Minnesota State Bar Association

Governance Committee of the Assembly
November 16, 2004

The Governance Committee of the Assembly met on Tuesday, November 16, 2004.  The following members participated:

Dan O’Connell, Chair
Steve Cahill
Phil Duran
Bob Enger
Charles Fitzgerald
Mike Ford
Dean Jon Garon
Tim Kuntz
Dan McDonald
Sarah Oquist
James Rogers
Brad Thorsen

Also in attendance was Tim Groshens, MSBA Staff.

Future Meetings
The Chair announced that future meetings for the Committee were scheduled from Noon until 2:00 p.m. on March 30 and June 1.  The meetings will be canceled if there is insufficient business for the Committee to conduct.

Minutes
The minutes of the September 17 meeting were approved as submitted.

O’Connell Report on the Audit Functions
Dan O’Connell presented the report on the audit functions which was previously distributed to the Committee.  Upon motion duly made, seconded, and adopted, the Committee recommended that the Assembly assign the audit functions identified by the MSBA Auditors to the Operations Committee.  The Committee agreed that it was not advisable to amend the MSBA Bylaws at this time but that this area should be monitored and reviewed at a later date. 

McDonald Nelson Report on LawPAC
Dan McDonald presented the report on the election of LawPAC Trustees which was previously distributed to the Committee.  After discussion of the report and upon motion duly made, seconded, and adopted, the Committee recommended that the LawPAC Constitution be amended to identify the Assembly as the body responsible for electing Trustees (those Trustees holding office by election) and the other portions of the Constitution referring to the Executive Committee or Board of Governors also be amended to reflect changes in the MSBA structure and that the MSBA Bylaws be amended by the Assembly by revising Section 4.1(e) 7 to read,  “(7) Elect replace and remove as required under the Constitution of the Lawyers Public Affairs Commission as amended.”

Kuntz Cahill Report on Alternates and Assembly Committees
Tim Kuntz presented the report on the ability of Alternates to Assembly Members to serve on Assembly Committees which was previously distributed to the Committee.  The report concluded that all of the President’s appointments to Assembly Committees require Assembly approval; all Assembly members and Alternates are eligible to serve on Assembly Committees; and only Assembly members are entitled to appointment to an Assembly Committee.  The report also concluded that Alternates could not substitute for an Assembly member on an Assembly Committee.  After discussion and upon motion duly made and seconded the Committee recommendations that the Assembly adopt these recommendations.

Ford Onkka on Term Limits
This matter was tabled until a future meeting.

Section Bylaws
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Committee recommended the Assembly authorize any MSBA Section to amend its Bylaws to change any reference from “Board of Governors” or “Executive Committee” to “Assembly” or “Council.”

Section Dues
Upon a request from the Animal Law Section and a motion duly made and seconded, the Committee recommended the Assembly authorize the Animal Law Section to change its dues structure to allow law students to join the Section without charge and charging new admittees $10.

Other Matters
The Committee discussed the process for Committee recommendations to the Assembly.  Section 4.9.3 states that Assembly Committee recommendations will be placed on the consent agenda and enacted without discussion unless a representative asks to remove the item from the consent agenda.  The Governance Committee agreed to recommend that other Assembly Committees identify those recommendations that merit placement on the action calendar so that all members of the Assembly can be given as much notice as possible of the action calendar.

The Governance Committee briefly discussed Section 7.3 relating to selection of representatives from minority bar associations to the Council.  The Committee agreed to continue to monitor this item.

Adjournment
There being no further business the meeting was duly adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Tim Groshens
MSBA Staff