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    September-October 2008

    Vol. 33 No. 1  

    Rule Of Law

    Common Core Values

    by H. Thomas Wells

    Tommy Wells, who assumed the ABA presidency at the 2008 annual meeting in New York, discusses his agenda for the next bar year. Four core values will be the focus of his presidential year-access to justice, judicial independence, diversity, and the rule of law.

    Featured Articles

    Trade, Sports & Professional Associations

    Disaster response: Lessons—and an update—from Hurricane Katrina

    by Clifton Barnes

    One of the first calls that the Iowa State Bar Association executive director received during the Flood of 2008 was from his counterpart in Mississippi. Lawyers from across the country quickly joined their colleagues in Iowa and elsewhere in the Midwest. Thanks in part to the so-called Katrina Rule, out-of-state lawyers can provide pro bono services when disaster hits, and lawyers whose practices have been disrupted can practice in unaffected jurisdictions.

    Professional Liability

    Save? Toss? Backup? Document retention in a ‘paperless’ world

    by Dan Kittay

    Lost documents, whether paper or electronic, are expensive. A 2005 study showed that "version control issues" can cost a company as much as $3,000 a year in time wasted for each worker with a $60,000 salary. The author looks at the various issues involved in document management (set of rules that govern how documents are stored) and records management (policies that govern how documents are created, received, and maintained). Development of an association-wide policy is critical to avoid being held hostage to idiosyncratic systems developed by individual employees.