STATE BAR ASSOCIATION OF NORTH DAKOTA
By Tony Weiler, SBAND Executive Director
127 th ANNUAL
MEETING
Wrap-Up
The State Bar Association of North Dakota( SBAND) recently hosted its 127th annual meeting, with lawyers and judges from across the state getting together to enjoy education, social activities, and fellowship. The meeting was held in Grand Forks June 10-12.
The CLE seminars took place at the Canad Inn and Alerus Center, and the annual bar foundation fundraiser was once again held in the beautiful entryway of Ralph Engelstad Arena on Thursday evening of the meeting. Attendees and guests enjoyed being back together to socialize and attend fantastic CLE programs.
On Wednesday, meetings were held by the board of governors of both the association and the foundation, the disciplinary board, the joint SBAND / UND School of Law Committee, Joint Attorney Standards Committee, and Judicial Conduct Commission. The Women Lawyers Section also continued to provide programming in the afternoon. The annual golf tournament and trap skeet and 5-stand shooting event both remained popular as a kickoff to the annual meeting.
The meeting’ s opening plenary session was a program by the popular( and returning) speaker Stuart Teicher, titled“ Chat GPT, Siri, and Alexa are Out to Get You!” This ethics-centered CLE featuring AI was entertaining as well as educational. Teicher also presented a breakout session entitled“ What‘ A Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ Teaches about Inclusion in the Law.”
SBAND continued to focus on an annual meeting format that featured several different tracks, with the opportunity to hear a speaker at different times during the day. The speakers covered a wide range of topics. Professor Dakota Rudesill presented“ Star Wars and Legal Ethics,” as well as“ Federal Domestic Use of Force: The Legal
Framework.” Judge Kannon K. Shanmugan presented the always popular U. S. Supreme Court Review, and SBAND member and long-time Grand Forks attorney Tracy Kennedy spoke on“ Cybersecurity, Data Access, and Financial Fraud: Risks to Law Firms and their Clients.” We also heard from SBAND member Eric Olson on“ Ethics of Generative AI: Best Practices and Client Confidences,” and Philip Boganoff presented on“ The Karen Read Acquittals: Ethics, Policy Credibility, and the Brady List.” The final session of day, entitled“ Making the Case for More Time: Personal Leave Continuances in Modern Practice,” was led by Bismarck lawyer Briana Rummel and sponsored by the Women Lawyers Section.
SBAND continued its general assembly and business meeting during the Friday breakfast. This included hearing from the new president of the bar, an update on SBAND’ s finances, and a report from the North Dakota Bar Foundation( NDBF). An executive director report was also provided detailing the work done at SBAND during the past year.
Attendees then heard a message from American Bar Association( ABA) President Michelle Behnke, who talked about the rule of law and the importance of an independent judiciary. The first Friday morning plenary saw the return of the Mart Vogel Lecture on Professionalism and Ethics moderated by the always outstanding UND School of Law Professor Michael McGinniss, and a lecture by the Honorable Jennifer Perkins of the Arizona Court of Appeals titled“ Proceed with Intelligence: AI, Ethics, and the Limits of the Brilliant Intern.” Finally, the last plenary was presented by Phillip Bogdanoff, and it was“ Learning Legal Ethics from the Lincoln Lawyer.” The energy and information from all our speakers was top notch!
SOCIAL GATHERINGS
Attendees at this year’ s annual meeting were treated to an opening night social at the UND School of Law. This gave lawyers and guests a chance to see the beautiful atrium / entry way to the law school and tours were given to those who hadn’ t yet seen the renovated school. The evening was capped off at Playmakers at the Canad Inn where we were treated to trivia and karaoke!
The NDBF silent auction and reception was held once again at Ralph Engelstad Arena entryway and was done perfectly by SBAND team members Carrie Molander and Jennifer Hauge, along with the assistance of Margi Lee and Taylor Olson. The auction had many wonderful prizes donated by our generous sponsors, and attendees were treated to background music from a quartet. Once again, the foundation’ s silent auction fundraiser was a tremendous success.
NEW SBAND OFFICERS ELECTED
Fargo attorney Rob Manly became SBAND President at the end of the 2026 General Assembly on June 12. Deborah Hoffarth is now the immediate past-president and will continue to serve on the board of governors until June 2027. Williston attorney Hernando Perez was elected president-elect and will assume duties as president in June 2027, while Zack Pelham was re-elected as SBAND’ s ABA representative on the board of governors. One new SBAND board member was also seated at the conclusion of the annual meeting. Kara Brinster of Jamestown was elected by members of the Southeast Judicial District, to serve her first two-year term. Amanda Engelstad was reelected by members of the Southwest Judicial District to another two-year term. Welcome to our new and returning board members!
8 THE GAVEL