State Bar Board of Governors Candidate Drops Out

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Page 3

State Bar Board of Governors Candidate Drops Out

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Only one State Bar Board of Governors candidate dropped out by Friday’s deadline, the State Bar reported yesterday.

Allen Minker, who practices in Los Osos in San Luis Obispo County, withdrew from the District 6 race. His action leaves Ventura Superior Court staff attorney Maria Carmen Ramirez and Riverside Deputy District Attorney E. Michael Soccio as the only candidates to represent Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Minker’s departure from the contest potentially avoids a split of support between candidates from the coastal part of the non-contiguous district. A non-binding agreement among local bar associations encourages the alternation of the seat between the Inland Empire and the coast, and this year is the coast’s turn.

There are four other contests for attorney seats on the Board of Governors this year.

In District 4, which consists of San Francisco and Marin counties, San Francisco lawyers Jennifer A. DePalma, James N. Penrod, and Barry K. Tagawa will be on the ballot.

In District 7, Los Angeles County, two board members will be elected. Los Angeles attorneys Holly Fujie, Adam Abrahms and Marty O’Toole and Sherman Oaks attorney Phillip Feldman have filed to run for the seat currently occupied by Deputy District Attorney Steven Ipsen.

Los Angeles attorney John P. McNicholas III and Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Kim are seeking the seat being vacated by Century City attorney David Marcus.

In District 8, which consists of Orange County, Irvine appellate specialist John L. Dodd; Richard W. Millar Jr., a partner in a Newport Beach firm; and Danni R. Murphy, a supervising attorney in the county Public Defender’s Office and former Orange County Bar Association president, are the candidates.

Voting is by district, and is conducted by mail during May and June—all active lawyers within the district may vote—and the votes are counted in mid-July.