PATRICK KELLY OF LOS ANGELES ELECTED STATE BAR PRESIDENT
San Francisco, July 20, 2012 – Patrick M. Kelly, a partner
at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, was elected today as
president of the State Bar of California for 2012-2013.
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| Kelly |
Kelly, 69, will be sworn in as the 88th president of the
238,000-member organization at the bar’s Annual Meeting in October in Monterey.
He bested Loren Kieve of San Francisco and Wells B. Lyman of La Mesa in
the voting by fellow board members.
In addition, under a new governance
structure that took effect this year, the board for the first time elected a
vice president and a treasurer. Luis J. Rodriguez, 45, of Los Angeles, was
elected vice president and Gretchen Nelson, 58, of Los Angeles, was elected
treasurer.
Kelly, who chairs the board’s Planning, Program Development
and Budget Committee, campaigned on a platform of carrying out the bar’s strategic
plan and getting younger and older lawyers more involved in pro bono legal work.
He also expressed commitment to public protection, public
service and encouraging lawyers to become problem-solvers rather than relying
on litigation.
“We are in a severe economic crisis that threatens our
courts, other institutions of government, and even this Bar. Perhaps more
troubling, there is an ever growing lack of public trust in our institutions of
government, our legal system and our lawyers.” he said in his candidate
statement. “The challenges we face also create a tremendous opportunity that
calls for the very best in leadership and commitment to service each of us can
bring.”
A former president of the Los Angeles County Bar
Association, Kelly is a graduate of Loyola Law School. He is married to Gail
Gibson Kelly and has two children, Patrick and Laura.
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The
State Bar of California is an administrative arm of the California Supreme
Court, serving the public and seeking to improve the justice system for more
than 80 years. All lawyers practicing law in California must be members of the
State Bar. By July 2012, membership reached 238,000.