ORGANIZATION OF BILLS - Legislative issues are divided into three general categories.

CORE ISSUES - Bills that concern core issues or issues that are not controversial within the MSBA membership.

MIDDLE-RANGE ISSUES - Bills which are appropriate for MSBA involvement but may have some controversy over general approaches or specific provisions.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES - Bills that involve topics of interest to the legal profession but affect groups of attorneys with diametrically opposed views of what the law should be.

NEW ISSUES - Bills that were introduced in the 2001 General Assembly on which the MSBA took a position.

KEY QUESTIONS - On controversial issues the following questions must be asked before taking a position of a specific piece of legislation:

1. Is the legislation well written and clearly understood?

2. Is the legislation in the best interest of the general public?

3. Is the legislation in the best interest of the legal profession?

4. Is the legislation in the best interest of the Maryland State Bar Association?

Return to 2002 Final State Legislative Program Table of Contents

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