February 3, 2004


ADM File No. 2003-15

Administrative Order No. 2004-01

State Bar of Michigan Activities
                              

     On order of the Court, notice of the proposed changes and an opportunity for comment
in writing and at a public hearing having been provided, and consideration having been given
to the comments received, Administrative Order 2004-01 is adopted, effective immediately. 
Administrative Order 1993-5 is rescinded, effective immediately.

     [The underscoring and strikeovers show the changes from 
         the text of former Administrative Order 1993-5.]

I.   Ideological Activities Generally.

     The State Bar of Michigan shall not, except as provided in this order, use the dues of its
members to fund activities of an ideological nature that are not reasonably related to:

     (aA) the regulation and discipline of attorneys;  

     (bB) matters relating to the improvement of the functioning of the courts, judicial
efficacy and efficiency;

     (cC) increasing the availability of legal services to society;

     (dD) the regulation of attorney trust accounts; and

     (eE) the regulation of the legal profession, including the education, the ethics, the
competencey, and the integrity and regulation of the legal profession.

     On or about August 15 of each year, tThe State Bar of Michigan shall permanently post
on its website, and annually publish in the Michigan Bar Journal, a notice advising members of
these limitations on the use of dues and the State Bar budget for the next fiscal year.

II.  Activities Intended to Influence Legislation.
     
     (A)  The State Bar of Michigan may use the mandatory dues of all members to review
and analyze pending legislation.

     (B)  The State Bar of Michigan may use the mandatory dues of all members to provide
content-neutral technical assistance to legislators, provided that:

          (1)  a legislator requests the assistance;

          (2)  the executive director, in consultation with the president of the State Bar of
Michigan, approves the request in a letter to the legislator stating that providing technical
assistance does not imply either support for or opposition to the legislation; and

          (3)  the president executive director of the State Bar of Michigan annually
prepares and publishes in the Michigan Bar Journal a report summarizing all technical assistance
provided during the preceding year.

     (C)  No other activities intended to influence legislation may be funded with members'
mandatory dues, unless the legislation in question is limited to matters within the scope of the
ideological-activities requirements in Section I.

     (D)  Neither the State Bar of Michigan nor any person acting as its representative shall
take any action to support or oppose legislation unless the position has been approved by a two-
thirds vote of the Board of Commissioners or Representative Assembly taken after all members
were advised, by notice published in the Michigan Bar Journal posted on the State Bar website
at least 2 weeks prior to the Board or Assembly meeting, that the proposed legislation would
might be discussed at the meeting.  The published posted notice shall include a brief summary
of the legislation, a link to the text and status of the pending legislation on the Michigan
Legislature website, and a statement that members may express their opinion to the State Bar of
Michigan at the meeting, electronically, or by written or telephonic communication to the State
Bar of Michigan.  The webpage on which the notice is posted shall provide an opportunity for
members to respond electronically, and the comments of members who wish to have their
comments made public shall be accessible on the same webpage.  When time constraints prevent
timely publication of a notice in the Michigan Bar Journal, the notice may be provided by any
alternative method that will deliver individual written notices to all members at least 7 days
before the meeting.
     
     (E)  The results of all Board and Assembly votes on proposals to support or oppose
legislation shall be posted on the State Bar website as soon as possible after the vote, and
published in the next Michigan Bar Journal.  When either body adopts a position on proposed
legislation by a less-than-unanimous vote, a roll call vote shall be taken, and each commissioner's
or assembly-person's vote shall be included in the published notice.

     (F)  Those sections of the State Bar of Michigan that are funded by the voluntary dues
of their members are not subject to this order, and may engage in ideological activities on their
own behalf.  Whenever a section engages in ideological activities, it must include on
the first page of each submission, before the text begins and in print larger than the statement's
text, a disclosure indicating

                              (1) that the section is not the State Bar of Michigan but
               rather a section whose membership is voluntary, 

                              (2) that the position expressed is that of the section
               only, and that the State Bar has no position on the
               matter, or, if the State Bar has a position on the matter,
               what that position is,

                              (3) the total membership of the section, 

                              (4) the process used by the section to take an
               ideological position, 

                              (5) the number of members in the decision- making
               body, and

                              (6) the number who voted in favor and opposed to the
               position.

                    If an ideological communication is made orally, the same
          information must be effectively communicated to the audience
          receiving the communication.

                    Although the bylaws of the State Bar of Michigan may not generally
          prohibit sections from engaging in ideological activity,  for a
          violation of this Administrative Order or the State Bar of Michigan's
          bylaws, the State Bar of Michigan may revoke the authority of a
          section to engage in ideological activities, or to use State Bar
          facilities or personnel in any fashion, by a majority vote of the Board
          of Commissioners. If the Board determines a violation occurred, the
          section shall, at a minimum, withdraw its submission and
          communicate the withdrawal in the same manner as the original
          communication occurred to the extent possible.  The communication
          shall be at the section's own cost and shall acknowledge that the
          position was unauthorized.
  

III. Challenges Regarding State Bar Activities.

     (A)  A member who claims that the State Bar of Michigan is funding ideological activity
in violation of this order may file a challenge by giving written notice, by e-mail or regular mail,
to the executive director.

               (a1) A challenge involving legislative advocacy must be filed with the
State Bar by e-mail or regular mail within 60 days of the posting of notice of adoption of the
challenged position on the State Bar of Michigan website; a challenge sent by regular mail must
be postmarked on or before the last day of the month following the month in which notice of
adoption of that legislative position is published in the Michigan Bar Journal pursuant to section
II(E).

               (b2) A challenge involving ideological activity appearing in the annual
budget of the State Bar of Michigan must be postmarked or e-mailed on or before October 20
following the publication of the budget funding the challenged activity.

               (c3) A challenge involving any other ideological activity must be
postmarked or e-mailed on or before the last day of the month following the month in which
disclosure of that ideological activity is published in the Michigan Bar Journal.

     Failure to challenge within the time allotted shall constitute a waiver.

     (B)  After a written challenge has been received, the executive director shall promptly
determine the pro rata amount of the member's dues used to fund the challenged activity and shall
place that amount in an escrow account pending determination of the merits of the challenge
place the item on the agenda of the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners, and shall make
a report and recommendation to the Board concerning disposition of the challenge.  In
considering the challenge, the Board shall direct the executive director to take one or more of the
following actions:

               (1)  dismiss the challenge, with explanation;

               (2)  discontinue the challenged activity;

               revoke the challenged position, and publicize the revocation in the same
manner and to the same extent as the position was communicated;

               arrange for reimbursement to the challenger of a pro rata share of the cost
of the challenged activity; and

               (5)  arrange for reimbursement of all members requesting a pro rata share
of the cost of the challenged activity in the next dues billing.

     (C)  Upon expiration of the deadline for receipt of written challenges to the same
activity, the Board of Commissioners shall decide whether to give a pro rata refund to the
challengers or to refer the challenge to arbitration.
     
     (D)  A challenge that is not resolved between the parties shall be submitted to an
arbitrator appointed by the American Arbitration Association, who shall determine whether the
funding of the activity complies with the limitations of this order. If not, the arbitrator shall
determine the pro-rata share of dues, plus statutory judgment interest from the date of payment
of those dues to the State Bar of Michigan, that is to be refunded.  The State Bar of Michigan has
the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the activity is permitted by this
order.  The necessary costs of the arbitration shall be paid by the State Bar of Michigan.

     (E)  (C)  A challenger or the State Bar of Michigan may seek review by this Court of
the arbitrator's decisions as to whether the challenged activity violates the limitations on State
Bar ideological activities set forth in this order, and as to the appropriate remedy for a violation
any pro rata share of dues to be refunded.
     

     (D)  A summary of the challenges filed under this section during a legislative term and
their disposition shall be posted on the State Bar's website.
     

IV.  Other State Bar Activities.

     The State Bar of Michigan shall: 

     (A)  annually publish in the Michigan Bar Journal a notice informing members that,
upon request, their names will be removed from the mailing list that is used for commercial
mailings, and

     (B)  annually publish in the Michigan Bar Journal a notice informing members of the
Young Lawyers Section that, upon request, their membership in that section will be terminated.; 

     (C)  limit its funding of the Michigan Lawyers Auxiliary to $5000 per year with
adjustments for inflation after 1981, the funding to continue for as long as  Michigan Lawyers
Auxiliary continues its Law Day activities, specifically including the Law Day essay contest.

     Staff Comment:  The February 3, 2004, amendment of Section I and the related changes
in Section II are designed to ensure a higher degree of confidence that State Bar positions reflect
consensus among the membership and to ensure the vitality of the Bar's mechanisms for
soliciting, understanding, and representing the views of its members.

     The changes in Section II(B)(2) and (3) are housekeeping measures that transfer the
authority for approval of legislators' requests for technical assistance from the president of the
State Bar to the executive director, in consultation with the president, and that gives the executive
director sole authority over the publication responsibility.

     The changes to Section II are designed to make the procedures for member challenges to
State Bar advocacy more practical and effective.  The State Bar has identified two problems with
the current exception for the ideological activities of State Bar sections: a section viewpoint may
not be reflective of the views of a segment of the profession, and the section may be
communicating its views in such a way that they are mistakenly perceived to be the views of the
Bar as a whole.  Subsection (F) is intended to reinforce the requirements of the current bylaws
and to pave the way toward correction of these problems.
     
     The amendment of Section IV is a housekeeping measure that eliminates the funding
provision for the Lawyers Auxiliary Law Day program, which does not fit with the other issues
in the order.  Law Day activities are not of an ideological nature, but are educational and designed
to introduce students to the court system and to encourage greater public understanding of the
legal system.
     
     The staff comment is not an authoritative construction by the Court.