org or 612-278-6325.
1) Joan's remarks before the Rules Subcommittee of the Minnesota Board of CLE
2) Emil's letter to Sean Hade, Chair of the Rules Committee of the Minnesota Board of CLE
3) Written testimony from Howard Vogel

Future Efforts
The Committee decided it would be a good idea to bring the issue before the MSBA Board of Governors. Joan will request to be put on the April BOG meeting to give members of the Board a heads up. The Committee will provide more substance information at the June BOG meeting.

Judie reported that the Ramsey County Bar Association CLE Committee will be discussing the CLE rule change at their upcoming meeting on March 24. Judie will report back to the Committee regarding their position.

Convention:
The Power Ride
Judie reported that things are moving along well. There is currently $3,400 in sponsorship. The brochure and other promotional items still need to be done. There is a meeting scheduled in April to ride the route and figure out signage, etc.

Exhibit Booth
Joan has submitted a written request to Kammi Stout, MSBA Convention Manager, regarding having a booth at the convention. It was suggested that a flier with information about the new CLE rule should be made available as part of the booth materials.

Co-Lap Conference and Steven Keeva:
Judie reported on the Co-Lap Conference and the book written by Steven Keeva called "Transforming Practices".

"Transforming Practices" is about exploring the sources of "spirituality" or meaning and pleasure in law practice. From law school to the law firm, lawyers are taught and encouraged to win, with little regard to the emotional consequences. This book explains how to reconnect with the spiritual side of law practice, with emphasis on the clients'--and their own--emotional and spiritual needs.

Keeva's Recommendations

• Balance Practice
• Contemplative Practice
• Mindful Practice
• Time-Out Practice
• Healing Practice
• Listening Practice
• Service Practice

Keeva noted that all these practices are "holistic" methods aimed at having a broad view, no judgment, identifying conflicts and recognizing the importance of the impact you have on your clients and others.

A copy of Judie's report will be posted on the Committee's webpage once it is finalized.

Other Business:
Law School Subcommittee
Judie reported the March 13 meeting with Peg Corneille went very well and that Peg was very receptive to the Subcommittee's comments and feedback. Peg reported that the Law of Board of Examiners is currently in communications with the University of Minnesota Law School to conduct research on the possibility of a correlation between information reported on the admissions application and subsequent disciplinary problems. Peg indicated an interest in meeting with the Subcommittee again to discuss this and any other issues.

CLE Board Nominations
Joan reported that HCBA has nominated Richard Nelson for the CLE Board. The Committee discussed whether to get involved in suggesting additional nominees for this and other open positions. If so, this will need to be done at the MSBA Board of Governors meeting.

2003/04 Committee Chair
Joan reported that she is willing to continue as chair or would be happy to have a co-chair in the upcoming bar year. For committee members who are interested in taking this leadership role, now is the time to step up! All appointments are made by the MSBA President-elect and will be effective July 1.

Next Meeting:
The Committee will meet next on Thursday, April 17 at 8:30 a.m. at the MSBA offices.

Meeting adjourned.

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Emil Jalonen, Barbara Jones, Bill Lindberg, Betsy Marvin, Judie Rush, Ward Schendel (via the phone), Sue Bores (MSBA staff)

CLE Rule Change:
This meeting began with a celebration! On January 23, the MN Supreme Court instructed the Board of Continuing Legal Education to submit a proposal that will broaden the current CLE rules and allow courses related to personal and professional development to receive CLE credit.

The CLE Board Rules Committee will hold its first meeting on Friday, February 21. The Life & the Law Committee decided to send over a resource packet of information that it hopes the CLE Board will use as it begins its work on the rule change.

Joan received a letter from the CLE Board requesting the Life & the Law Committee's input on the new rule. The majority of this meeting was devoted to discussing course definitions, educational goals, course approval criteria and the maximum number of credit hours. Some of the key ideas discussed were:

• Separating format from content.
• Programs should be primarily for lawyers and be related to the practice of law and/or the profession.
  
• Should there be a limit on the number of credit hours that can be reported?

Joan will summarize the ideas discussed in this meeting and will put them on the committee's listserve for further discussion.

Law School Subcommittee:
Peg Corneille, Director of the Board of Law Examiners has been invited to attend the next meeting, which is scheduled for March 13. The subcommittee members have developed hypothetical situations and will use these in their discussion with Peg.

Judie reported that the Board of Law Examiners and the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board are meeting to discuss "conditional admission" and to define the standards. Judie will update the Life & the Law Committee on future developments.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for January 23, 2003

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Emil Jalonen, Bill Lindberg

Educational Programming:
Emil announced that LCL is offering a number of group programs including a facilitated mental health support group, therapy groups and a women's group. Additional topical meeting and presentations will also be held. See www.mnlcl.org for more information.

Joan noted that the HCBA CLE on disability, scheduled for February 25, is coming along well. The focus will be mental and chemical health, and 3.0 elimination of bias credits will be requested.

Law School Subcommittee:
Peg Corneille, Director of the Board of Law Examiners will be invited to attend the next meeting, scheduled for March 13.

2003 Convention:
Bike Ride: Sponsor letters are being prepared. The proposed logo was distributed. Those with comments were asked to provide them to the Bike Ride subcommittee.

Exhibit Booth: Because we are not offering an educational program at the convention (beyond the life lessons learned from the bike ride, of course), this will be our best opportunity to showcase the work of the Committee. Members are encouraged to come up with ideas for the booth.

CLE Status:
The CLE Board will decide on the status of the 2002 Career Resilience program at its March meeting. A letter was sent to Jon Duckstad requesting the appointment of a Task Force to study CLE rule options. Members agreed that establishment of the Task Force would allow inquiry of the Supreme Court regarding the status of the Ash Grove Group petition. Members brainstormed to come up with possible Task Force members beyond the Committee. It was agreed that a number of perspectives should be sought including mental health, academic, judiciary, procedural, etc.

Other Business:
The Committee discussed appointment to the CLE Board and the possibility of providing a candidate for the positions that will open up this year.

The Committee agreed to invite Ken Jorgensen, new Director of the Lawyers Board, to attend a future meeting.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for December 19, 2002

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Emil Jalonen, Jolie Lahlum, Bill Lindberg,
Judie Rush, Craig Thielke, Howard Vogel, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Spring Program at Hamline:
Hamline Law School, The Hennepin County Bar Association and The Ramsey County Bar Association, along with the Life & the Law Committee, have agreed to co-sponsor "It Could Happen To You: Ethics, Life as Lawyer and the Disciplinary Process". It is tentatively scheduled to take place on either Thursday, May 22 or Friday, May 23 at Hamline.

Volunteers will be needed as actors, narrators and speakers. If you are interested in participating, please contact Joan Bibelhausen at either 612-373-7013 or jbibel@officenters.com.

2003 Convention:
Judie reported on the 2003 Convention. The theme will be: "The Power of Attorneys: A Profession of Service to the Public". This year, the CLE programs will be determined via a selection process. The Convention Planning Committee will send out a proposal request to all of the sections and committees and then they will review them and select the programs that will be offered.

Joan proposed not sponsoring a CLE at the convention, as the Hamline program will require a lot of the committee members' time. This matter was discussed and the consensus was to concentrate on an exhibit booth and the bike ride at the convention.

Bike Ride:
Judie reported that The Power Ride will take place on Friday, June 20, from noon until 4 p.m. The route has already been mapped out. The ride options will be:

• The Power-Full Ride, which is a 28 mile ride.
  
• The Empowerment Ride, which is a 17 mile ride.
  
• The Power Shortage Ride, which is a 9 mile ride.
  
• The Power Puff Ride, which is a 1-9 mile ride.

The Bike Ride Committee has decided not to ask for $500 from the Convention Planning Committee's budget.

Letters to potential sponsors will be mailed in January. Please contact Judie Rush with any additional suggestions that you would like on the sponsor list. She can be reached at either 651-628-4998 or judithrush@attglobal.net.

December 12 CLE Board Hearing:
Bill Lindberg and Dennis Coyne reported on the December 12 hearing regarding CLE credits for the 2002 Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience Program. The decision of the CLE Board is pending.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to request that the MSBA appoint a task force that will look into the issue of CLE credits for courses involving personal and professional development. Joan volunteered to discuss the matter with MSBA President Jon Duckstad.

Other Business:
Judie reported that she had applied for Minnesota CLE credits on several of the seminars that she attended at the CoLap Conference, which was held in October. She was informed that her application was denied by the State Board of CLE due to non-legal content. A discussion was held as to whether Judie should appeal the Board's decision and the information that she may want to include in her appeal.

Joan mentioned that Bench & Bar will be starting a new mentoring column called "Tips & Traps" and encouraged committee members to submit "tips" relating to personal and professional development.

Next Meeting:
The date of the next meeting has been changed to Thursday, January 23 at 8:30 a.m.

Life & the Law Committee
Meeting Summary for November 21, 2002

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Dennis Coyne, Jolie Lahlum, Bill Lindberg, John O'Neill, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

CoLap Conference:
Judie Rush recently attended the ABA's Lawyer Assistance Programs Conference, which took place October 1 thru October 4. She attended several seminars on a variety of topics, including:

" Outreach to Law Schools: Faculty and Students

" Steve Keeva spoke on "Transforming Practices: The Future of the Profession"

" Peter Bell, of the Hazelden Foundation, spoke on how to effectively handle mental health & chemical dependency issues within the African American community.

" "Dealing with Ethical Atrophy" discussed the need for students to have realistic expectations of a career in law.

" An Update on Addiction Research provided the latest information on treatment and its effect on the brain.

These topics will be discussed in depth at future committee meetings.

Law School Subcommittee:
The Law School subcommittee is currently discussing the bar application questions that deal with disclosure of mental health and chemical dependency conditions. They are planning to invite Peg Corneille, Executive Director of the Board of Continuing Legal Education, to a future meeting and discuss this issue with her. In the meantime, Emil Jalonen is researching how bar examiners in other states handle the disclosure issue.

The subcommittee's next meeting is scheduled for January 16. If you are interested in attending, please contact Judie Rush at either mailto:judithrush@attglobal.net or 651-628-4998. Please note: Because this is the same date as Life and the Law would normally meet, we will instead meet on January 23.

Status of the Ash Grove Group CLE Petition:
Bill Lindberg reported that the 2002 Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience Program has been approved by Wisconsin for 8 standard CLE credits and 1 Ethics credit. However, the Minnesota CLE Board has approved the same program for 1 CLE credit.

In addition, the Ash Grove Group petitioned for dismissal of its action, but also requested that a task force be appointed to look into Continuing Legal Education accreditation for courses involving personal and professional development. Bill informed the committee that the task force request was declined.

Joan has sent a letter to Chief Justice Blatz in which she also requests the formation of a task force and asked that the Life & the Law Committee be included. A copy of the letter was shared with the group.

Bill Lindberg thanked the Life & the Law Committee for its ongoing support.

LCL's Women's Support Group:
LCL will start a women's therapy group in January and may hold a single holiday stress program in December. A therapy group directed to men may begin later in the spring. LCL felt that it was appropriate to have a group directed more toward therapy than support at this time. We will continue to have discussions with them about being of assistance with future programming developments.

2003 Convention:
Judie reported on the November 18 meeting of the MSBA's Convention Planning Committee. The dates of the convention are June 18 thru June 20 and it will be held at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. This year, there will be a theme: "The Power of Attorneys". Groups that sponsor CLE's will be asked to adhere to this theme.

The Convention Planning Committee has currently scheduled the bike ride to be held on the afternoon of Friday, June 20. This will be discussed further at the next bike ride subcommittee meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday, December 11.

A motion was made and approved to publicize that all of the bike ride proceeds will be given to LCL. A request will be submitted to LCL asking that they consider designating funds to send a Life & the Law committee member to the annual ABA CoLap Conference.

Other Business:
The American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA) program, which was scheduled for December, has been postponed. The committee had previously been asked to be a co-sponsor.

On February 25, Joan will be chairing a CLE at the Hennepin County Bar Association. Joan will be able to select the topic and asked the Life & the Law Committee for ideas.

Hamline Law School, The Hennepin County Bar Association and The Ramsey County Bar Association have expressed interest in the committee's 2002 mini-convention program entitled "It Could Happen To You: Ethics, Life as Lawyer and the Disciplinary Process". Hamline has offered the use of its facilities, which will include video taping capabilities.

A motion was made and approved for the Life & the Law Committee to co-sponsor this program with Hamline, HCBA and RCBA. Judie will work with Hamline on scheduling a date.

Next Meeting:
Joan announced that the HCBA will be replaying its CLE "Disability: Your Clients; Your Colleagues" on December 19, the same date as the next committee meeting. HCBA has agreed to allow Life and the Law Committee members to attend this program free of charge. Three (3) bias credits have been applied for!

The time of the next Life & the Law Committee meeting has been changed to 11:30a.m. at the MSBA offices.

Meeting Summary for October 17, 2002

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Peg Corneille, Dennis Coyne, Eric C Dammeyer (via phone),
Emil Jalonen, Barbara Jones, Bill Lindberg, Betsy Marvin, John O'Neill, Judie Rush, Betty Shaw,
Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Peg Corneille, Executive Director of the Board of Continuing Legal Education, accepted the committee's invitation to attend this meeting. It began with the committee members introducing themselves and explaining their interest in the Life & the Law committee.

Ms. Corneille also introduced herself and shared the following information:

• The CLE Board sees themselves as an administrative body whose purpose is to enforce the MN Supreme Court rules and to work with Peg's office in resolving disputes.
• Since 1975, there have been few changes to the CLE rules. Ms. Corneille noted that changes have come from Supreme Court directives, often following resolutions by the Bar Association. The Board does not view its role as including a rule making or policy making function.

Joan shared some of the information that the Life & the Law Working Group had collected. Six states currently require 1 hour or more of training regarding substance abuse. One state requires both substance abuse and mental health training.

The committee informed Ms. Corneille that they would like Minnesota to review its CLE requirements and develop ways for lawyers to receive needed education consistent with the Supreme Court mandate to educate and assist lawyers through the Lawyers Assistance Program. This might involve creation of a new category, expansion of the ethics requirements or updated
interpretations of the rules that now exist. Her advice on how to proceed was to do either one or both of the following:

• She recommended working through the established MSBA process. Most, if not all, rule changes have originated from within the MSBA.
• Invite a current member of the CLE Board to a meeting for further discussion.

Ms. Corneille also noted that the CLE Board had recently adopted guidelines for Law and Literature courses. The Committee requested a copy of these guidelines.

The committee will discuss these options in depth at their next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, November 21 at 8:30 a.m. (Please note the new starting time).

Meeting Summary for September 19, 2002

Present: Joan Bibelhausen (chair), Bill Lindberg, Judie Rush, Sue Bores (MSBA staff).

Report on Jon Duckstad's Meeting with the 2002-03 Committee Chairs:
Joan, along with the other MSBA Committee Chairs, attended a meeting with President Jon Duckstad. The discussion centered on both Jon's goals and the goals of each committee during the upcoming bar year. One of Jon's goals is to increase the involvement of members who do not live in the Twin Cities metro area. With that in mind, Joan will be contacting Board of Governor's members who live outside of the Twin Cities and invite them to join the Life & the Law Committee.

Law School Subcommittee:
Judie reported that the Law School Subcommittee had their first meeting. Each law school will be invited to have a student liaison on the committee. Additionally, the Life & the Law Committee passed a resolution that asks LCL to provide a representative.

The committee plans to ask the chairs of the MSBA's Law Student and New Lawyers sections if they will survey their members to determine which quality of life issues are the most important to them.

Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience Programs:
Bill Lindberg thanked the Life & the Law Committee for their support of last October's "Career Satisfaction, Renewal & Resilience for Lawyers and Judges" and their assistance in working on the CLE accreditation issue. No word yet on the decision of the CLE Board. If the decision is not favorable, the next step will be to propose a rule change. So far, 27 people are registered for the October 22 program.

Joan reported that she has sent a letter to Peg Corneille in which she offered the Life & the Law committee as a resource to the CLE Board. It is hoped that Peg will be able to attend a future committee meeting to discuss educational programming.

LCL's Women's Support Group:
The Life & the Law Committee members expressed a thank-you to Barbara Knigge for all of her work with LCL and the LAP and wishes the best of luck in her future endeavors. It is hoped that LCL will continue to have a representative on the committee.

Joan reported that a women who works for TEAM is interested in continuing LCL's Women's Support Group. They have put together a survey to help define the issues that are most important to this group, determine the meeting format and find out what will motivate people to attend.

Miscellaneous:
Joan reported that a Hiring Committee has been formed to fill the Executive Director position on the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. Joan will contact the MSBA representative on the Board and stress that the new director should be sensitive to quality of life issues.

A motion was made and approved for the Life and the Law Committee to be a co-sponsor of the American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA) program, which will take place in December.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, October 17 at 8:30 a.m. (Please note the new starting time).

- Last Updated 08/05/05 -