Announcements

Registration is now open for spring and summer 2020 "CLE Abroad" trips, sponsored by The Iowa State Bar Association.

These immersive and culturally rich programs provide a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience designed for lawyers and companions. You will engage with local scholars, attorneys and artists offering expert commentary on the country's legal and political systems, international relations, art history, architecture and religion. The ISBA is partnering with several other state bar associations to offer these trips, so space is limited.

Register now for spring-summer 2020 programs:
• Cuba, March 14-18, 2020
• Portugal, March 26-31, 2020
• London, June 8-13, 2020
• Scotland, June 15-19, 2020

For fall 2020 programs, you may pre-register to hold a spot:
• Portugal, Oct. 11-16, 2020
• Morocco, Oct. 22-30, 2020
• Morocco, Nov. 12-20, 2020

For questions concerning registration, contact Laura Adams (laura@cle-abroad.com). For questions concerning program itineraries and special requests, contact Dani Perez (daniel@cle-abroad.com) or 858-336-5749.

From the Iowa Lawyer Weekly

New forms are now available on IowaDocs to assist you with practicing Limited Scope Representation (LSR).

Due to increasing client demand for LSR, the Access to Justice Commission recently released a tool kit to help attorneys navigate the rules for providing limited scope service, which includes written agreements and notices to protect the client and the attorney. The ISBA is now including both the tool kit and all related forms in the newest version of IowaDocs.

Forms include:
• Limited Scope of Service Agreement
• Notice of Limited Appearance Pursuant to IRCP 1.404(3)
• Notice of Completion of Limited Appearance Pursuant to IRCP 1.404(4)
• Completion of Representation Letter

To take advantage of these new forms, make sure you update your IowaDocs program today. The ISBA has also recently added information about limited-scope legal services on its IowaFindALawyer.com website.

Chief Justice Mark Cady has signed an order extending the public comment period on proposed amendments to the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct, Chapter 32 of the Iowa Court Rules. The comment period will now close Dec. 30.

Click here to read the order and learn how to submit comments. Click here to read the proposed amendments.

The State Judicial Nominating Commission met recently to approve for publication State and District Judicial Nominating Commissions Uniform Rules of Procedure. There is now a 30-day public comment period before these rules are adopted.

The public may provide comments via email to sjnc@iowa.gov. For more information about judicial nominating commissions, click here.

The ABA Retirement Funds Program will host a free live webinar at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, entitled “Understanding an Important Legal Community Benefit.” The ABA retirement program was built by lawyers specifically for the legal community as a competitively priced retirement plan. The webinar will address questions such as:

• What is the ABA Retirement Funds Program?
• What makes the ABA program different from other options?
• Why should you consider the ABA program for your employer-sponsored retirement plan?
• What are the key dates and deadlines to be aware of before the end of 2019?

One of the many member benefits offered by the ISBA, the ABA Retirement Funds Program offers professional fiduciary services, a broad range of investment options and full-service administration. The ISBA has used the ABA Retirement Funds Program to provide 401K options for its staff for the last decade and has been pleased with the program.

Click on this link to learn more about the program, or contact Dwight Dinkla, ISBA executive director at ddinkla@iowabar.org. Register for the webinar here

The opportunity for Iowa attorneys to voice opinions on proposed rule changes related to attorney professional regulation is ending soon.

On Aug. 1, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady released orders requesting public comment on the following:

• The Office of Professional Regulation's Proposed Amendments to the Iowa Court Rules: Chapter 34, 36, 47;
• Amendments to Chapter 32, Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct;
• Proposed Amendments to the Bar Admission Rules in Chapter 31 of the Iowa Court Rules;
• Proposed Amendments to Chapter 41, Continuing Legal Education for Lawyers, and Chapter 42, Continuing Legal Education Regulations.

A recent webinar recorded by Nick Critelli on the substantive changes proposed to Chapter 32 of the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here (viewing requires email registration). This presentation was sponsored by the ISBA Ethics and Practice Guidelines Committee and will not qualify for CLE credit if you did not view the original live broadcast on Monday, Sept. 16.

Comments on all of these matters are due by Sept. 30. Read the full list of orders and amendments here. There are specific details in each order on how to submit comments. 

ISBA partners with Trustifi to bring email encryption to members!

While emailing your clients is convenient, are you confident that your message is really secure? To help protect both your clients and your firm, the ISBA has partnered with Trustifi to provide a state-of-the-art encryption program that can easily integrate into your email communications.

The ISBA’s partnership enables members to purchase encryption for $25 annually, per email address. If you are interested in finding out more about this service please use the link below to signup for a 60 minute informational webinar on May 9th at 2:00 p.m. https://go.trustificorp.com/iowabar4registration

ISBA partners with Trustifi to bring email encryption to members!

While emailing your clients is convenient, are you confident that your message is secure? To help protect both your clients and your firm, the ISBA has partnered with Trustifi to provide a state-of-the-art encryption program that can integrate into your email communications.

The ISBA’s partnership enables members to purchase encryption for $25 annually, per email address.  If you are interested in finding out more about this service please use the link below to signup for a 30 minute webinar on January 10th at 1:00 p.m.   https://go.trustificorp.com/iowabar