The VBA Journal is the official publication of The Virginia Bar Association.
Issue link: http://vba.epubxp.com/i/99281
PRESIDENTÕS PAGE BY HUGH M. FAIN III PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA BAR ASSOCIATION parting thoughts support our judiciary, young lawyers and bar associations O ne of the great privileges of serving as president is being able to deliver a message in this column to VBA Journal readers. Tis is my last time at bat, so I would like to leave you with a few thoughts and observations that I think are important for our members to consider. SUPPORT OUR JUDICIARY Our judges are required by their oaths of ofce to maintain absolute impartiality, preventing them from speaking publicly on matters that may afect them personally. It is therefore important for the members of the bar to support and, where appropriate, speak out for our judiciary. Last year Virginia had an annual fscal budget of about $42 billion. Less than 1 percent of that budget, about $381 million, was allocated to the operations of our entire judicial branch. At the same time, our courts collected and deposited into the Commonwealth's General Fund approximately $661 million in fees, costs and fnes. Remarkably, the judicial branch actually pays for its own annual operations nearly two times over. Despite these startling statistics, judicial vacancies have mounted steadily since 2008, resulting in 48 unflled vacancies by 2011. During this same time, court staf positions also remained unflled at unprecedented levels. Because of judicial vacancies, the average caseloads handled by courts in many judicial circuits have risen dramatically, in some localities by more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, judicial branch employees have not received a base salary increase, even for cost of living, since 2007. During the 2012 legislative session, 34 of the 48 judicial vacancies were flled and some additional funding for court 4 • VBA JOURNAL staf was allocated. But much more needs to be done to support our judiciary. By the time the next General Assembly session convenes, we will have at 44 current and announced judicial vacancies. Stafng at many District Courts is 80 percent of model levels even after the funding allocated by the legislature in the last session. Sadly, our prized judiciary is understafed and undercompensated. It is essential for the bar in general, and the VBA specifcally, to speak out about this problem. We must proactively work for higher compensation for court staf and judges and full funding for unflled vacancies throughout our judicial branch. SUPPORT OUR YOUNG LAWYERS Te average amount of educational loan debt carried by recent law school graduates is about $100,000. Average starting salaries for young lawyers lucky enough to fnd employment is a lot less than the debt they are carrying. According to a new study by the National Association for Law Placement, the employment rate for recent law school graduates is at its lowest level since 1994. Only 85.6 percent of 2011 law school graduates (whose employment status was known) had jobs nine months after leaving school. Tat is 2 percentage points lower than the employment levels of the 2010 grads. Most alarming, only 65.4 percent of 2011 grads had jobs that required that they had to pass the bar exam. Tis is the lowest percentage ever recorded. We are living through the longest and most dramatic economic downturn since the Great Depression. Te legal profession has been reshaped in many ways in the past four years. As lawyers and judges, we can do little to turn the economy around. But as leaders in our profession, we can and should fnd ways to support the young lawyers who have recently entered our ranks.