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In
the summer issue of The Arkansas Lawyer this
space was used to deliver a sort of State of the Bar
Association message. Much has transpired in the short
time since that issue. We shall thus update.
At an historic meeting
held December 12, the membership of the Arkansas Bar
Foundation voted to authorize the sale of part or
all of the Bar Center Building upon terms agreeable
to the Foundation's board of directors. This was not
an easy decision, but it was the right decision. The
empty space within that beloved building exceeds,
by far, the needs of the Association and Foundation.
Except for our own offices, the building is vacant
and essentially unrentable. The entire structure is
desperately in need of very costly renovation. Meanwhile
its minimum utilities, insurance and upkeep alone
will exceed $100,000 per year. Of course there is
no more rent from the now expired thirty-year lease
with the U.A.L.R. Law School and Pulaski County Law
Library.
At this writing we are
negotiating the terms of sale. We do not yet know
whether those terms will involve the Foundation continuing
to own a portion of the building or whether it will
sell the entire structure. With the former option
we will remain in the building and remodel the portion
which we would own and occupy. In the latter case,
we will remain in the building as a tenant for at
least thirty months while we plan for a new home elsewhere.
Either scenario will ultimately involve a capital
funds drive. I am confident that drive will succeed
in raising enough money to provide the Association
and Foundation with a top quality Bar Center for many
years to come.
As we observed in the
summer Lawyer, a side effect of the termination
of the Law School lease was the simultaneous termination
of the Association's own long-term lease for space
within the Bar Center. With the expiration of that
lease, the Association's office occupancy expense
was in for a drastic increase. That occupancy expense
increase comes at a time when we have also experienced
increases in the cost of virtually every thing else
on the expense side of our budget.
We spent the second
half of 2003 examining our budget on both income and
expense side. We did find ways to save. For example,
we will spend $20,000 less by publishing our membership
directory on-line over the Association's web site
than we spent on the paper book. At the same time,
the new directory is easier to use and always up to
date. But, at the end of the day, we were still looking
at severe deficits which, over just a short time,
would consume the Association's hard-saved reserves.
A dues increase is the only responsible alternative.
The Association has
not increased dues in over a decade. It must do so
now to remain financially viable. A special task force
of Association leaders chaired by Board of Governors
Chair Price Marshall thus formulated a proposal for
an increase of every dues paying category of membership.
That proposal was unanimously endorsed by resolution
of the whole Board of Governors and will have been
voted upon by the House of Delegates at the January
Mid-Year meeting.
Life is full of hard
decisions and 2003 was fuller than most years. Still,
I am happy that we have made those tough choices,
because I know that we are ensuring a future which
otherwise would be much in doubt. I trust that you,
the membership, will support them as well.
Now, here is a piece
of good news. Arkansas VersusLaw is getting even better.
The database of Arkansas Attorney General's opinions
is complete. Also included now are the Arkansas Model
Civil Jury Instructions. The Law Reviews from both
of our law schools are coming on soon, as are United
District Court cases from the entire nation extending
back about fifty years.
Even more exciting is
an option coming this spring. Those members who need
to research federal statutes and regulations will
be able to subscribe to an annotated version of United
States Code and the entire Code of Federal Regulations
through Arkansas VersusLaw for a mere $20 per month.
Both of these products
will be among the most current and comprehensive products
available on the Internet. The USC, for example, is
up to one year more current than the Code that is
provided on the US Government web site, and we are
promised that it will be months more current than
the US Code products provided by other online legal
research companies. The CFR is 24 hours current (if
it was in the Federal Register yesterday, it will
be in the online product today). Moreover, the version
of CFR provided by Arkansas VersusLaw will be very
user-friendly, providing several ways in which to
search the material.
The USC/CFR add-on service
will be totally optional. If you need to do federal
statutory and/or regulatory research, subscribe to
it. If you do no practice in those areas, do not subscribe.
We will use the honor system. (Lawyers are the most
honorable people I know.) All of the rest of Arkansas
VersusLaw is, and will remain, a free member benefit.
It has been a busy year
and it is barely half done. Please stay tuned for
the next chapter.•
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