You asked for change, you got it. The Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Judicial College are pleased to announce significant changes to the program for this summer. The LSBA and the Judicial College have joined forces in a spirit of cooperation to create more joint programs and to improve the overall quality of the program being offered, with the new title "Joining Forces: The Louisiana Judicial College and the LSBA Summer School." This program will be more interactive and will include programs throughout the entire week, in hopes of providing more content and encouraging more involvement from the participants.

On Monday and Tuesday of the Program, there will also be extensive segments that involve the presentation of core materials by preeminent experts on the topics of the criminal justice system and on judicial independence. After each of these opening presentations, the participants will be broken into smaller discussion groups consisting of 20 to 25 participants for an open discussion on a number of related topics. After these breakout sessions, the participants will reconvene to discuss the relevant legal issues and possible solutions. We hope that by reformatting these presentations it will allow everyone to participate fully in group discussions about topics that are important to our practice, as well as to our lives, and that everyone participating will feel comfortable joining in the discourse on these important topics.

You may recall that, in past years, no CLE programs were offered on Thursday or Friday. This year, however, the Annual Meeting will be presenting three open forums called "The Great Debates" on Thursday. We encourage participants to join these open discussions involving issues that are of pertinence not only to our individual practices but to the practice of law and the perception of lawyers in general.

This year, the Great Debates include three very important topics. The first Great Debate will include a discussion of the appropriateness of using courts of specialized jurisdiction. We will discuss whether Louisiana should adopt specialty courts or continue with courts of general jurisdiction. This topic will include a discussion of whether we should unify the courts in Orleans Parish or whether criminal and civil courts should be kept separate. The discussion will also address the use of Family Courts, Drug Courts, Juvenile Courts, and Criminal Courts in other districts throughout the state.

The second Great Debate will involve questions regarding choosing judges in Louisiana. It will include such topics as whether the judiciary should be appointed or elected, how judicial elections should be conducted, and how the Bench and the Bar could best work together to better serve the goals of justice.

The third Great Debate will be an open discussion on the changing practice of law in the workplace. This will cover individual diversity as well as diversity in the types of work (i.e., part-time work, public versus private work, big firm versus small firm work), and other issues on how to improve the quality of the workplace and the life of the Bar in general.

Attendees at each of these forums will receive professionalism credit.

Finally, we have added a program on Friday morning regarding jury selection. This will be a discussion on how to address Batson issues, including the controversial issue of whether it is time to revisit the use of peremptory challenges in general.

Although these changes seem extreme, our hope is to reinvigorate the Summer School and Annual Meeting and continue to work with the Judicial College to make this Program the best that it can be. We hope that you will join us this summer, and we welcome your input into providing the best program possible.

Sincerely,

Hon. Tiffany Gauthier Chase
Hon. Fredericka Homberg Wicker
H. Minor Pipes III
Edward J. Walters, Jr.
Co-Chairs, LSBA Summer School



Summer School Registration Only

	By April 30	By May 29	On-Site
Lawyers	$525	$550	$575

• includes seminar registration and admission to Lawyers' Expo;
• electronic version of the seminar materials for attendees to download;
• daily continental breakfast/coffee/refreshment breaks; and
• an invitation to a joint cocktail party with the Louisiana Judicial College on Sunday, June 7.

Special Discounted Registration for Summer School & Annual Meeting

	By April 30	By May 29	On-Site
Lawyers	$750	$795	$850
Special Pricing**	$525	$575	$625

Annual Meeting registration is for LSBA member and spouse/guest when indicated on Registration Form.

• includes seminar registration, programs, business meetings and admission to Lawyers' Expo;
• electronic version of the seminar materials for attendees to download;
• daily continental breakfast/coffee/refreshment breaks;
• an invitation to a joint cocktail party with the Louisiana Judicial College on Sunday, June 7;
• up to two adult tickets to the Joint LSBA/LJC Reception* on Wednesday, June 10;
• up to two adult tickets to the YLS Reception* on Thursday, June 11;
• up to two adult tickets to the LSBA Dinner* on Friday, June 12; and
• up to two children's tickets to the Jr. Carnival & Cookout* on Friday, June 12.

*Spouse/guest name and number and age of children must be indicated on the Registration Form to receive tickets included in registration. Additional tickets for children and guests are available for the social functions.

**Special Pricing applies to judges, lawyers employed full-time by local, state, or federal government, and lawyers employed full-time by legal aid agencies or indigent defense agencies.

Total CLE Hours
Litigation Track: 15.75 hours, including 2 hours of ethics and 1 hour of professionalism
Office Track: 14.75 hours, including 2 hours of ethics and 1 hour of professionalism
Judicial Track: 16.25 hours, including 3.25 hours of ethics and 1 hour of professionalism

Course Materials & Electronic Course Materials Discount
Everyone registered for the LSBA Summer School will receive a printed manual of the Summer School course materials; however, if you would prefer to receive your course materials on a USB thumb drive instead of a printed manual, subtract $40 from your summer school registration.

Cancellations & Refunds
Cancellation of registration must be received in writing by the LSBA no later than Friday, May 29, 2009. Cancellations will receive a full refund, less a $30 administrative charge. Absolutely no refunds will be made after Friday, May 29, 2009. Requests should be mailed to the Louisiana State Bar Association, 601 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA. 70130-3404; faxed to (504) 598-6753; or e-mailed to aburas@lsba.org.