While a voluntary conference can take positions on policy issues while respecting the values, judgments and opinions of all the members of the bar, it also can work with the bar legislation which impacts the practice of law. The self-funded sections should also continue to have a close relationship with the mandatory State Bar. The legislature and the courts have recognized that the purpose of the State Bar must be to regulate the profession and improve the quality and availability of legal services. This task cannot be accomplished without input from these sections which have expertise in the different subject areas which affect the legal profession and the practice of law. Most fundamentally, the bar should listen to the voices of its constituents.
Dues are simply too high.
The profession should become more affordable not only for the solo practitioner and new attorney, but for all lawyers. We should also transfer the State Bar Court to the Supreme Court. To avoid any appearance of conflict, the State Bar Court should be totally independent from the rest of the State Bar. The bar seeks to protect the public with a strong, fair and even-handed discipline system which is mostly successful but does need improvement. The discipline system of the future must focus on the most serious cases.