O\u27Neill, Terry J.

English

University of Denver

Denver Law Review Volume 30 Issue 11 Article 1 June 2021 Purposes of the Colorado Bar Foundation Terry J. O'Neill Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/dlr Recommended Citation Terry J. O'Neill, Purposes of the Colorado Bar Foundation, 30 Dicta 397 (1953). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Denver Law Review at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact jennifer.cox@du.edu,dig-commons@du.edu. Nov., 1953PURPOSES OF THE COLORADO BARFOUNDATIONTERRY, J. O'NEILL,Secretary, Colo. Bar Association,Assistant Secretary, Colo. Bar Foundation, IncorporatedPotentially a bar association is the strongest and most balanc-ing asset that any community possesses. A bar association is ineffect a composite of highly trained minds that are experiencedin dealing with problems of government and with the economicand social relations of individuals. Members of the bar are to befound on all sides of every controversial issue and lawyers, as amatter of principle, will express their convictions and support theirpositions with sound reasoning. Because of the nature of the mem-bership it represents, a bar association can never be far off thesound center course on any controversial issue.For these reasons the potential ability of a bar association toserve the community in which it functions is limitless. However,most bar associations are powerless to realize this potentialitybecause of financial and staff limitations and the Colorado BarAssociation is no exception in this regard. The limited income ofa bar association obtained through the dues paid by its membersis usually sufficient only to maintain an office with sufficientpersonnel to handle necessary routine functions, to maintain or-ganization records, and to prepare and circulate a few necessarybar association publications.The highest functions of a bar association are renderedthrough committee activities and too frequently no funds are avail-able after administrative costs are budgeted to allow for these com-mittee activities.Rarely does a week pass in which some member does not in-form the Secretary of the Colorado Bar Association of some ac-tivity which the Bar Association could undertake to better servethe profession or better serve the people of the State of Colorado.The merit of many of these suggestions is beyond question but toooften they can not be considered because of the monetary or per-sonnel requirements which they entail.There is not a year goes by in which the work of some com-mittee of the Colorado Bar Association must not be halted becausethe Board of Governors cannot allocate the necessary funds whichthe committee needs and requires for a project.The program for judicial reform which the Colorado Bar As-sociation is now following is possible only because a fund in excessof $16,000 was obtained through individual and foundation giftsand enabled the Association to make the comprehensive preliminarystudy which this project required.At present a comprehensive study of Colorado laws relatingto the family is urgently needed. For a number of years. the Do-DICTANov., 1953mestic Relations Committee of the Colorado Bar Association, con-sisting of able lawyers with experience in the field of family law,have studied the problem and given large amounts of time to thisproject. But the work of the Committee cannot go on becausefunds are not available to gather necessary data and make thenecessary study which the Committee requires, if a proper familylaw code for Colorado is to be developed.There is much material concerning Colorado law and the ad-ministration of justice which could be printed and should be dis-tributed to Colorado lawyers. A Handbook for Title Examiners inColorado has been prepared by two highly qualified attorneyswhich we wish could be published and provided to every lawyerin the state. Sample pleadings for different types of actions arebeing published from time to time in Dicta which we feel shouldbe published under one cover and provided to all our lawyer mem-bers. Many times valuable legal material is assembled and pre-sented by speakers at the various institutes sponsored by the Colo-rado Bar Association throughout the state. Only the few who at-tend these institutes are benefited by the material presented. Pro-viding all lawyers with such information would enhance the stand-ards of legal learning and thereby serve the public. The ColoradoBar Association should be able to publish such material and makeit available to its members.Education of the public on legal matters is also important andhere too the Colorado Bar Association has its responsibilities. TheAssociation has prepared a pamphlet containing information forprospective jurors which is to be published and distributed to alljury panels as soon as the final draft receives the approval of theDistrict and County Judges Associations. There is much other in-formation of a legal nature which should be provided to the publicby the organized bar.The courts of Colorado are also dependent upon the organizedbar for many necessary services whether they be the courts oflowest jurisdiction in which most people form their first impres-sion of judicial process or courts of last resort. There are manyobligations which lawyers, as officers of the courts, owe to thecourts which can only be met through organized effort. Again theresponsibilities of the Colorado Bar Association are great. Ourability to meet these responsibilities is seriously impaired by fi-nancial limitations.It cannot be questioned that a bar association must first meetcertain administrative costs if any organization is to exist, butthe highest and most important functions of such an associationare services which it can perform in the interest of the public:and the profession and are not its administrative activities. Theseservices cannot be financed from current dues paid by members.All lawyers are not in the same economic class and if the rate ofdues which would be required to finance these activities were im-DICTAposed upon all association members, few indeed could afford tomaintain their membership in the Association. Some additionalfunds could be obtained by the collection of additional contribu-tions from our more able members. This was at one time attemptedthrough the device of sustaining memberships and indeed therehave been times when our Bar Association could not have operatedwithout the help of these additional contributions.However, because so many of these desired activities are inthe public interest, contributions could be solicited from a trustfund built upon gifts from foundations and bequests from lawyersand individuals who have a sincere interest in the administrationof justice; which trust fund could offer tax advantages to its con-tributors and the assurance that its funds would be used exclusivelyin the public interest. Such a fund, if the corpus could not be in-vaded, would provide permanence to the work which it undertakes.Anyone who has had experience in preparing administrative orgovernmental budgets realizes that it is unsound to expand servicesthrough the use of funds which are not permanently available andwhich might be cut off at any time and cause the discontinuationof the services thus instituted.If lawyers as a class are to meet the responsibilities whichthey owe to the courts and to the general public and if the or-ganized bar is to realize its potential for service to the community,many more services in the public interest must be performed.Recognizing the need, a study of the problem was commencedduring the administration of James K. Groves in- 1950. Since thenmuch time has been given to this subject by the Board of Gov-ernors of the Colorado Bar Association. A committee, consistingof Dudley W. Strickland, Jr., Joseph G. Hodges, Richard P. Brownand myself as Secretary, has carefully studied all programs usedby other bar associations to meet this problem and foundations ingeneral. It was this committee that prepared the Articles of In-corporation of the Colorado Bar Foundation, Inc., which are setforth on the following pages. The incorporators listed in theseArticles are Jean S. Breitenstein, Richard P. Brown, Joseph G.Hodges and D. W. Strickland, Jr. The first trustees of the Colo-rado Bar Foundation were selected by a committee consisting ofWilliam E. Hutton, Warren W. Lattimer and Winston S. Howard.These trustees are William R. Kelly, James K. Groves, Thomas M.Burgess, Milton J. Keegan and William Hedges Robinson and willserve until elective processes as provided for by the Articles takeeffect.The Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Secretaryof State of the State of Colorado on October 9, 1953. In the opinionof tax counsel, contributions to the Colorado Bar Foundation aredeductible for federal income tax purposes and a request for aruling to this effect has been filed with the Director of InternalRevenue.Nov., 1953 DICTA 399Nov., 1953Soon after this issue of Dicta is distributed, subscriptionblanks will be mailed to each member of the Colorado Bar Associa-tion. All members are urged to give consideration to the responsi-bility which they owe to their profession and to pledge assistanceto the Colorado Bar Foundation, Inc., insofar as they are finan-cially able. All lawyers are urged to add a codicil to their willswhich will name the Colorado Bar Foundation and are urged torecommend to clients with adequate means and social responsibilitythat they consider the Foundation as a worthy recipient of gifts andbequests. It is felt that the funds which these contemplated projectswill require in the future must come primarily from bequests andthat initial subscriptions can only provide the Foundation with anucleus upon which its future growth can be based.The Articles of Incorporation provide that the principal orcorpus of funds which the Colorado Bar Foundation acquires can-not be invaded. The purposes of the Foundation are in the publicinterest and are set forth in the Articles of Incorporation whichare printed on the following pages for your perusal and seriousconsideration.INHERITANCE TAX RULESPursuant to the power and authority contained in Section 8of the Administrative Code of 1941, Chapter 2, Session Laws ofColorado, 1941, the Honorable Duke W. Dunbar, Attorney Generalof the State of Colorado, has prescribed the following amendedrules and regulations for the government of the Division of theInheritance and Gift Tax of the Department of Law:Rule 11(f) : U. S. Series G and Series K bonds shall be valuedas follows:(i) if redeemed subsequent to the first interest paymentdate after death, at face value, plus interest com-puted to the date of death from the last interest pay-ment date prior to death, or(ii) if redeemed before the first interest payment dateafter death, at redemption value.Rule 28: In order to avoid the irposition of penalty for latefiling, all applications must be received by the Depart-ment within the time stated in the Statute. However,when applications are mailed, the Department shall relyupon the postmarked date to determine delinquency; andto avoid the imposition of penalty on mailed applica-tions, the envelope must bear a postmarked date not laterthan 12:00 midnight of the last day prior to the date theapplication should have been received by the Departmentif it were not mailed.DICTA

Purposes of the Colorado Bar Foundation

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Purposes of the Colorado Bar Foundation

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