Full Report - the Missouri Bar

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Public Information/Education Public Information Having established itself as a leading source of information about the justice system and the role of lawyers in society, The Missouri Bar continues to expand and improve the resources it makes available to the public and uphold its commitment to education. Legal Issues Brochures The most recognizable product of The Missouri Bar’s public information program is a series of brochures explaining basic aspects of the legal system. These brochures are grouped into “resource guides” offering information in six general categories: client information, probate law, family law, consumer law, business law, and law and the courts. With more than 50 brochure titles in The Missouri Bar’s public information library, citizens can find information about nearly every aspect of the legal system – from traffic violations to divorce or the need for a will. The Missouri Bar distributes the resource guides in libraries, government offices, county courthouses, city halls and attorneys’ offices, in addition to direct requests from the public. Missourians receive more than 100,000 copies of the resource guides each year. Website In addition to these printed materials, The Missouri Bar places a strong emphasis on the use of technology. The growing importance of the Internet and e-mail has opened the door to new ways in which to reach the public with important legal information. The Missouri Bar’s website (www.mobar.org) boasts thousands of pages and documents detailing virtually every program, activity and service provided by the state bar. Almost all of this material is also available on the website as a downloadable document. The Missouri Bar website is an increasingly crucial means of communicating with Missourians who wish to learn more about the law and the justice system. Recognizing the growing importance of the Internet as a vehicle for distribution of information to the public about the justice system, The Missouri Bar in 2011 redesigned its website to facilitate the public’s search for information about legal issues. Those who visit the site will find prominent links to: help them find a lawyer; gain access to valuable citizenship education materials of interest to teachers, students and Missouri citizens; and a comprehensive array of helpful brochures, resources and other information designed to help Missourians understand their rights, the law and the justice system. The Missouri Bar also hosts another website, www.ShowMeCourts.org, which offers a wealth of information about Missouri’s judicial system. It includes details about the structure of the state’s judiciary, the difference between partisan and non-partisan judicial elections, information for jurors, and even lesson plans for educators. Social Media In addition – in recognition of their growing importance as a communications resource – The Missouri Bar has joined the online conversation by communicating through social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Through these outlets, the state bar is to carry its message to ever-larger groups of people. Tweets and Facebook posts are routine and used to provide the public with additional ways of learning about The Missouri Bar’s services, projects and resources. Facebook.com/MissouriBar has more than 700 “likes” and is growing daily, while Twitter.com/mobarnews has more than 500 followers. YouTube is also used to communicate with the public by sharing video projects. Working With the News Media The Missouri Bar understands that, despite its best efforts, it cannot always place information about the legal system directly into the hands of the public. Accordingly, The Missouri Bar recognizes the vital role played by the news media in disseminating timely information to the general public. The state bar strives to maintain a partnership with print and broadcast journalists to ensure that Missourians gain a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the law. Working closely with reporters and news directors to explore crucial legal issues is the main goal of The Missouri Bar’s media relations efforts. Missouri Bar officers and members of the Board of Governors often meet with representatives of the news media to discuss pressing legal issues of the day. Additionally, The Missouri Bar’s Communications and Media Relations departments serve as a resource for reporters, fielding questions and arranging interviews with bar officers. Staff members also work with the bar’s Media Law Committee to provide support for such committee projects as the Media Law Handbook, which was provided to all media outlets and is also available on the bar’s website. Likewise, the members of the Missouri Press-Bar Commission – composed of lawyers, judges, broadcasters and print journalists – discuss issues of concern to the media and legal community by developing programs and projects to address these matters. The Commission produces 22
the News Reporters Handbook and was instrumental in developing the Supreme Court rule allowing cameras in Missouri courtrooms in selected situations. Institutional Ads Each year, the president of The Missouri Bar chooses three issues/topics to address with the bar’s institutional advertising campaign. The campaign consists of three radio and three 30-second television announcements that are distributed by the Missouri Broadcasters Association. Through a special public education program available only to non-profits and governmental agencies, the broadcasters association guarantees a minimum amount of airtime on its member stations at an exceptional bargain, ensuring that for every dollar the bar invests, it receives at least four dollars’ worth of airtime. Mini Law School for the Public This program, initiated and coordinated by Board of Governors member Nancy Mogab of St. Louis, has proven to be an extremely popular way of increasing public understanding of the law and appreciation of the role of lawyers. To date, six series of programs have been held at the Saint Louis University School of Law, each featuring six to eight evening lectures per session. Courses are taught by experienced lawyers, judges and law professors. More than 150 participants attend each evening to hear a two-hour lecture on various laws and the legal system. Topics include everything from end-of-life decisions to the Non-Partisan Court Plan and the lawyer discipline system. Some of the programs have been televised in the St. Louis area by HEC-TV (Higher Education TV). In addition, thousands of other St. Louisans learn about this program through advertisements that promote early registration. Speakers’ Bureau The Missouri Bar Speakers’ Bureau was initiated in 2010 to share information about the Non-Partisan Court Plan. Since then, more than 350 lawyers have signed up as volunteers to speak to civic, social and service clubs about Missouri’s judicial selection system that affords all Missourians fair and impartial judges. Lawyers have reported giving more than 250 speeches to these groups, meaning thousands of community leaders are hearing the bar’s message to share with their friends and family. While the Non-Partisan Court Plan will continue as a mainstay topic for speakers to discuss, the foundation of speakers also provides opportunities to speak on other issues of importance to the legal community and their impact on the public. Judicial Performance Evaluation As is the case during every election cycle, an important public education initiative was undertaken again in 2012 with completion of the Judicial Performance Evaluation Survey. Seven committees – each composed of six lawyers and six non-lawyers – conducted comprehensive reviews of merit-selected judges seeking retention at the 2012 general election. As part of the review process, the committees considered lawyer evaluations, peer review surveys, juror evaluations, in-court observation and samples of judges’ written opinions in developing recommendations to “retain” or “not retain” each of the judges seeking retention. The complete results of the evaluations – including the raw data from surveys, as well as the judges’ written opinions – were posted on The Missouri Bar’s website in early September, giving voters the chance to educate themselves about these judges prior to casting their judicial ballot. Citizenship Education The Missouri Bar has always been committed to providing quality citizenship education opportunities for teachers and students throughout the state. The Missouri Bar Citizenship Education Program sponsors workshops for teachers, coordinates lawyer resources for classrooms, and publishes and distributes a variety of citizenship education materials, most of which are now online. The Missouri Bar also partners with other civic education groups, such as the YMCA Youth in Government program, KIDS Voting Missouri and 4-H. In addition, the state bar also serves as the state coordinator for iCivics, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s civic education program. A significant change in The Missouri Bar Citizenship Education Program occurred in 2012 when Congress decided to no longer fund programs of the Center for Civic Education. Since 1999, The Missouri Bar has served as the state coordinator for the Center for Civic Education’s various education programs – We the People, Project Citizen, and Representative Democracy in America. Coordinating these programs also brought an influx of grant money – sometimes as much as $110,000 per year. It also increased the network of teachers that The Missouri Bar reaches from about 750 to more than 3,000 teachers. To compensate for the loss of more than $100,000 in grant monies from the Center for Civic Education, the Missouri Bar Foundation stepped in and allocated enough funding so that the bar could continue its long-standing and fruitful partnership with Missouri’s public, private and parochial educators. In emphasizing its commitment to ongoing efforts to provide students with a clear understanding of government and the justice system, the Foundation created the Keith A. Birkes Fund for Justice 23
Page 1 and 2: Serving Our Members & Communities T
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Mes
Page 5 and 6: Leadership Patrick B. Starke Presid
Page 7 and 8: The Missouri Bar Center The Missour
Page 9 and 10: Professional Development Continuing
Page 11 and 12: The sales of electronic MoBarCLE de
Page 13 and 14: The Missouri Bar’s Legislative Pr
Page 15 and 16: where there is a significant need f
Page 17 and 18: choose from a wide range of very hi
Page 19 and 20: tion among lawyers across the state
Page 21: years of practice) to the bar who a
Page 25 and 26: Member Communications The primary p
Page 27 and 28: provides online access to legal dat
Page 29 and 30: Information Technology Information
Page 31 and 32: assists the Missouri Girls State an
Page 33 and 34: Gender & Justice Committee William
Page 35 and 36: The Missouri Bar 2012 Actual Fiscal

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