Author: Rain Mitchell

SBA Election Instructions

Members of the Student Bar Association:

Elections for the 2019-2020 Student Bar Association Leadership will begin soon! As students at Akron Law you are automatically members of the Student Bar Association (SBA). Therefore, you are all responsible for electing who will serve on the executive board for SBA and, also, who you would like to represent your respective class. This means that ALL students may nominate and vote for the executive board positions; however, students may only nominate and vote for their own class representatives (i.e., a 1L may only vote for 1L class representatives, not any other class). Failure to follow this rule is an honor code violation!

The executive board is composed of the president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary. To be eligible to run for an executive board position you MUST have completed two full semesters of law school prior to the time you will take office (not including the summer semester). Further, each class (1L, 2L, 3L) will elect 4 class representatives. The person who receives the most votes will be appointed the class president. Please note, elections for part-time and spring-start representatives will be held in the spring.

SBA elections are a three-step process:

First, all those who hope to be nominated for an executive board or class representative position on SBA must get at least two nominations (you are able to nominate yourself). NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN NOW and will close on Thursday, April 18th at 6 p.m. You may only nominate representatives from your representative class. However, all classes can nominate qualified individuals for the executive board positions. Please visit the appropriate link below to place your nominations.

Second, each individual who receives at least two nominations for a position will receive an email asking if they would like to accept their nomination and run for the position. If nominated for both a class representative and executive board position, you may choose to run for both.  That way, if you do not win the executive board position, you remain in the running as a class representative. However, you may NOT run for two executive board positions. If nominated for more than one executive board position, you will have to choose which one to accept. A student must accept his or her nomination for a position via email or the student will not be on the ballot.  

Third, all nominees for President will be invited to participate in an open forum with your classmates on Monday, April 22nd at 12:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in room 180 to briefly discuss why you would like the position and answer any questions from your classmates. The final poll with all of the candidates that have accepted their nominations will open on Monday, April 22nd. The final poll will close on Thursday, April 25th at 6 p.m. Each student may only vote for a position once. Voting more than once is an honor code violation!

The person with the most votes for each position will win. Each elected individual will receive an email notification and their names and position will be displayed on the announcement blog. The newly elected executive board will be contacted by the current executive board that coming week regarding leadership succession. 

Below are the current executive board members and their emails.  Please feel free to reach out to any of us if you would like to learn more about what our position entails:

President: Ashlee James – asm116@zips.uakron.edu

Vice President: Sarah Blank – skb73@zips.uakron.edu       

Treasurer: Cole Blakeley – cb209@zips.akron.edu  

Secretary: Kale Anderson – kda39@zips.uakron.edu

Best, 

Sarah Blank

SBA Vice-President

Scanlon/Bell Inn of Court accepting applications for 2019-2020 Term

The Charles F. Scanlon and Judge Samuel H. Bell Inn of Court is accepting applications for membership for the 2019-2020 term, which begins in September 2019.  The Inn, which was founded over 30 years ago by leading members of the Bar, including Federal District Judge Sam Bell, in collaboration with the Akron Bar Association and the University of Akron School of Law, provides members of the judiciary and bar an opportunity to learn from one another, both through CLE presentations and by sharing dinner in a relaxed atmosphere.  It has maintained its vigor by annually enrolling new members who want to learn and share information about ethics, public issues, and advocacy through the programs offered by the Inn.  We currently have openings in all three of our classes:  (1) the bencher class, which is made up of judges and lawyers with fifteen or more years of experience; (2) the barrister class, which is made up of lawyers with between four and fifteen years of experience; and (3) the pupils class, which is made up of law students and lawyers with less than four years of experience.

If you are interested in associating with judges and senior lawyers, or mentoring newer lawyers and students, please consider applying.  To do so, send your resume and a letter or email to Peter T. Cahoon, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, 3800 Embassy Parkway, Suite 300, Akron, OH 44333, pcahoon@bdblaw.com, by May 1, 2019.

The benchers meet during May each year to vote on new members.  If you are a lawyer accepted for the pupil or barrister class, you will be entitled to serve a two-year term, which can be renewed once.  Law-student pupils serve one year.  Benchers serve for life.  There are no dues for members of the pupils class.  Currently dues are $175 per year for barristers and $375 per year for benchers.  The benchers will consider in May whether they should be increased for the 2019-2020 term.

If you are accepted as an Inn member, you will attend our dinner meetings, which are held on the third Wednesday of each month, September through April, skipping December.  Programs at these meetings consist of presentations on ethics, public issues, and advocacy, for which CLE credit is provided.

In addition, all members of the Inn are members of a pupilage group, which is a small working body of the Inn.  There are four pupilage groups with representation from each of the three classes (benchers, barristers, and pupils).  Each pupilage group is responsible for a presentation at least once during the year.  Pupilage groups meet after work or during lunch to plan presentations and to discuss matters of common interest.

Modeled after the English Inns of Court, the Scanlon/Bell Inn has actively pursued its mission, and we look forward to those of like minds becoming involved.  Please submit your resume and letter or email no later than May 1, 2019. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Peter Cahoon at (330) 376-5300.