Membership Activities and Benefits: The committee continues its mission of bridging the gap between the academic bar and the practicing bar by meeting with law school faculty, publishing its column Crossing the Bar in the Bar Journal, and maintaining its web page. A subcommittee is exploring the possibility of a Legal Education Conclave.

The committee is working to incorporate the recently added second component of its title, professional standards, in its activities and projects. As part of that development, William Wagner, director of the Center for Ethics and Responsibility at Cooley Law School met with the committee to discuss the function of the center and how the committee can support and contribute to the improvement of and increased attention toward professional standards. The SBM liaison to the committee, Thomas K Byerley, also discussed with the committee how it could incorporate this component.

Public Policy Initiatives and Positions: The committee was listed as an endorser in the materials of the Michigan Conference on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Legal System, forwarded a letter in support of the Model Plan for Public Defense Services, and backed the proposed dues increase for the SBM membership. A committee member reviews all pending legislative and court rules announcements from the SBM and summarizes them for presentation at each meeting.