THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT
AFirst Joint Meeting ment of a vital constitutional amendment to create a Judicial Compensation Commission in Arkansas. I know of no greater contribution we can make to the longrange improvement of the judiciary and the administration of justice in Arkansas than by giving our full support to this amendment. I encourage you to send a $100 check made payable to J.C.C.C. to Shirley McFarlin, Judicial Compensation Commission Campaign, lIS North State Street. Little Rock, AR 72201. and to urge your clients and friends to vote for the amendment.
By John F. Stroud, Jr. I hope you are making plans to attend the Annual Meeting in Hot Springs from June 8 to II. The first joint annual meeting of the Arkansas Bar Association and the Arkansas Judicial Council will provide sessions that I think will be of special interest to you. Our featured speaker on Thursday will be Judge William Webster, a former judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. There will be several panels of attorneys and trial judges providing insight into child support enforcement. marital property, criminal law procedure, guardianship, adoptions, probate fees, civil jury trials, the new Corporation Code, civil procedure, stress management and the effective use of paralegals. In addition, the new Arkansas Form Book will be presented by Professor Robert R. Wright ill of the UALR Law School. Justice David Newbern of the Arkansas Supreme Court will speak on "Lawyers, Judges and Judicial Ethics" and Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Holt, Jr., will speak on the new mandatory CLE requirements. Look for a lively discussion on Friday when appellate and trial judges debate the state's leading trial attorneys on the "Behavior and Misbehavior of Lawyers and Judges in the Courtroom." All of this and receptions, firm parties, a style show and other programs for spouses, the annual Awards Luncheon, the "Thursday Night Live" dinner and dance and Gridiron '88 await your registration. My thanks to Robert K. Walsh for arranging these programs with the strong support of both organizations and to the Special Judicial Council Liaison 46/Arkansos Lawyer/April 1988
Committee that worked diligently to make the joint meeting a reality. Long-Range Planning Conference The first general long-range planning conference since 1984 will be held at the DeGray Convention Center at DeGray State Park in Arkadelphia from April 22 to 23. I urge members of the House of Delegates and Executive Council, the presidents of all local bar associations, all committee chairs, all the sections' officers and past oUicers and all of the Arkansas Bar Foundation directors to attend and be a part of planning the programs and the direction of the Arkansas Bar Association for the next four or five years. Judicial Compensation Commission Much work has been done by the Judicial Compensation Commission Campaign and its chair, Dennis L. Shackleford, the Association's Senior Task Force Committee and its chair, E. Charles Eichenbaum, the state trial practice committees and others to obtain the required signatures on petitions and to raise the funds necessary for the enact-
Code of Ethics Bill Early drafts of the Code of Ethics legislation by the Governor's Code of Ethics Commission contained provisions of great concern to the Association's House of Delegates, Executive Council and Legislative Policy Committee (formerly legislative Oversight Committee). We felt some of the provisions were overly restrictive to the practicing attorney and so limiting to a lawyer/legislator and his law firm to deter him from serving in the Arkansas legislature. Accordingly, we presented written and verbal testimony to the Commission last year which resulted in modifications which substantially satisfied all of our objections. We did not undertake to draft the bill for the Commission nor to address issues unrelated to the practice of law. The Association's lobbyist, Martha M. Miller, served us well and spent countless hours attending Commission hearings and meetings and the legislature's special session. The House of Delegates might not have taken a position at its January 23 meeting on the Commission's final draft. but I'm proud it had the fortitude to support the measure since our objections had been met. 0