Howard Miller 2009-10 President

The State Bar is governed by a 23-member Board of Governors. Fifteen are lawyers elected by members of the State Bar. A 16th lawyer is elected by the California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA) Board of Directors.

Since 1977, the State Bar has operated with increased involvement by the public. Beginning that year, six "public" or non-lawyer members were appointed to the Board of Governors - four by California's governor, one by the state Senate Committee on Rules and one by the Speaker of the Assembly.

The 23rd member of the Board of Governors is the State Bar president, who is elected by the other board members to serve a fourth year as the bar's chief officer.

The Board of Governors meets approximately eight times a year to debate organizational, policy and professional issues. Each meeting includes a public and a confidential session and agendas are posted on the Web site.

The State Bar's open/closed meeting rules are similar to rules governing California's public agencies; the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Govt. Code Sections 11120, et seq.) and the Brown Act (Govt. Code Sections 54950, et seq.)

Read President Howard Miller's monthly column in the California Bar Journal:

• February 2010 - Structural or cyclical?
• January 2010 - Management, access to justice and the State Bar
• December 2009 - Pro bono publico
• November 2009 - And the work goes on
• October 2009 - A year of living dangerously