Bill Text: MS SC515 | 2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-4)
Status: (Passed) 2014-02-13 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC515 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-SC515-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Hopson, Burton, Butler (38th), Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Jolly, Longwitz, Simmons (12th), Simmons (13th), Stone, Watson
Senate Concurrent Resolution 515
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MISSISSIPPI BAR FOUNDATION.
WHEREAS, the Mississippi Bar Foundation was organized in 1963 after The Mississippi Bar President C. Sidney Carlton of Greenville recognized the need for an organization that would be representative of the Bench and Bar and able to improve the administration of justice; and
WHEREAS, a six-man study committee chaired by N.W. Overstreet, Jr., carefully reviewed the experiences and operations of 12 legal foundations throughout the country. The committee recommended unanimously to the Board of Commissioners of the Bar that a nonprofit corporation be established to direct its research skills and efforts toward supplying essential information and ideas for the solution of current legal issues in the public interest and to improve the administration of justice. The recommendations of the committee were approved by the Board of Commissioners at its meeting on December 6, 1962; and
WHEREAS, in a 1963 Mississippi Law Journal article, Justice W.N. Ethridge described the Fellows of the Foundation as "a fraternal group of distinguished members of the profession, who have as a common bond their desire to fulfill their responsibilities to the law and to the profession by participating in and supporting the activities of the Foundation"; and
WHEREAS, since its founding in 1963, the Foundation accomplishments have been many, including grants from the Fellows to assist in funding of the Statewide Mock Trail Competition; Katrina relief; the Wills for Heroes program, law school scholarships and various Bar forums, conferences, studies and publications. The Foundation also funded the publication of a history of The Mississippi Bar and the Mississippi Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, in February 1988, the Foundation celebrated its 25th Anniversary with the dedication of The Mississippi Bar Center. This year the Bar Center celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Since opening in 1988, the Bar Center has been the headquarters of The Mississippi Bar and the Foundation. It has been the site of many bar-related meetings and receptions and is used weekly by lawyers for depositions, mediations and client meetings; and
WHEREAS, the Bar Foundation administers Mississippi's Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. The IOLTA program was created as a voluntary program in 1984 by order of the Mississippi Supreme Court in response to a petition by the Bar. The Court's order allows lawyers to convert their trust accounts to interest-bearing accounts. The interest earned on the accounts is sent by financial institutions to the Bar Foundation and then awarded to law-related public service programs and to programs to improve the administration of justice. Since its inception, the IOLTA program has awarded over $12,500,000.00 in grants in Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, the Mississippi Bar Foundation's past Presidents include: 1962-1963, Homer Pittman, Hattiesburg; 1963-1964, W.S. Henley, Hazlehurst; 1964-1965, N.W. Overstreet, Jackson; 1965-1966, Hugh N. Clayton, New Albany; 1966-1967, Sidney Carlton, Sumner; 1966-1967, David Cottrell, Jr., Gulfport; 1967-1968, Orma R. Smith, Corinth; 1968-1969, John T. Armstrong, Hazlehurst; 1969-1970, Frank Everett, Vicksburg; 1970-1971, Guy W. Mitchell, Jr., Tupelo; 1971-1972, Bruce Aultman, Sumrall; 1972-1973, James Wilbourn, Vance; 1973-1974, Joe H. Daniel, Jackson; 1974-1975, Harry Hoffman, Hazlehurst; 1975-1976, Fred M. Bush, Jr., Tupelo; 1976-1977, Thomas R. Ethridge, Oxford; 1977-1978, Frank D. Montague, Jr., Hattiesburg; 1978-1979, Phineas Stevens, Jackson; 1979-1980, Lester F. Sumners, New Albany; 1980-1981, Roy D. Campbell, Jr., Greenville; 1981-1982, Ernest Graves, Laurel; 1982-1983, Robert Patterson, Aberdeen; 1983-1984, George P. Hewes, III, Jackson; 1984-1985, Eaton A. Lang, Jr., Gulfport; 1985-1986, Dewitt T. Hicks, Jr., Columbus; 1986-1987, Pat H. Scanlon, Jackson; 1987-1988, Sherman L. Muths, Jr., Gulfport; 1988-1989, George P. Cossar, Jr., Charleston; 1989-1990, Luther S. Ott, Jackson; 1990-1991, Paul M. Newton, Gulfport; 1991-1992, James Hugh Ray, Tupelo; 1992-1993, P. Nick Harkins, III, Jackson; 1993-1994, William S. Mullins, III, Laurel; 1994-1995, W. Allen Pepper, Jr., Cleveland; 1995-1996, Mark D. Herbert, Jackson; 1996-1997, Donnie D. Riley, Gulfport; 1997-1998, Landman Teller, Jr., Vicksburg; 1998-1999, William M. Dalehite, Jr., Jackson; 1999-2000, Robert C. Galloway, Gulfport; 2000-2001, Sharion R. Aycock, Fulton; 2001-2002, Harold D. Miller, Jr., Jackson; 2002-2003, E. Brooke Ferris, III, Laurel; 2003-2004, Richard G. Noble, Indianola; 2004-2005, Robert L. Gibbs, Jackson; 2005-2006, H. Rodger Wilder, Gulfport; 2006-2007, Nina S. Tollison, Oxford; 2007-2008, H. Hunter Twiford III, Jackson; 2008-2009, Colette Oldmixon, Poplarville; 2009-2010, Harold H. Mitchell, Jr., Greenville; 2010-2011, John M. McCullouch, Ridgeland; 2011-2012, Karen K. Sawyer, Gulfport; and 2012-2013, Ronald L. Roberts, Columbus; and
WHEREAS, thanks to the vision of a few Bar leaders, the last 50 years have seen the Foundation grow from a simple recommendation of a study committee to an active organization of the profession's best serving the public and profession in Mississippi; and it is with great pride that we join the legal profession in celebrating this landmark event:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to current Mississippi Bar Foundation President Steve Rosenblatt, forwarded to the Mississippi Board of Bar Commissioners, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
