Bar Association board approves consent calendar unanimously after public comments on GR 12.2 analysis, character and fitness, and proposed public board members

The Bar Association Board of Governors approved its consent calendar unanimously and heard public comments Tuesday afternoon asking whether the board’s recent statement supporting an independent legal profession complied with General Rule 12.2, and seeking updates on a pending character-and-fitness review and a proposed policy to add public board members.

The statement on an independent legal profession prompted Tamara Garrison to ask, “if the board of governors did a GR 12.2 analysis. And if so, what were your findings? And also, how does this not run afoul of Pro v, Oregon State Bar Association, and the findings in that case?”

Executive Director Nevett responded that the board “did do a thorough analysis to make sure that the statement was germane to the purposes of a bar association and consistent with General Rule 12,” and said the board determined the statement aligned with the association’s roles of regulating the profession and increasing access to legal services.

Former governor Brent Williams Ruth urged additional action related to a character-and-fitness report, saying he had “dedicated my life and thousands of hours to the bar since 2017” and expressed disappointment at the lack of a decision after more than two years. Nevett said the court recently sent the board a letter with questions, that staff plan to reach out to the original task force to help answer those questions, and acknowledged an administrative error in sending the court letter that delayed the process.

Wen James Minh asked about a new notice regarding public board members; Nevett said that matter was on the afternoon agenda for a first reading at about 3:15 p.m. and invited Minh to stay for that discussion.

On the formal action, the board voted to approve the remaining consent-calendar items en bloc after an unnamed motion and second. A roll call recorded affirmative votes from Governors Tom Ahern, Parvin Price, Kevin Fay, Allen Villeneuve, Todd Bloom, Mary Rathbone, Allison Whitney, Christina Lehi, Christopher Bang, Matthew Dresden, Jordan Couch, Emily Arneson, Kari Petrasic, and Nam Nguyen. The chair declared the motion “passes unanimously.”

The public comments focused on procedural and rule-based questions rather than proposed new rules or specific disciplinary outcomes; Nevett described the board’s next steps on the character-and-fitness questions as outreach to the original task force and further follow-up with the court. The board also signaled that the proposed public member policy would receive a public first reading later in the afternoon.

The meeting continued with the scheduled afternoon agenda after the vote.