Legislature(2019 - 2020)GRUENBERG 120
02/12/2020 01:45 PM House JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar | |
| Commission on Judicial Conduct | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 12, 2020
1:55 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Matt Claman, Chair
Representative Chuck Kopp
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Laddie Shaw
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative David Eastman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar
William Granger - Anchorage
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
Commission on Judicial Conduct
Jane Mores - Anchorage
Robert Sheldon - Anchorage
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
WILLIAM GRANGER, Appointee
Board of Governors
Alaska Bar Association
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on his appointment to the
Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors.
JANE MORES, Appointee
Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct
Alaska Court System
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on her appointment to the
Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct.
ROBERT SHELDON, Appointee
Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct
Alaska Court System
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on his appointment to the
Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:55:45 PM
CHAIR MATT CLAMAN called the House Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:55 p.m. Representatives Claman, Stutes,
LeDoux, and Shaw were present at the call to order.
Representatives Kopp and Drummond arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
^Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar
Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar
1:56:31 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the only order of business would be
the Confirmation Hearings on the Board of Governors of the
Alaska Bar and the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
1:56:58 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN opened public testimony.
1:57:19 PM
WILLIAM GRANGER, Appointee, Board of Governors, Alaska Bar
Association, offered testimony on his appointment to the Alaska
Bar Association Board of Governors. He stated that he has
served on the Board of Governors for approximately 14 years,
although not all that time has been served contiguously. He
explained that most of his time served on the Board of Governors
has been as treasurer. He expressed that he has enjoyed the
work, learned a lot along the way, and would like to be
considered for reappointment.
1:58:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked Mr. Granger, aside from his
experience on the Board of Governors, what qualifies him to be
on the board.
1:58:33 PM
MR. GRANGER answered that he thinks boards should have a
reasonable amount of diversity and talent. He remarked that he
is a public member and has been involved with financial
businesses for most of his life. He expressed that he is a
"numbers, dollars, sense kind of guy." He said that he has
interacted extensively with the legal community throughout his
professional career, which gives him a reasonable understanding
of how lawyers operate in civil proceedings. He expressed that
he thinks he lends a great deal of continuity and institutional
knowledge to the board; the board members turn over regularly
and he stated that he thinks he is the longest tenured member to
have ever served on the board. He said that he thinks the
institutional knowledge he has is valuable in helping new board
members get up to speed as quickly as possible; the turnover
typically happens every three years. He added, "It takes really
a full year for them to get a grasp as to what's going on, the
second year to start kind of contributing in a meaningful way,
and the third year to be up to speed and running, and usually
after that they're gone." He summarized that as a public
member, he is always interested in what is good for the public
and working to ensure that the Alaska Bar Association is acting
in the public's best interest and contributing to the public's
perception of the judiciary.
2:01:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked whether Mr. Granger could tell her
what the function is of the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar
Association.
2:01:19 PM
MR. GRANGER replied that the Board of Governors is responsible
for administering the testing for the entrance to the Alaska Bar
Association and it makes recommendations to the Alaska Supreme
Court. He stated that it is responsible for administering
discipline in matters regarding lawyers who may have violated
ethics or court rules. The board also administers funds for the
lawyers' fund for client protection; should a lawyer pass away
while he/she has clients, the board will handle the transition
and arrange to find another lawyer to take over the case. He
said that the board is involved in education and advocacy
projects, and it puts on a free legal symposium that allows
people to meet a large group of lawyers and get free legal
advice.
2:03:38 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN noted that he had served on the Board of Governors
for six years in the mid-2000s, and he found Mr. Granger to have
a very active presence. He stated that the total number of
members on the Board of Governors is 12 or 13, 3 of which are
public members. He explained that Mr. Granger was in the
minority as a public member and, in two significant areas during
Chair Claman's tenure, Mr. Granger was a tireless voice for the
public's interest. He recalled a discussion on whether the
Alaska Bar Association should have a director of pro bono
services, in which the public members of the board really worked
to convince the lawyers on the board that it was a good idea.
He added that Mr. Granger was also a very strong voice in terms
of increasing required continuing education, which prevailed in
the Alaska Supreme Court and resulted in a now mandatory legal
education rule. He summarized that Mr. Granger has been
effective on the board and has a great deal of institutional
knowledge. He expressed that he thinks it is good to see Mr.
Granger desire to continue his service, and he commended the
governor for re-appointing him to the board.
[The statement made in regard to forwarding the confirmation of
William Granger, Appointee, Board of Governors, was combined
with the statement forwarding the two appointees to the
Commission on Judicial Conduct made at the end of the meeting.]
^Commission on Judicial Conduct
Commission on Judicial Conduct
2:06:04 PM
JANE MORES, Appointee, Commission on Judicial Conduct, Alaska
Court System, offered testimony on her appointment to the
Commission on Judicial Conduct. She stated that she has been a
member of the Alaska Bar Association for nearly 30 years and it
was her pleasure to serve on the Commission on Judicial Conduct
for the past year. She expressed that she was honored to be
reappointed and hopes to continue her service for a full four-
year term. She stated that she did not have a prepared
statement, but she would be happy to answer any questions the
committee might have.
2:07:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND thanked Ms. Mores for her service on the
commission. She pointed out to the committee that Ms. Mores is
the sister of Senator Shelley Hughes. She expressed that she
met Ms. Mores in her first year as a legislator in 2013 and is
"pleased to no end" to be able to move her name forward on the
appointment.
2:07:51 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN stated that he has known Ms. Mores for nearly his
entire time in the legislature and has always appreciated her
participation and contributions in the community. He said that
he is pleased to see her getting reappointed to the Commission
on Judicial Conduct.
2:08:12 PM
ROBERT SHELDON, Appointee, Commission on Judicial Conduct,
Alaska Court System, offered testimony on his appointment to the
Commission on Judicial Conduct. He stated that he is a third
generation Alaskan who has followed in his family's example of
public service in Alaska, which has spanned the last 88 years.
He said he is presently employed by companies and serves on
boards for high latitude capital formation and business
endeavors in Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, and Mainland
Scandinavia. He explained that since 2004, he has served on
several boards, commissions, and councils for each of the past
five governors of Alaska. He stated that he would be going on
to his fourth term on the Commission on Judicial Conduct. He
explained that the commission investigates alleged judicial
misconduct and ethical impropriety; he expressed that it was
fortunate that most of these complaints were either
unsubstantiated or not under the commission's jurisdiction.
MR. SHELDON said that his education, work, and interest in
finance and economics extends to interconnections with the
judiciary, and he expressed that the rule of law is critical to
the orderly function of the economy but is also a component of
Alaska's cost of capital. He explained that Alaska is priced as
though it is an emerging market rather than a developing
economy; it is his hope that through ensuring continued
confidence in the judiciary, Alaska's cost of capital will
decrease over time. He expressed that serving on the Alaska
Commission on Judicial Conduct has been an extremely satisfying
experience, but he has seen it is highly important that the
commission has orderly continuity of service, as well as
institutional knowledge retention amongst its members. He
stated that judge and attorney representatives are, for a
variety of reasons, frequently unable to serve for more than one
four-year period, and public members help to bridge long-term
continuity and knowledge; he expressed that he hopes to continue
to be a part of that continuity and knowledge.
2:10:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SHAW commented, "I got back on the Ruth [Glacier]
this last season and I see that the Mountain House has expanded
accordingly; it's quite a beautiful structure and I hadn't been
up there since the days that I was climbing with Harry Johnson
and Janae (ph), and I just wanted to say hello."
2:10:31 PM
MR. SHELDON replied, "Well, thank you very much. It's been the
fulfillment of a 50-year family vision."
2:10:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP stated that he is very happy that Mr.
Sheldon wants to continue with his service, and he thinks that
it is fortunate to have someone who is involved on so many
levels bring his experience to the Alaska Commission on Judicial
Conduct. He said, "It's not often that we have individuals that
run on about 12 tracks simultaneously, but he's got the energy
to do it."
2:11:12 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN thanked Mr. Sheldon for his willingness to serve
again. He equated Mr. Sheldon's experience, as a public member
of a board, to that of Mr. Granger, and he expressed that he
thinks the experience these men bring, with their prior service,
is a real benefit to the boards on which they serve.
2:11:38 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony.
2:12:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES stated that the House Judiciary Standing
Committee had reviewed the qualifications of the governor's
appointees, and recommends that the following names be forwarded
to a joint session of the House and Senate for consideration:
William Granger to the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar,
Jane Mores to the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct, and
Robert Sheldon to the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct.
She stated that this does not reflect intent by any of the
members to vote for or against these individuals during any
further sessions for the purposes of confirmation.
2:12:57 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN stated that the names would be forwarded to the
joint session of the House and Senate.
2:13:22 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:13 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Appointment - William Granger Resume 2.12.2020.pdf |
HJUD 2/12/2020 1:45:00 PM |
|
| Commission on Judicial Conduct Appointment - Jane Mores Resume UPDATED 2.12.2020.pdf |
HJUD 2/12/2020 1:45:00 PM |
|
| Commission on Judicial Conduct Appointment - Robert Sheldon Resume 2.12.2020.pdf |
HJUD 2/12/2020 1:45:00 PM |