could fair be fairer ? walsh heads committee on judicial survey , poll atlanta lawyers and polotics
MEMBERSHIP
choosing when and whether to test for drugs : what ' s an employeer to do ?
A friend has just lost a hard fought case . over drinks you get an earful . It wasn ' t just the result that hurt , your friend says . It was the way Judge Newcomer handed the whole thing . Trouble is , most of the judge ' s transgressions were too subtle to make a clear case on appeal . It ' s so frustrating .
You sympathize . You ' ve never actually appeared before Judge Newcomer yourself , but you know lawyers who have . You ' ve heard stories from them , too . A few days later you get mildly disquieting news . It ' s election season , and Brash Colleague , Esq ., has decided to try for the seat currently held by Judge Hoary Oldtimer . You go back a long way with Judge Oldtimer . Even at his peak , he was a mediocre judge . Now he ' s a bit past his peak . There ' s no doubt in your mind that there could be a better judge on the bench . But nothing has convinced you that brash colleague is the one . You ' ve met him once or twice in the chemistry just wasn ' t there . [...] Respondents in the 1988 survey were asked to say whether each judge is " exceptional ," " is competent ," or " needs improvement " in six areas : impartiality and integrity , diligence , courtroom conduct , legal ability , court administration and overall performance .
The results of some of these polls and surveys have been controversial . After the 1988 survey , W . Terrence Walsh , a partner at Alston & Bird , suggested to Melvin K . Westermoreland , who was then president of the Atlanta Bar Association , that it might be time to take a fresh look at how the polls and surveys were being done .
Attorneys who juggle a busy practice with heavy political work find that the demands of politics quickly dwarfed their early expectations . A serious political commitment requires precious hours and mental energy that a lawyer must carve out of an already crowded calendar . The loss of legal fees that results is rarely made up by political pay . Compounding the difficulty of handling both jobs , attorneys and elective office must be on constant guard to avoid appearances that clients interests affect the way in which public duties are discharged .
For these reasons , the number of Atlanta lawyers holding local elective posts has dwindled in recent years . Currently , no practicing lawyers are on the county commissions of Clayton , Cobb , DeKalb , or Gwinnett counties . In Fulton , attorney Gordon Joyner served an interim appointment after Reginald Eaves was suspended following an indictment . Last year Mr . Eaves ' seat was declared vacant , and by winning a January 1990 special election Mr . Joyner became Fulton ' s lone commissioner who makes his living as a lawyer . At Atlanta City Hall , only three lawyers serve on the 18-member council : Bill Campbell , Thomas F . Cuffie and Council President Marvin Arrington .
The trend extends to the general assembly . When court ordered reappointment in the mid-1960s swelled the representation of DeKalb and Fulton , delegations from both counties brimmed with lawyers .
At least since 1986 , American employers have recognized the significant problems created by drug and alcohol abuse at work .
Indeed , it has been estimated that drug users are involved in four times as many accidents , or are absent two and one-half times more often than their non-user counterparts , and file five times as many workers ' compensation claims as " clean " employees . for example , the percentage of Fortune 500 companies screening prospective or current employees for drug and alcohol abuse rose from 3 % to 30 % in the relatively early years from 1982 and 1985 . In 1986 , with executive order number 12,564 from the Reagan Administration , more than 50 federal agencies started drug testing programs affecting civilian workers .
More recently , political pressures have escalated to board almost all American employers onto the drug test bandwagon . pending in the Senate is a bill that would make it easier for private companies to analyze employees for the presence of illegal drugs . this bill has been lauded by unexpected health experts as former surgeon general C . Everett Koop . This year the United States Supreme Court refused to review a pair of lower court decisions that had allowed random drug testing of certain employees in the U . S . Department of Justice and the Army .
www . atlantabar . org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 17