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Board of Governors MeetingMarch 9, 2013Page 3being conducted by non-lawyers or lawyers who are not performing competently and in violation of theRules of Professional Conduct. Treasurer Patrise Perkins-Hooker, chair of the task force, provided areport on the activities of the task force and its recommendations:1. Following up with the Formal Advisory Opinion Board to urge that an opinion (containing theessential provisions clarifying the practice of law in residential real estate closings.2. Having the UPL Standing Committee review the issues involved in third party service providers.3. Contacting Solicitors/District Attorneys’ professional associations to educate them on theproblems associated with UPL and get them to enforce the law.4. Exploring lawyer discipline options for incompetent lawyers who are conducting closing.5. Revising and disseminating UPL and Witness Only complaint forms to all lawyers.6. Educating law students through Ethics classes.7. Working with realtors to educate them on the dangers to their clients of closings done in violationof UPL and Witness Only closings.8. Analyzing existing recording statutes to see if they can be amended to require that a Georgialawyer be listed in the return to block on the recorded DSD or Warranty Deeds.9. Collecting data on the problems in a central database.President Clark asked the Board members to thank Michelle Garner for all her hard work in planning andmanaging the Bar’s meetings.President Clark reported that she was honored to speak at the Chief Justice’s Commission onProfessionalism’s Justice Benham Community Service Awards, where tribute was paid to many welldeservinglawyers. She attended a dinner hosted by the DeKalb Bar Association honoring Judge ClarenceF. Seeliger with its Pioneer Award for his years of service and leadership to the DeKalb County bench,bar, and public. She moderated a program on the importance of diversity on the bench at the Universityof Georgia School of Law. She announced that this year’s Legal Food Frenzy will take place on April 22-May 3, 2013, which has set a goal of raising 750,000 pounds of food for Georgia’s regional food banks.She reported that a reception was held at the State Bar Building honoring Judge Carla Wong McMillian’sappointment to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The reception was co-sponsored by the Georgia AsianPacific American Bar Association.President Clark announced the formation of a Suicide Prevention and Awareness Committee that will beworking on new ideas to make State Bar members, their colleagues, family and friends more aware of therisk of suicide and the resources available to help prevent it. A video on suicide prevention is also beingproduced for the Bar’s web site, to be shown at CLE’s, and to provide to local bar associations to increaseawareness among the legal community and to provide information on what to do to help. Following thatshe shared a portion of the video that is being produced and asked the Board members to thank JavoyneHicks White for her participation in the video.ABA Presentation29