State Bar of Arizona

“As provided in rule 32 (c) of the rules of the supreme court of arizona and the bylaws of the corporation, membership is divided into six classes: active, inactive, retired, suspended, judicial and affiliate. Disbarred or resigned persons are not members of the bar. Active members consist of every person licensed to practice law in the state of arizona except for persons who are inactive, retired, suspended, judicial, or affiliate members. Legal paraprofessionals are affiliate members for purposes of regulation and discipline under rule 32. All persons admitted to practice in accordance with the rules of the court shall, by that fact, become active or affiliate members of the state bar. Upon admission, the applicant must pay a fee as required by the supreme court and an annual membership fee to maintain membership status. Members have limited rights to vote on certain issues regarding the governance of the organization and do not receive any of the organization's profits, excess dues, or receive a share of the organization's net assets upon dissolution.”

“Per rule 32, the board is composed of sixteen (16) elected governors and ten (10) appointed governors. Elected governors are elected by members in specified districts. The supreme court appoints four (4) public governors who must not be state bar of arizona members of the state bar and must not have, other than as consumers of legal services, a financial interest in the practice of law; three (3) at-large governors, who may be former elected, public, or district governors; and (3) district governors who must be members of the state bar and meet defined district requirements.”

“Rule 32 (organization of the state bar of arizona) of the rules of the arizona supreme court govern the mission, composition of the board of director, membership classes, membership fees and require oversight by the arizona supreme court. Membership fees are established by the board with the consent of the supreme court of arizona.”

“The chief financial officer reviews the return with the tax preparer. A complete copy of the final form 990 is provided to the ceo/executive director and members of the board of governors for review prior to the filing of the return. The finance and audit committee is also provided with a complete copy of the final form 990 for review.”

“The state bar of arizona has a written conflict of interest policy. This policy is discussed with all new employees and new board members. All employees are required to sign a written statement that they have read the policy. In addition, the state bar has a mandatory annual ethics training. Each employee is responsible for coming forward with a potential conflict of interest or reporting possible conflicts that they may be aware of. The state bar of arizona department or division head is responsible for reviewing potential conflicts. If it involves a division head, review resides with the ceo/executive director. If it involves the ceo/executive director, review resides with the board president. All board members are required to sign a conflict of interest disclosure statement on an annual basis at the beginning of the board of governors term year. If a person is identified with a conflict, he or she is removed from the vetting and decision-making process related to that conflict.”

“The executive compensation committee, which is comprised of active board members, sets and adjusts the salary of the ceo/executive director. The ceo/executive director salary is reviewed annually. The policy allows the board to seek assistance from outside advisors and consultants to obtain objective and market-based data, such as compensation studies, independent firms, etc. The executive compensation committee reviews research provided by an independent consultant and makes recommendations to the board. The board then votes to approve, modify, or reject the recommendation.”

“The organization's articles of incorporation, by-laws, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. Financial information is also published annually in our magazine. Audited financial statements are posted on the organization's website.”

“The organization has a finance and audit committee responsible for oversight of the financial statement audit and selection of the independent accountant. The committee coordinates the audit with the independent auditors. Any financial concern encountered in the system is routed to this committee for review. This process has not changed from prior years.”