SBAND Annual Meeting and Awards Recognition
While the SBAND Board of Governors worked hard to hold the Annual Meeting in person, it simply wasn’t practical this year. Instead,
SBAND is holding an Annual Meeting Webinar Series that started July 22 and continues through August. The board was dedicated to
making it very affordable, and the entire series is available for $50. The association is utilizing all the amazing speakers that would have
been in person for the Annual Meeting, and looks forward to holding the Annual Meeting in person in June 2021 in Grand Forks.
CLE Sessions held each Wednesday at noon
July 22
July 29
SBAND VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING
Legal Marijuana
Hacking Your Brain for Bias
August 5 Surveillance for National Security –
Federal Authorities and Current Issues
Cyber-Defense Cyber-Attack – Federal
Law, Process, and Current Issues
August 12 Negotiate Anything: How to Get Better
Deals and Build Better Relationships
August 19 Change Management: Are You Ready
to Lead Through the Ever-Shifting
Phases of the Next Normal?
Cyber Security – How to Protect Yourself
August 26 Supreme Court Roundup
Changes to CLE Reporting
In order to assist those attorneys in Reporting Group 3,
the North Dakota Supreme Court issued Administrative
Order 32 – “Emergency Extension of Continuing Legal
Education and Reports of Compliance Deadlines”
allowing attorneys until Sept. 1 to obtain CLE Credits.
The Report of Compliance is due Oct. 1.
In addition, as a result of the restrictions imposed on
in-person conferences because of COVID-19, the North
Dakota CLE Commission is temporarily suspending
ND CLE Policy 1.15. This suspension will continue until
further notice. Attorneys in Reporting Group 3, who
report in 2020, will be allowed to earn all or a portion
of the required 45 credits through self-study. Three
ethics CLE hours will still be required.
2020 SBAND AWARDS RECOGNITION
Distinguished Service Award
Michael J. Williams
The Distinguished Service Award was created in 1980 by the
Board of Governors to recognize the efforts of its most outstanding
members. It is the most prestigious award given by the association.
The award honors a member of the profession who has provided
outstanding service to the state and legal community over an
extended career. The Distinguished Service Award plaque, which
hangs outside the courtroom of the North Dakota Supreme Court,
is intended to permanently honor recipients, and remind us of their
dedication and work.
The 2020 Distinguished Service Award
recipient is Michael J. Williams, who has
demonstrated outstanding service to the state
and legal community in his practice and, in
particular, for individuals with developmental
disabilities.
Williams was born and raised in Wahpeton
and attended the North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS).
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North
Dakota (UND) in 1976, and attended the UND School of Law,
graduating in 1979. Since graduation, Williams’ practice has been
focused on serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, and
cases involving the rights of people with disabilities.
Nearly 40 years ago, a federal judge ordered North Dakota to change
the way it cared for developmentally disabled individuals. Williams,
then a newly minted law school graduate, began investigating the
North B unit of the Grafton State School. This unit was held out
as a school, but the reality was there was physical and emotional
abuse happening, chronic overcrowding, and under-staffing to name
a few matters. The individuals of ARC attempted to make changes
in Grafton with the State Legislature, but nothing ever got done;
so, they turned to Williams. He gave them a voice and was their
advocate, and ensured they have the right to due process of law, equal
protection, and rights to lawsuits because of ARC of North Dakota,
et al., v. Olson, 561 F.Supp. 473 (1982).
After a two-year lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Bruce Van Sickle
found for ARC. The judge found that North Dakota’s treatment
of developmentally disabled citizens was the worst in the
nation. Williams would spend another 16 years fighting for the
developmentally disabled. He was even instrumental in drafting
N.D.C.C. chapter 25-01.2, which allowed for private rights of
actions for those with developmental disabilities. He gave a voice to
those who had been ignored for decades by the state.
16 THE GAVEL