2009-10 Annual Report
WEST VIRGINIA BAR FOUNDATION
ANNUAL REPORT
JULY 1, 2009-JUNE 30, 2010
During the 2009-10 fiscal year, the West Virginia Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors spent extensive amounts of volunteer time and effort to guide the organization towards its goals of improving the administration of justice and the provision of legal services to West Virginia’s citizens. The Board, which consists of a diverse group of fifteen lawyers from all parts of the state and all types of law practice, concentrated on the following matters:
- Elected new members of the policy making Board of Directors and selected qualified Officers.
- Held the first meeting of the complete Board of Directors with the WV Supreme Court of Appeals Justices to provide facts and materials regarding the mission of the organization.
- Continued its commitment to providing grants to worthwhile entities with an increase in the total funding to almost $75,000 in just the past five fiscal years.
- Received and approved the Independent Auditors’ Report for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
- Increased the total IOLTA grants since the program’s inception in 1990 to almost $13.8 million. It may have been the most successful year in IOLTA history since WV was perhaps the only state that registered an increase in IOLTA revenue during this difficult economic period.
- Held quarterly Board of Directors meetings and received reports and recommendations from the IOLTA Advisory Committee which also convened quarterly meetings.
- Continued the tradition of selecting extraordinary judges and lawyers as Bar Foundation Fellows. Less than 275 of the approximately 5,000 members of the judiciary and lawyers in the state have received this prestigious honor.
- Continued to serve as the landlord for the two Bar Foundation facilities housing the Lawyer Disciplinary Board/Office of Lawyer Disciplinary Counsel and the WV State Bar.
- Improved the bi-monthly membership communications email message, the Bar Foundation Brief, to keep members up to date on the activities and the programs of the organization.
- Made enhancements to the ever changing Bar Foundation website—-www.wvbarfoundation.org—-with a significant amount of new information and photographs regarding the group’s services and activities.
- Made presentations regarding the Bar Foundation and the IOLTA program to more than 250 new lawyers as they were admitted to practice law before the WV Supreme Court.
Bar Brief-28
Alliance for Children Handbook
ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN HANDBOOK-
Recently, the WV Alliance for Children issued its Guardian Ad-Litem Handbook for Foster Parents with the financial support from several entities, including a grant from the WV Bar Foundation. This beneficial publication will be distributed to organizations which train foster care parents, to all Circuit Court Judges for their use as a resource with local attorneys and placed on websites of groups involved in foster care for WV’s children. The Alliance’s Executive Director, Scott Boileau, reports that the National Family-Based Foster Treatment Association wishes to utilize the handbook, so “Your dollars may extend further than our state border.” Three Bar Foundation Fellows served on the Handbook Review Committee-Family Court Judge Mary Ellen Griffith (Mercer County) Jane Moran (Mingo County) and Catherine Munster (Harrison County).
2009-10 ANNUAL REPORT-
The Annual Report for the Bar Foundation’s most recent fiscal year of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010 has been released. It includes the highlights of another successful year in working to improve the administration of justice and the provision of legal services to the State’s citizens. The achievements include increasing the total IOLTA grants to more than $13.8 million from 1990 to July 1, providing almost $75,000 in Bar Foundation grants in just the past five years,holding the first ever meeting with the WV Supreme Court of Appeals Justices and operation management in a fiscally prudent manner by the fifteen member Board of Directors. The complete Annual Report in on the website—wvbarfoundation.org—under Tinderbox.
2010-11 BAR FOUNDATION BUDGET-
The Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors, a diverse group of fifteen lawyers from all parts of the state and all types of law practice, continued its fiscally responsible actions by concluding the 2009-10 fiscal year in a slight positive position, even during these difficult economic times. For the current 2010-2011 fiscal year, the Board made numerous reductions in management and operations with the action by the Supreme Court to transfer IOLTA program administration to the State Bar, effective July 1, 2010, and the ongoing negotiations regarding the two Bar Foundation buildings in Charleston. Nevertheless, the budget is balanced and the necessary plans have been made for continuing activities in the upcoming months.
Bar Brief-27
An IOLTA special grant is awarded to Michele Bush, Executive Director of the WV CASA Association by Immediate Past President John Tinney.
IOLTA GRANTS-
The Bar Foundation presented its final round of grants to the seven legal services organizations listed in the WV Supreme Court Order at the end of June. More than $100,000 was distributed to bring the total IOLTA grants distributed since the program’s inception in 1990 to almost $13.8 million. In fact, the most recent year may be the most successful in IOLTA history since WV was one of a very small number of states, or perhaps the only state, that registered an increase in IOLTA revenue during this most difficult economic time. The implementation of the IOLTA Comparability Rule, by Order of the Supreme Court, was a major factor in this achievement. The administration of the IOLTA program was transferred to the State Bar, effective July 1, 2010.
BAR FOUNDATION MEETINGS-
The Bar Foundation Board of Directors, a diverse group of a member of the judiciary and fourteen lawyers from all parts of the state and all types of law practice, has been involved in several meetings and a multitude of electronic communications in the past month. As the policy making body, the Board has adopted financial and budgetary matters, administered the transfer of the IOLTA program to the State Bar, made governance decisions regarding the two buildings it owns-the State Bar Center and the Lawyer Disciplinary Board facilities- and interacted on numerous occasions with the Supreme Court, the Lawyer Disciplinary Board/Office of Lawyer Disciplinary Counsel and the State Bar. They are to be commended for their volunteer time and service on behalf of the Bar Foundation.
BAR FOUNDATION LEADERSHIP-
After serving either one term of three years or two terms of six years, five outstanding lawyers completed their commitment of energy and effort as members of the Board of Directors last month. They gave their leadership as the Bar Foundation made substantial progress in achieving its goals and objectives as the philanthropic entity for the legal profession and the justice system here in West Virginia. Their responsibilities grew as important decisions were made regarding the organization’s future direction. Congratulations for a job well done to:
Stephen R. Crislip-Charleston
Stephen B. Farmer-Charleston
Neva G. Lusk-Charleston
Cheryl D. Riley-Wheeling
John H. Tinney-Charleston
Bar Brief-26
IOLTA PROGRAM TRANSFERRED TO STATE BAR
Effective July 1, 2010, the administration of the Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts program was transferred from the WV Bar Foundation to the WV State Bar. The state becomes the third state, after California and North Carolina, to have a statewide bar association operate the IOLTA program. The transfer was contained in an Order of the WV Supreme Court of Appeals. During the Bar Foundation’s administration of the program since its inception by a Supreme Court Order in 1990, the program generated more than $13.5 million for the provision of civil legal services for low income citizens in West Virginia. The IOLTA Advisory Committee, a diverse group of providers, citizens and lawyers, will continue to serve as the supervisory entity for the successful endeavor to improve the administration of justice.
NEW BAR FOUNDATION LEADERS-
During the Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors meeting and the Annual Meeting in June, new leaders were selected as the policy makers for the organization. Serving as the Officers for the 2010-11 fiscal year are President Tracey A. Rohrbaugh (Martinsburg), Vice President J. Franklin Long (Bluefield) and Secretary/Treasurer Steven K. Nord (Huntington). Elected to three year terms as Board members were Judge John P. Bailey (Wheeling), Barbara H. Allen (Charleston), Thomas V. Flaherty (Charleston), Ancil G. Ramey (Charleston) and Steven F. White (Charleston).
BAR FOUNDATION BUILDINGS-
For the past several months, the Bar Foundation has been engaged in negotiations with the Lawyer Disciplinary Board/Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the State Bar regarding the leases and continued utilization of the two buildings owned by the Bar Foundation at 2006 and 2008 Kanawha Blvd., East, in Charleston. They were purchased in 1989 and 2001, respectively. The discussions included meetings with the Supreme Court Justices in January and again in June. The three groups made proposals to the Court on July 1. The Bar Foundation’s Board has stated its intention to act in the best interests of the organization, which was confirmed by a formal legal opinion that it received.