The State Bar Association of North Dakota Spring 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 18

ABA POSITION CHANGE FOR 2014
who have joined the ABA, North Dakota
has only two positions in the House of
Delegates. In a unique set of circumstances I
have come to hold both positions for a brief
time this winter.

JIM HILL
ABA Delegate
As we approach summer 2014 and the
ABA Annual Meeting this August,
there is much change being planned at
the leadership level of the ABA. The
Governance Commission, as constituted
by the President of the ABA, has
commenced its work to review the
representation of various constituencies
within the ABA family. North Dakota
is unique to most States. Its size fairly
defines the extent of its representation
within the ABA House of Delegates
(HOD).
North Dakota is part of District 10 which
also includes the States of Wyoming,
Nebraska and South Dakota. One person
from those four states serves by election to
the ABA Board of Governors for a threeyear term. The position rotates. It literally
takes nine years for the position to come
back around to North Dakota. I recently
completed that term as a member of the
North Dakota Delegation.
Because of its lawyer population size
and the membership of those lawyers
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THE GAVEL

The first position is identified as the North
Dakota State Bar Association Delegate
(SBAND Delegate). Every organized State
Bar Association is allowed by the ABA
Constitution and By-Laws to have one slot
on the House of Delegates. That position
is elected every two years by those lawyers
attending the General Assembly at the
SBAND Annual Meeting.
I have been privileged to hold that position
for a number of terms. It has been an
honor to have done so and by being in that
position for that number of years I was able
to run for and was elected the Board of
Governors of the ABA. The whole process
unfortunately takes years of tenure but the
process has been extraordinarily rewarding.
My term as SBAND Delegate ends with the
completion of the Annual Meeting of the
ABA in August which takes place in Boston.
I would have to stand for re-election.
The other position that is allocated to North
Dakota by way of the ABA Constitution
and By-Laws is referred to as the State
Delegate. It is a position elected by the
lawyers in North Dakota who are actually
members of the ABA. That position
had been held until last August by the
Honorable Kermit Edward Bye, who did
not seek re-election. When that happened
the time came for me to consider moving
from the SBAND Delegate spot (which also
commits the person to sit with the SBAND
Board of Governors) and consider running
for the State Delegate slot. I did so and I
began my three-year term in that position
after the last Annual Meeting in August
2013.

The time is now appropriate to step away
from the SBAND position while continuing
in my role as North Dakota State Delegate.
I will not run for another term as the
SBAND ABA Delegate. This will allow
North Dakota to have its full contingent in
the HOD. Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle
sits as well representing the Conferences
of Chief Justices but his membership in
the HOD is based on his election from the
Conference of Chief Justices rather than
from a vote in North Dakota. That is the
extent of our Delegation given the size of
our state our total bar membership. It will in
all likelihood remain that size.
The ABA By-Laws relating to the size and
composition of the House of Delegates,
the ABA Board of Governors and the
Nominating Committee is now under
review. Article 16.1 of theABA Constitution
requires a decennial review of the size and
composition of these entities to ensure
appropriate representation of constituencies.
That falls to a s X