Minnesota State Bar Association

By: Jay M. Heffern, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section
Judge Diane Alshouse, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section

Continuing Legal Education: During the past twelve months the Public Law Section sponsored the following continuing legal education courses for a total of more than 9 CLE credits:

o "Strategies to Address Livability Crimes," co-sponsored with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office, October 14, 2005 - 3 CLE credits

o "Police Pursuit Issues," co-sponsored with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office,
November 19, 2005 - 1.5 CLE credits

o "Overview of Affordable Housing Issues, Financing Affordable Housing with Low Income Credits, and Municipal Use of Tax Increment Financing for Affordable Housing," May 19, 2005 - 3 CLE credits (pending)

o "Lost in Translation: Interpreters in Minnesota Courts," co-sponsored with the Criminal Law Section,
June 22, 2006 - 1.5 Elimination of Bias credits (pending)

Public Law Section News: The Section continues to publish and send its members the Public Law News, the section's newsletter. The newsletter has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and has been noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Regular features include profiles of public law offices and public lawyers, discussion of current legal issues and recent court decisions, data practices opinion indices, and notices of upcoming CLE's of interest to public lawyers. The Public Law Section distributes the newsletter to most of its members by e-mail.

Community and Public Service: The Section continued its active involvement in the community through public service this past year. The Section coordinated a day of work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Section members and friends cooked and served meals every other month throughout the year for over fifteen hundred people through the Loaves and Fishes program. The Section contributed to the LRAP Program, which provides assistance with the repayment of student loans. The Section "adopted" twenty families for holiday gift giving last year.

Section Committees: Seven committees of the Section continued to perform the essential planning and implementation work that enables the Section to operate. The Committees include the Newsletter Committee, the Awards Committee, the Community / Public Service Committee, Data Practices Committee, the Local Government Committee, Membership Committee, and Pro Bono Legal Services Committee. The Committees offer an opportunity for Section members to become actively involved in the work of the Section. Please contact one of the Public Law Section Co-Chairs if you would like to become involved in the work of any of the committees.

This past year the Section has placed specific emphasis on pro bono activities. The Pro Bono Legal Services Committee reviewed the Minnesota State Bar Association's pro bono policy and will be making suggested changes to encourage greater involvement by attorneys in public law departments and government agencies. In addition, the Committee is planning a fall CLE which will focus on providing pro bono services to seniors.

Recognition Awards of Public Attorneys: For the eleventh year in a row, the Public Law Section presented awards recognizing outstanding public attorneys and judges. The following awards were presented at the May 2006 Section CLE and Annual Meeting:

Douglas K. Amdahl Public Attorney Career Achievement Award:
Alan R. Mitchell, Assistant Attorney General (Retired), Minnesota Attorney General's Office
James F. Lammers, City Attorney, Woodbury, Minnesota

Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence:
The Honorable Ann Montgomery, Judge, Federal District Court of Minnesota

The Julius E. Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence:
Cary William Schmies, Assistant City Attorney, Duluth, Minnesota

The William E. McGee Public Defender Award of Excellence:
Daniel M. Scott, (former) Federal Public Defender of Minnesota

The Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Law Office-Civil Law:
Douglas J. Gregor, Assistant Attorney General, Minnesota Attorney General's Office

The Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Government Agency:
Dennis Wade Erickson, Assistant Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services

Pro Bono Award of Excellence
Kenneth Kohnstamm, Assistant Attorney General, Minnesota Attorney General's Office

Law Students: The Public Law Section continued to work on its goal of developing relationships with law students and the local law schools. We continued to have two student representatives to the Council over the past year. They attended meetings, participated in Section activities, and provided new ideas and perspectives. Additionally, members of the Public Law Section attended receptions held at the local law schools to provide law students the opportunity to learn about the exciting work being done in public law.

By: Dianne Ward, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section
Jay M. Heffern, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section

Continuing Legal Education: During the past twelve months the Public Law Section sponsored the following continuing legal education courses for a total of more than 19 CLE credits:

*"DWI Practice Tips, Hot Topics and New Laws", co-sponsored with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office, September 10, 2004 - 3 CLE credits
* "Selected Public Employment Topics", co-sponsored with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office,
November 9, 2004 - 3 CLE credits
* "Tight Times - Remembering Why You are There", co sponsored with the Life and the Law
Committee of the MSBA, March 2, 2005 - 1 CLE credit
* "Preparing for an Administrative Hearing", co-sponsored with the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, April 13, 2005 - 1.5 CLE credits
* "Data Practices for Public Lawyers" and "Working with Interpreters", May 13, 2005 - 4.5 CLE credits (1.5 Elimination of Bias credits)
* "Legislative Update on Data Practices Act", June 16, 2005 - 1.5 CLE credits
*Minnesota Association of City Attorneys "Legislative Update and Minnesota Court Interpreter Program", June 22, 2005 - 4.5 CLE credits (2.0 Elimination of Bias credits)

Section Survey: The Section surveyed its members to better understand how to improve service to our membership. Ninety-four members responded. The survey will help guide the work of the Section in 2005-2006.

Community and Public Service: The Section continued its active involvement in the community through public service this past year. The Section coordinated a day of work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Section members and friends cooked and served meals every other month throughout the year through the Loaves and Fishes program. The Section contributed to the LRAP Program, which provides assistance with the repayment of student loans. The Section again "adopted" families for holiday gift giving last year.

Recognition Awards of Public Attorneys: For the tenth year in a row, the Public Law Section presented awards recognizing outstanding public attorneys and judges. The following awards were presented at the May 2005 Section CLE and annual meeting:

Douglas K. Amdahl Public Attorney Career Achievement Award:
Philip J. Olfelt, Retired, Minnesota Office of the Attorney General

Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence:
The Honorable Allan W. Klein, ALJ, Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings
(retired May 4, 2005)

The Julius E. Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence:
Stephen L. Redding, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney

The William E. McGee Public Defender Award of Excellence:
Bradford W. Colbert, Minnesota Public Defender's Office and Legal Aid to Minnesota Prisoners Clinic at William Mitchell College of Law

The Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Law Office-Civil Law:
Joan D. Humes, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office - District of MN

The Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Government Agency:
Gail M. Olson, General Counsel, Minnesota State Colleges and University System

By: James S. Alexander, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section
Dianne Ward, Co-Chair of the Public Law Section

Continuing Legal Education: During the past twelve months the Public Law Section sponsored the following continuing legal education courses for a total of more than 22 CLE credits:

Public Law Section News: The Section continues to publish and send its members the Public Law News, the quarterly section newsletter. The newsletter has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and has been noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Regular features include profiles of public law offices and public lawyers, discussion of current legal issues and recent court decisions, data practices opinion indices, and notices of upcoming CLE’s of interest to public lawyers. The Public Law Section distributes the newsletter to most of its members by e-mail.

Community and Public Service: The Section continued its active involvement in the community through public service this past year. The Section coordinated a day of work on a Habitat For Humanity project. Section members and friends cooked and served meals every other month throughout the year through the Loaves and Fishes program. The Section contributed to the LRAP Program, which provides assistance with the repayment of student loans. The Section again “adopted” families for holiday gift giving last year.

Section Committees: Six Committees of the Section continued to perform the essential planning and implementation work that enables the Section to operate. The Committees include the Newsletter Committee, the Awards Committee, the Community / Public Service Committee, the Data Practices Committee, the Local Government Committee and the Membership Committee. The Committees offer an opportunity for Section members to become actively involved in the work of the Section. Please contact one of the Public Law Section Co-Chairs or Committee Chairs if you would like to become involved in the work of any of the committees.

Recognition Awards of Public Attorneys: For the ninth year in a row, the Public Law Section presented awards recognizing outstanding public attorneys and judges. The following awards were presented at the May 2004 Section CLE and annual meeting:

Law Students: The Public Law Section continued to work on its goal of developing relationships with law students and the local law schools. We continued to have two student representatives to the Council over the past year. Our 3L member was from the University of Minnesota Law School, and our 2L member was from William Mitchell College of Law. They attended meetings, participated in Section activities, and provided new ideas and perspectives. Our 3L member did a substantial amount of work preparing a draft of a model pro bono policy for public law offices. Additionally, members of the Public Law Section attended receptions held at the local law schools to provide law students the opportunity to learn about the exciting work being done in public law.

By Mary Miller, Co-Chair of the MSBA Public Law Section
Jim Alexander, Co-Chair of the MSBA Public Law Section

Continuing Legal Education: During the past twelve months the Public Law Section sponsored the following continuing legal education courses for a total of 22.75 CLE credits:

Public Law Section News: The section continues to publish and send its members Public Law News, the quarterly section newsletter. The newsletter has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and has been noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Regular features of the newsletter include profiles of public law offices and public lawyers, discussions of current legal issues and recent court decisions, data practices opinion indices, and notices of upcoming CLEs of interest to public lawyers. The Public Law Section distributes the newsletter to most of its members by e-mail.

Community and Public Service: The Section continued its active involvement in the community through public service this past year. The Section coordinated three days of work at the MSBA Habitat for Humanity site in St. Paul. Section members and friends provided meals, including the cooking and serving, every other month throughout the year, through the Loaves And Fishes Program at the Holy Rosary Church site in Minneapolis. The Section contributed in several ways to the LRAP Program of funding (through student loan repayment assistance) for new lawyers entering or remaining in positions serving the legal needs of low-income and other disadvantaged individuals. The Section again "adopted" families for holiday gift-giving last holiday season.

Section Committees: Eight Committees of the Section continued to perform the essential planning and implementation work that enables the Section to operate. The Committees include the Newsletter Committee, the Membership Committee, the Local Government Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Data Practices Committee, the Awards Committee, the Nominating Committee, and Community/Public Service. The roles and responsibilities of the various committees and their chairs were developed and refined this past year. The Committees offer an opportunity for new Section members to become actively involved in the work of the Section. If you would like to join us in our work, contact one of the committee chairs listed above to discuss areas that interest you.

Recognition Awards of Public Attorneys: For the eighth year in a row, the Public Law Section presented awards recognizing outstanding public attorneys and judges. This year the Public Defender Award of Excellence was named after former Public Defender William E. McGee in recognition of his distinguished career in public service. The following awards were presented at the May , 2003 Section annual meeting:

Law Students: The Public Law Section Executive Council continued the goal of creating a closer relationship with law students. We continued with two students added to the Council over the past year. Our 2L member from Hamline Law School returned as a 3L and we invited a 2L from the University of Minnesota Law School to join us. They attended meetings, participated in section activities, and brought us a wealth of new ideas and suggestions. Additionally, members of the Public Law Section Council attended each of four receptions held at the law schools for law students providing students and others the opportunity to get to know each other and learn about the work being done in public law.

The Public Law Section actively promoted the public practice of law in many ways over the past year. These activities represent the wide diversity of interests present within the section membership. Following are highlights of the 2001-02 year.

Community and Public Service: This was an especially busy year for the section in the area of community and public service. The section sponsored and coordinated a week of work at the MSBA Habitat for Humanity site in Minneapolis. Section members provided meals through Loaves and Fishes at Holy Rosary Church. The Public Law Section also sponsored children's clothing drive at the MSBA convention in Duluth. The Section made a financial contribution to the National High School Mock Trial Championship and many members served as judges or in other roles during Minnesota competition. Through Catholic Charities, the section "adopted" ten families for holiday gifts this year. Recognizing that one of the primary goals of the section was public service, the Executive Council created a new Community and Public Service Committee chaired by Nancy McLean.

Continuing Legal Education: During the past twelve months the Public Law Section sponsored the following continuing legal education courses for a total of 15.5 CLE credits:

Annual public attorney recognition awards: For the seventh year the Public Law Section presented awards recognizing outstanding public attorneys and judges. Additionally, the Career Achievement Award was named after former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl in recognition of his distinguished career as an Assistant County Attorney, Judge and Supreme Court Justice. The following awards were presented at the May 22, 2002, CLE and section annual meeting:

Rosalie Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence
Judge Renee L. Worke, Third Judicial District

Douglas Amdahl Public Attorney Career Achievement Award
Retired Judge Gary L. Crippen, Court of Appeals
LeRoy Jackson, Retired Senior Assistant Hennepin County Attorney
Retired Judge Kenneth J. Maas, Tenth Judicial District

Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Defender
Ronald Greeley, Tenth Judicial District Public Defender's Office

Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Law Office Counsel Category
David Orenstein, Bloomington City Attorney

Julius Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence
Al Zdrazil, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney

The Executive Council also nominated Nancy McLean, Community and Public Service Committee Chair for the MSBA David Graven Public Service Award. Her commitment to public service was recognized when she received this prestigious award at the MSBA Board of Governors meeting on April 20.

Membership: This past year the Executive Council focused on increasing the membership of the PLS section. Joining the efforts of MSBA President Jarvis Jones, the Executive Council set a goal for the year of increasing section membership by at least 10%. By the end of June 2002, membership in the Public Law Section increased by 87 new members - up 11% in one year. Many new members joined as a result of incentives such as free section membership for attending a section sponsored CLE. Executive Council Member Harriet Sims serves on the MSBA Membership Committee working with other members to increase the overall membership of the MSBA.

Newsletter: The section continues to publish and send its members Public Law News, the quarterly section newsletter. The newsletter has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and has been noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Regular features of the newsletter include profiles of public law offices and public lawyers, discussions of current legal issues and recent court decisions, data practices opinion indices, and notices of upcoming CLEs of interest to public lawyers. The Public Law Section distributes the newsletter to most of its members as an attachment to an e-mail. If you are not now receiving your newsletter electronically, consider switching from snail mail to e-mail. Contact the MSBA office to change.

Law Students: A year ago the Public Law Section Executive Council established a goal of creating a closer relationship with law students. The Executive Council created two spots on the Council for student members/ liaisons. Two students, Kirsten Libby (a second year Hamline law student) and Tammy Shefelbine (third year Hamline law student and 2003 candidate for M.A. in Public Administration) joined the Council during the year. They attend meetings and participate in section activities, such as the newsletter. Additionally, two CLEs were held at law schools this year, allowing law students an easy opportunity to attend. The April 10 CLE on Legislative Changes in Human Services Licensing was held at William Mitchell College of Law. And the Tenants' Remedies Act CLE on April 15 was held at Hamline University School of Law. Planning for the coming year includes holding additional CLEs at Twin City area law schools.

Tom Frost and Mary Miller,
2001-02 Co-Chairs

The Public Law Section proposed and implemented numerous activities affecting public law practitioners. The following are highlights of the 1998-1999 year:

Section Newsletter. The section continues to send its members Public Law News, the 24-32-page quarterly newsletter. Public Law News has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and is noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Not only has Public Law News been a valuable source of public law information, it has become a valuable networking and unifying tool for the section.

Elimination of Bias. Elimination of sex and race bias in the profession and in the judicial system continues to be an important goal of the Public Law Section. The section continues to take advantage of opportunities to participate in activities showing our commitment to this goal. We participated in the Twin Cities Minority Recruitment Conference where we encouraged students to also consider employment in public law offices. We continued our successful Resume Exchange Program in public law offices. On July 26, 1999 we cosponsored a continuing legal education seminar at the MSBA convention with the National Asian Pacific Bar Association, Hispanic Bar Association and the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (over 50 attendees, 2.75 Elimination of Bias Credits)

Public Practice Focused Continuing Legal Education. In addition to the Elimination of Bias CLE mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the Public Law Section sponsored two low-cost public practice-focused continuing legal education programs. Those two programs were the half-day "Minnesota Administrative Law Practice" on March 16, 1999 (3 credits cosponsored with the Environmental Law Section); and the full-day "The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Government Lawyer: Sorting Out the Mess" on May 21, 1999 (127 attendees, 6 credits; 3 ethics credits). Additionally, the Public Law Section is planning a CLE focused on the recent law changes to the Government Data Practices Act to be presented at the MSBA convention July 2, 1999 (3 credits applied for). We are also in the midst of planning a September, 1999 Law and the Literature CLE cosponsored with the Human Rights Section. This CLE will focus on gender fairness and the elimination of bias.

Public Attorney Recognition Efforts. An important ongoing function of the Public Law Section is recognizing the dedication and commitment of public lawyers. The section continued the Public Attorney Recognition Awards, celebrating who we are and our contributions to the practice of law.

These awards are intended to recognize outstanding attorneys engaged in public practice and to increase public awareness of their work. The awards were presented in a ceremony on May 21, 1999 to The Hon. A.M. "Sandy" Keith, former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, The Honorable Ester M. Tomljanovich, former Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court and James N. Bradford, former Assistant Attorney General (Career Achievement Awards); James C. Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney’s Office (Julius E. Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence), Manley Zimmerman, Hennepin County Assistant Public Defender (Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Defender Category), Ann Russell, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney ( Public Attorney Award of Excellence: In-house Agency Counsel Category), William P. Donohue, Deputy General Counsel, University of Minnesota (Public Attorney Award of Excellence: Public Law Office Counsel Category), and the Honorable Leslie May Metzen, Chief Judge, First Judicial District, Dakota County (Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence).

Outreach to Other Public Lawyer Organizations. In May three members of the Public Law Section attended the American Bar Association’s Government and Public Sector Lawyer’s Division Spring 1999 meeting held in Key West, Florida. The theme of this meeting was to discuss professionalism and ethics issues unique to public lawyers.

Allen Giles, secretary of the Public Law Section, Executive Council represents the Public Law Section on the Government and Public Sector Lawyer’s Division of the ABA.

Notices of CLE opportunities sponsored by other state, federal and county associations are published in the Public Law News.

Pro Bono Efforts. The Public Law Section voted to support the recommendation of the MSBA Legal Assistance to the Disadvantaged to require all attorneys to report the amount of pro bono services and financial contributions as part of their annual license renewal.

The section recruited attorneys and others to work on Habitat for Humanity projects on October 8 and 9, 1998 and June 11, 1999.

Membership. Executive Council co-chair Harriet Sims represents the Public Law Section on the MSBA Membership Committee. She worked with the Membership Committee to 1. Increase the involvement of public lawyers in the MSBA; 2. Reverse drops in membership; 3. Propose ways in which the MSBA can enhance its value to public lawyers and 4. Identify the unique needs of public lawyers. The public Law Section supported the Membership Committee’s efforts to increase and enhance section membership through offering one free section to new bar association members. The section also led a task force to study the administrative fee and proposed that it be eliminated. While the fee was not eliminated, the Board of Governors voted not to increase the administrative fee from $2 to $3 for FY 2000. The Public Law Section will continue to address this issue during the Bar Association’s three-year budgeting process.

Other Activities. Margaret Westin, member of the Executive Counsel, was nominated to the Minnesota Client Security Board at the April meeting of the MSBA Board of Governors. If elected, she will succeed Kim Buechel-Mesun whose term ends June 30, 1999.

The Public Law Section proposed and implemented numerous activities affecting public law practitioners. The following are highlights of the 1996-1997 year:

Section Newsletter
The section continues to send its members Public Law News, the 24-28 page newsletter of the section published quarterly. Public Law News has been cited locally and nationally for its quality and content and is noted as an example of a successful bar association newsletter. Not only has Public Law News been a valuable source of public law information, it has become a valuable networking and unifying tool for the section.

Elimination of Bias
Elimination of sex and race bias in the profession and in the justice system continues to be an important goal of the Public Law Section (as recommended by the Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force Report and the Hennepin County Bar Association Glass Ceiling Report). The section continues to take advantage of opportunities to participate in activities showing our commitment to this goal. We participated in the Twin Cities Minority Recruitment Conference where we encouraged students to also consider employment in public law offices. We continued our successful Resume Exchange Program in public law offices. We counted at least three new hires at public law offices in part as a result of our Resume Exchange Program. This year we joined with the Minnesota County Attorneys Association in a pilot law clerk project to encourage employment diversity in county attorney law offices, especially in outstate Minnesota.

Public Practiced-Focused Continuing Legal Education
The Public Law Section sponsored two low-cost public-practice-focused continuing legal education programs. Those two programs were the full-day "Officials Under Fire: Litigation and Liability in the Public Sector" (November 6, 1996 - 150 attendees); and the half-day "Ethics for Public Lawyers" (June 20, 1997 - 110 attendees). Additionally, the Public Law Section Local Government Committee sponsored three lunch-time CLEs: "Discretionary and Official Immunity Update" (April 2, 1997); "Intergovernmental Agreements" (June 11,1997) and "Stump the Panel" (July 16, 1997). The average attendance at these CLEs was 40-50 people. The Local Government Committee has two additional CLEs planned for November 1997 and January 1998 on the topics of Telecommunications and Wetlands Regulation. The Public Law Section Data Practices Committee is working on a three-credit CLE for October 29, 1997.
The Public Law Section sponsored a proposal presented to the MSBA's Board of Governors to change MSBA policy#2 which restricted the section/committee sponsorship of CLEs over 1.5 credits. As a result of the section's efforts, MSBA policy#2 was changed to give more flexibility to MSBA sections/committees sponsoring CLE programs and to encourage Minnesota CLE to accept more input from the MSBA sections/committees on CLE development and implementation.

Public Attorney Recognition Efforts
An important ongoing function of the Public Law Section is recognizing the dedication and commitment of public lawyers. The section continued the Public Attorney Recognition Awards, celebrating who we are and our contributions to the practice of law. These awards are intended to recognize outstanding attorneys engaged in public practice and to increase public awareness of their work. This year the Public Attorney Award of Excellence for county attorneys was named for the late Julius E. Gernes. The Public Law Section also created a new award, the Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence. The awards were presented in a ceremony during the 1996 MSBA convention to Rosalie Wahl, Bill Kennedy and Stanley Peskar (Career Achievement Awards); John Speakman (Julius E. Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence), Candace Rasmussen (Public Attorney Award of Excellence for a Public Defender), Julie Brunner ( Public Attorney Award of Excellence for In-house Agency Counsel), Richard Slowes (Public Attorney Award of Excellence for Public Law Office Attorney), and the Honorable George Hoey (Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence).

As part of its efforts to bring more recognition to the work of public attorneys, the Public Law Section nominated various public lawyers and law offices for local and national awards. The section is very pleased to note that two of its nominees for prestigious local and national awards were selected to receive those awards. The section nominated the Hennepin County Attorney's Office Domestic Abuse Project for the Hodson Award for Public Service, a highly coveted public-law-office award sponsored by the American Bar Association. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office will receive this award in August. The section also nominated Referee Karl Doss for the Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) Pro Bono Publico Award for his efforts in spearheading the creation of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office Community Liaison Program - Pilot Project. Referee Doss received the award in March. Finally, the section nominated Administrative Law Judges George Beck and Allan Klein for the HCBA Professionalism Award.

In October, the Public Law Section joined with the Minnesota County Attorneys Association to present a memorial ceremony for Julius E. Gernes in Winona, Minnesota. At that time, the Public Law Section announced the creation of the Julius E. Gernes Public Attorney Award of Excellence.

Outreach to Other Public Lawyer Organizations
In November, the section was represented at the Wisconsin Government Lawyers' Division Leadership Institute in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The purpose of the institute was to discuss ideas for organizing public lawyers, building networks, and integrating public lawyers into other sections of the bar association.

Various members of the Public Law Section Executive Council also serve as chairs, cochairs, and deputy chairs of a number of ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division committees.

In addition to the Julius E. Gernes memorial ceremony, the Public Law Section worked with the County Attorneys Association on a law clerk project to diversify county attorney offices.

The Public Law Section worked with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office on a full-day CLE entitled "Indian Law for State, County and Local Attorneys" presented on October 17, 1997.

Pro Bono Efforts
The Public Law Section, through its newsletter, highlighted the pro bono efforts of public lawyers this year, as well as publishing the pro bono policies of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Attorneys Office and the community services project of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

The section is looking into organizing section community services projects in the area of flood relief and in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity.

Membership
The section's public lawyer membership continues to grow. Membership in 1996-97 was 1237. The section cooperated with the MSBA Membership Committee in putting out a membership solicitation letter to all non-MSBA members who had attended Public Law Section-sponsored CLEs in the past two years. Public Law Section Executive Council member Harriet Sims is on the MSBA Membership Committee as a Public Law Section representative.