In addition to holding its 4th Tuesday monthly meetings at BASF’s offices and staffing the BASF Legal Ethics Hotline, the active members of BASF’s Legal Ethics Committee have: regularly contributed to this Ethics Corner; jointly authored formal ethics opinions with publication approval of the BASF Board of Directors (available on the BASF website); composed and co-authored comments to the State Bar of California’s Rules Revision Commission; and requested publication of relevant unpublished opinions.

The Legal Ethics Committee is currently working on comments concerning proposed amendments to the State Bar of California’s Rules of Procedure, and it is actively following and evaluating the proposals of the California Law Revision Commission concerning changes in California law on mediation confidentiality after Cassel. The Committee also contributed to BASF’s formal position on the State Bar of California’s proposal (now a firm State Bar decision) to reduce the California bar exam from three days to only two. Recently, the Legal Ethics Committee co-sponsored a timely presentation entitled Ethics in Negotiations and Mediation given by one of its active members.

BASF Legal Ethics Committee members come from all areas of practice with a range of experience from brand new to veteran lawyers with 30 and sometimes over 40 years of practice. Sadly, 2015 was also a transitional year for us having lost one of our well respected and admired active members, Paul Vapnek. (See March 5, 2015 – Legal Ethics, News From the Bar.)

It has been my honor, and a fantastic and fun learning experience, to have served as the Committee’s Vice Chair (2012 – 2013) and its Chair (2014 – 2015). I am proud to call all my Committee colleagues my friends.

It is my pleasure to let you know that the new Committee officers for 2016 are: Chair Sarah Banola, Cooper White & Cooper; Vice Chair Kendra Basner, Hinshaw & Culbertson; and Secretary John Mounier, Elder Protection Attorneys. I look forward to being a member at large under their able leadership. Come join us in 2016!

About the author:

David A. Wolf is a Bay Area attorney who focuses on labor, employment, business and education law.  He is the immediate past chair of BASF’s Legal Ethics Committee.