At Friday's Board of Bar Commissioners Meeting, Commissioners voted to hire Ellen Brooks as Interim Executive Director of the Alabama State Bar. Brooks will begin in January and will remain on board until June, or until our new Executive Director is named. Brooks is a former Montgomery County District Attorney, who served as DA from 1993 until 2014. Brooks began working in the District Attorney’s Office for Alabama’s Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in 1977 and served as chief deputy district attorney beginning in 1983. She also served for a year as a deputy attorney general. Brooks has extensive experience as a volunteer working with her church and not-for-profits, including cofounding the One Place Family Justice Center. “I was not looking to return to work, but the opportunity to serve my colleagues across the state drew me out of retirement. My focus will be on enabling the staff to assist all the lawyers of Alabama with excellence. I am excited to join the team and welcome your input.” Brooks plans to retire after her interim service and is not applying for the permanent position.
The Alabama State Bar has retained Birmingham-based OnBoard Search to handle the administrative work of the search process. This staffing agency, which specializes in attorney recruitment, will post the job this month on a nationwide scale and will then receive and prepare resumes to send to the Executive Director Search Task Force.
ASB President Bob Methvin*
David Boyd
Lanier Brown
Judge Liles Burke
Judge John Carroll
Sam Crosby
Christy Crow
Angela Debro
Diandra S. Debrosse
Lang Floyd
Ralph Holt
Carmen Howell
Judge Claude Hundley
Judge Adrian Johnson
Anthony Joseph
Judge Jeff Kelley
Lori Lein
Rebekah McKinney
Phillip Mitchell
Tom Perry
Clay Ryan
Taze Shepard
Terri Tompkins
Hal Turner
Michael Upchurch
Gibson Vance
*non-voting member, only votes in case of tie.
After screening and interviewing candidates, the Task Force hopes to present up to three names to Board of Bar Commissioners for vote by the May BBC Meeting, with hopes of having the new Executive Director in place by June or July. Make sure you read the Scoop in the coming weeks and months for more information on the executive director search.
If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please contact President Bob Methvin.
Mobile Bar Association Announces 2021 Slate of Officers
During the November Membership Luncheon, the 2021 Slate of Officers were presented by the Nominations Committee Chair Mark A. Newell. They were voted on and approved by the Mobile Bar Association members present. They will take office on Jan. 1, 2021. They are:
President - Charles J. (Charlie) Potts of Briskman & Binion, P.C. President-Elect - D. Brian Murphy of Braswell, Murphy & Grubb, LLC Vice President - Forrest Latta of Burr & Forman, L.L.P. Secretary - Weathers Bolt of Starnes Davis Florie LLP Treasurer - James Alexander (Alex) Steadman of McDowell Knight Roedder & Sledge, L.L.C. Assistant Treasurer - Suntrease Maynard-Williams of Adams and Reese LLP
Reappointment of Bankruptcy Administrator J. Thomas Corbett, Northern District of Alabama
The current five-year term of J. Thomas Corbett, United States Bankruptcy Administrator for the Northern District of Alabama, expires Dec. 4, 2021. As authorized under the Regulations of the Judicial Conference of the United States Governing the Bankruptcy Administrator Program, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is considering whether Mr. Corbett should be reappointed to a new five-year term. Read the full public notice here.
Birmingham Bar to Host Virtual Annual Membership Meeting
This year, the Birmingham Bar Association will host its Annual Membership Meeting this Friday, December 11, at 12:00 in a virtual format. Tune into the virtual meeting to hear highlights from President Andrew Nix about the 2020 year; get updates from affiliated groups like the Birmingham Bar Foundation, the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham and Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham; learn who won the BBA’s Public Service Award and Lifetime Achievement Award; hear the results of the
BBA’s Executive Committee election; and get a glimpse of what Incoming President Lanier Brown has planned for 2021. The link to join the Annual Meeting will be available soon. Click here to check for updates.
Appellate Court Information
Click here to view the Alabama Supreme Court decisions and opinions from Dec. 4
Click here to view the Criminal Appeals decisions and opinions from Dec. 4
Click here to view the Civil Appeals decisions and opinions from Dec. 4
Succession planning is essential to every lawyer’s practice, proactively protecting clients and colleagues in the event of the lawyer’s disability or death.
The most powerful and flexible way to search for cases in Fastcase is to perform a keyword search using Boolean operators. Learn more here.
Free On-Demand CLE Courses
Don't forget, we have more than a dozen free, on-demand courses available at https://alabar.prolearn.io. Find step-by-step instructions for the platform here.
University of Alabama Mock Trial Judges Needed
The University of Alabama is hosting the 5th Annual Crimson Classic Mock Trial Tournament Jan. 16-17 and is in need of judges! If you are interested complete this interest form or email questions here. Thank you to all volunteers for your time and support!
Alabama State Bar Seeks
VLP Intake Specialist
As a member of the Volunteer Lawyer Program team, the majority of the Intake Specialist's job will be interviewing clients and identifying potential legal issues. View a full position description here.
IN MEMORIUM: Deceased Attorneys
Emmett Franklin Hildreth, Jr.
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Died: Dec. 11, 2019
Admitted: Aug. 29, 1963
William Howell Rogers, Sr.
Moulton
Died: Mar. 25, 2020
Admitted: Jan. 1, 1962
Alabama State Bar
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