By John Anderson
March, 2000

There are quite a few changes and additions that have been made to the Maryland State Bar Associations Internet website.

You can now find information to our site from the 5^th annual Mid-Year Technology Showcase, which was held on February 18th, and 19^th. The event was a great success despite a brief snowstorm on the first day of the show and there were a number of different topics discussed at this years Showcase ranging from software and electronic gadgets, to technology and new research tools necessary to take full advantage of the 21^st century. You can find information from the "60 gadgets in 60 Minutes", and the "60 sites in 60 Minuets" sessions of the techshow’s "Tips, Tips, and More Tips" track, and other information on the MSBA website. If you were unable to attend the course material are available on the website for each of the days. The course material contains all of the notes and handouts presented to techshow attendees and are available for $35 for each day or $50 for both days. All this can be found by clicking on the "Technology Showcase Bits and Bytes" banner.

Subject Index of Ethics Opinions

The most recent addition to the site is the new Subject listing of Ethics Opinions. They are one of three member only benefits available online. By clicking on the "Ethics Index" button on our front page and then logging on using your unique username and password you can gain access to a subject list. Within each subject you will find a list of Ethics Opinions Title and opinion numbers. If you would like the full opinion, it can be faxed or mailed to you by Jenny Smith (jsmith@msba.org). Currently only opinions from 1986-1998 are listed and our next step will be to have all opinions available online in their complete form.

Electronic Bar Briefs

Members will recognize the username and password used for the ethics opinions from our second very popular online member only service, EBB. For years, the Electronic Bar Briefs have been offering short synopses of each Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals decision in 12 different subject areas sent directly to your email address. The staff at the Daily Record receives each court opinion the day it is issued. The reporter generates a short description of the case and the holding, the opinion is then broadcast to members of EBB. This service has been getting wonderful support and has grown every year to our current level of almost 1,700 registered users. We will be improving EBB by making is easier to use, and easier to change the email address used by EBB.

YLS Job Bank

The "Young Lawyers Job Bank" was created by the MSBA’s Young Lawyer Section. Legal recruiters or employers and job seekers are invited to browse the free Job Bank. Lawyer positions require that you be a member of the Young Lawyers Section. The Job Bank has been in place since September and has been praised by both members and employers. You can find the YLS Job Bank at [Link removed].
 -The new MSBA Legal Career Center can be found at here.

The Ethics Hotline

The Ethic Hotline numbers are available on the website at this address. You will be able to get immediate advice from your peers regarding ethical issues by calling any of the three numbers listed on the page. The phone numbers are the current months volunteers from the Ethics Committee. The Numbers are listed under the "Member Benefit" link from our main page.

Mentoring Program

The MSBA also sponsors a pro bono Mentor Program to assist newer, less experienced members of the bar. The purpose of the program is to provide a resource for attorneys to seek and receive advice, or to discuss practical practice and law office management-related issues; issues involving such matters as personnel, escrow or other accounts; substantive areas of the law and related procedural issues; appropriate and professional conduct and how to deal with inappropriate conduct; and the importance and means of being involved in Bar and community activities and in developing a support network for an attorney's practice. The purpose is also to provide counseling, guidance and a learning relationship. You can reach the Mentoring program by clicking on the "Mentoring Program" button on the front of our website.

Other Features

Don’t forget that we also have the direction to restaurants used for section meetings on our "Calendar of Events" page along with the most current information available about up coming meetings, events, and programs.

You can also receive additional information, news and support by participating in any of the MSBA Sections. By joining one or more section you can receive additional benefits including newsletters, and access to MSBA listserves. You can find out more information such as section rosters and which sections have newsletters and listserves by clicking on the "Sections and Committee" button.

And finally, you can get information about Local and Specialty Bars by visiting the "Legal Links" page. We have assembled information about all of the Local and Specialty Bars of Maryland or a link to their website.

We would love to hear your ideas on what else we can do to improve our services and add to our website the things that you think would make a difference in what you do and that would make the MSBA website a valuable resource to you and your practice.

With your support we will continue to improve, and to use technology and information to bring new tools assistance and benefits to aid our members.

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