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| public policy homepage > public policy procedures | |
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BBA Public Policy Procedures The BBA provides its members with the opportunity to engage in significant public policy work related to the administration of justice, the practice of law, and other issues of special interest or concern to the organization. By originating innovative solutions to problems of legal policy, and participating in larger policy debates, the BBA serves the legal profession and the public, in a direct and significant way. Development of Public Policy Work Product Public policy work may take a variety of forms, e.g., proposed legislation, agency regulations, or court rules; white papers; on-going programs or discrete projects. Individual Sections may not promulgate section-only public policy positions; all public policy positions must be adopted by the BBA as a whole. Any BBA Section wishing to pursue an idea related to the shaping of legal or public policy should contact the Director of Government Relations ("the Director") at the outset, so that the BBA can provide suitable guidance, assistance and oversight for all of its public policy work. The Director is automatically assigned to work with any Presidential task force constituted to tackle a question of legal or public policy. A vote of a Section's steering committee, or of a task force, is necessary before a policy proposal may advance. Once a Section or a task force completes its work product, and decides to seek approval for its public release, the following procedures must be followed. Approval as an official BBA policy position The Director will make available to all BBA sections the proposed policy position, accompanied by any related documents, and invite all sections to comment. Sections may be given a limited amount of time to indicate preliminarily whether they wish to take up the proposal for discussion and possible comment. Generally, any section indicating a desire to weigh in on a policy proposal will be expected to do so promptly after its next steering committee meeting, although circumstances may warrant a shorter or larger grant of time, as determined by the Director, in consultation with the President and Executive Director. Comments from the various sections will be delivered to the Director, who in turn, will make them available to the Section or task force proposing the policy position. A Section or task force proposing a policy position is encouraged to consider the comments it receives from other parts of the organization, and to consult with all interested Sections on possible revisions to the policy proposal. Once consensus among interested Sections is reached, or the proposing entity determines that consensus cannot be reached, and decides to proceed with its proposal nonetheless, the Director will present the proposal to the Executive Committee, which will determine whether the proposal is ready to go before the Council. Where no consensus has been reached among interested Sections, the Executive Committee has discretion to set the proposal aside for a reasonable period of time while the Sections seek to reach consensus, or to place both the proposal and opposing Sections' views before the Council for decision. Where the Executive Committee determines that time is of the essence, it may approve the public release of a policy position prior to the next scheduled meeting of the Council. Whenever possible, Council members will be given notice and an opportunity to provide comment to the Executive Committee before such public release of a policy position takes place. The Council will be apprised of the Executive Committee's decision at its next monthly meeting. The scope of Council approval of a BBA policy position will be considered to include approval of subsequent revisions to the position that the originating Section wishes to make, which are consistent with the original policy approval and unopposed by other Sections. Policy revisions may only be made with the actual knowledge and authorization of the Director. The Director will notify all sections of any proposed policy revision consistent with the Council's original policy approval, and of the deadline for comment. If there is no opposition to a proposed revision, the Director will notify the Executive Committee of the proposed revision, and provide its members with a deadline for comment. In the absence of opposition from any member of the Executive Committee, the Director will authorize the revision proposed. If Sections disagree and cannot reach consensus on the proposed revisions, the Director will not authorize the revision. Important Notice The Director of Government Relations is the BBA's only legally
authorized legislative/executive agent. While BBA members may state or
explain an approved BBA position to anyone, under no circumstances may
a member advocate or purport to advocate on behalf of the BBA either a
pending or approved BBA policy position before any legislative or executive
branch body, official, or employee, except (1) when accompanying the Director
to a meeting with a public official or other public employee, or (2) under
specific circumstances explicitly authorized in advance by the Director,
consistent with legal restrictions. This rule pertains to any means of
expression, including correspondence, phone conversations, and formal
or informal meetings. (There is no restriction on advocating BBA positions
in conversations with members or employees of the Judiciary.) BBA members'
cooperation with this important legal policy is much appreciated. |