Lawyers for CIVIL Justice

“The Executive Committee is comprised of the following Members of the Board of Directors: the President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, four Corporate Member Directors, and one Law Firm Member Director. The Board of Directors may delegate to the Executive Committee any of the authority of the Board of Directors except amending, altering, or repealing the Bylaws; electing, appointing or removing any Member of any such Committee or any Director or Officer of the Corporation; amending the Articles of Incorporation; restating the Articles of Incorporation; adopting a plan of merger or adopting a plan of consolidation with another corporation; authorizing the sale, lease, exchange or mortgage or all or substantially all of the property and assets of the Corporation; authorizing the voluntary dissolution of the Corporation or revoking proceedings therefore; adopting a plan for the distribution of the assets of the Corporation;; or, amending, altering or repealing any resolution of the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee shall otherwise have and exercise the full authority of the Board Directors in the management of the Corporation between meetings of the Board of Directors.”

“The organization has two levels of membership. First, the member corporations and defense organizations have designated representatives to the organization. They have full voting rights. A second category of members, which includes law firms and contributors to the organization, has no voting rights.”

“The LCJ members meet annually in the second and fourth quarter of each year as mandated by the bylaws. The defense organizations each designate three representative organizations as Board members. The Executive Committee acts as a Nominating Committee for purposes of recommending the remaining representatives from the corporate sector with one Board member being selected from the Associate member category. The nominations are then considered by the full Board for ratification.”

“Each Corporate and Defense Legal Organization Member shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the Members. The act of two-thirds of the Voting Members present or represented by proxy at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be required to amend or restate the Articles of Incorporation; approve a merger, consolidation, or dissolution or revoking proceedings therefor; to authorize the sale, lease, or disposition of all or substantially all of the property and assets of the Corporation; or remove a Director from office.”

“The Executive Director reviews the 990 tax return upon receipt from the preparer. Once the 990 is approved internally, the 990 tax return is forwarded to the Finance Committee for an independent review. Any questions or concerns from the Finance Committee are directed to the Executive Director. Once the Finance Committee and the Executive Director are satisfied as to the completion of the 990 tax return, the Executive Director then signs the return.”

“Annually all key employees and members of the Board of Directors are required to read and understand the conflict of interest policy, agree to comply with the policy, make disclosures as necessary and sign the organization's conflict of interest statement as a condition of their position with the organization. At this time any conflicts must be disclosed to the Executive Director or elected President of the organization. If a conflict is confirmed, the conflict will be communicated to all members of the Board of Directors and the individual with the conflict with be unable to vote on any matters related to the conflict of interest. All members of the staff and Board of Directors are directed to enforce the conflict of interest policy. If they suspect a conflict, it must be communicated to the organization's Executive Director or elected President, who will then take appropriate action in regards to a potential conflict.”

“The Executive Director is reviewed annually by the Executive Committee. The level of compensation established for the Executive Director includes review of performance, the skills of the employee as independent information taking into account the geographic location, and information available for similarly situated employees in other similar capacities. Key employees are reviewed by the Executive Director annually regarding compensation; the Board of Directors includes a general percentage increase with the organization's annual budget, and is used to adjust employee salaries with the Executive Director's discretion.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Since 1987, Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ), a partnership of leading corporate counsel and defense bar practitioners, has fought to streamline rules in our civil justice system. LCJ promotes the corporate and defense perspective on proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and works proactively to achieve specific rule reforms by galvanizing corporate and defense practitioners and legal scholars to offer consensus proposals to the rule makers. Our current federal rulemaking agenda is focused on: 1) Reforming expert evidence testimony admissibility standards; 2) Improving class action and multi-district litigation procedure; 3) Developing incentive based "requester pays" default rules; 4) Requiring disclosure of third-party investments in litigation ("TPLF"); and 5) Supporting appropriate salaries for federal judges and funding of the federal judiciary to preserve a high quality and independent federal judiciary”

“Communications 241,383. Consultants 18,292. Payroll Processing Fees 3,165. Professional Fees 2,982.”

“The organization's Executive Committee is responsible for oversight of the reviewed financial statements, including the selection of the independent accountant. The process has not changed from previous years.”