Bench & Bar

JUL 2015

The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.

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Douglass Farnsley, who assumed the presidency of the Kentucky Bar Association July 1st, has accumulated a trove of laurels in his 39-year career. Farnsley is a civil trial lawyer. A partner at Stites & Harbison in Louisville, he recently won a $4.951 million verdict for a 27-year- old man struck by a city bus, has defended and managed the defense of more than 700 medical malpractice cases, and de- fends a Fortune 50 company from claims across the Commonwealth. Farnsley is a fellow in three invitation-only societies of trial lawyers – the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the International Society of Barristers. He earned degrees from the University of North Carolina, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Louisville. Farnsley's father Charles P. Farnsley was elected mayor of Louisville in 1948, and was credited with leading the city into an era of greater racial comity. The elder Farnsley also served in the U.S. House in the 89th Congress, which enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and created the National Endowment for the Arts, accord- ing to an obituary published upon his pass- ing in the New York Times June 21, 1990. The younger Farnsley is called an "ardent Democrat" in his law-firm biography. While a student at St. Albans School in Washing- ton, D.C., he was in the congregation for a sermon at the National Cathedral on Sun- day March 31, 1968, of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Four days later in his final trip to Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers, Dr. King was assassinated. Douglass Farnsley's wife Liza is a clinical research associate for InventivHealth Clinical. He has two adult children and four granddaughters. Farnsley is involved with two historic sites in Jefferson County and serves on the Adviso- ry Board of Actors Theatre of Louisville. Your father Charles was Mayor of Louisville and a Congressman from the Louisville area. Was there something about his life that set you on a path to do what you have done during your career? I grew up assuming that I would enter public life. In addition to my dad's elected offices, my grandfather served as a Jeffer- son Circuit Court judge. As I began my career and started a family, I moved away from the idea of seeking public office. How- ever, I have remained active in politics and in supporting political candidates over the years. My experience of growing up in a family dedicated to public service undoubtedly informed my decision to seek election to the KBA Board of Governors and then to pursue positions as a KBA officer. I have found my work with the KBA to be highly rewarding, and I have made wonderful friends along the way. It has been said that we have two different kinds of lawyers in Kentucky — high-rise lawyers and Main Street lawyers — small- firm and solo practitioners clustered around courthouses. How does the KBA continue to serve these different constituencies, while serving the paramount interest of the public? I will approach the answer to this question by addressing its premise and by talking briefly about attorney discipline. First, I practice in a firm with more than 200 lawyers. In my eight years on the KBA's Board of Governors, I have worked closely with lawyers from all parts of the state. Those lawyers are in solo practice, in small firms, and in large firms. I do not see any significant difference in the lawyer that I am and the lawyers that they are. When the 17 members of our Board and our four lay members meet to consider at- torney discipline, the diversity of our group is helpful. Our membership includes men and women, lawyers and citizens from across the state, and individuals from un- derrepresented populations. We work hard to protect the public and to protect the rights of the attorneys who stand accused of professional misconduct. The KBA's disciplinary process has taken some fire, some of it from respectable parties. In recent years, the staff has been expanded. Are you confident that disciplinary cases are being processed timely, fairly, and efficiently. We have a good disciplinary process. The Office of Bar Counsel has the job of investi- gating complaints, taking the complaints to the Inquiry Commission for consideration of whether a charge should be issued, prosecuting cases before trial commission- ers, and handling appeals to the Board and then to the Supreme Court. Bar Counsel works disciplinary cases in a timely manner. Each of us in the process plays a different role. The Supreme Court appoints volunteers who serve as the members of the Inquiry Commission, the trial commissioners, and the lay members of the Board of Governors for purposes of discipline. The KBA members elect the Board of Governors, who are also volunteers. The non-volun- teers who work on attorney discipline are Bar Counsel and the members of the Supreme Court. In my experience, all the participants in the process act in the utmost good faith and reach fair decisions. If mem- bers of the Bar and of the public could listen to the Board's deliberations, they would find that the discussions are thought- ful and are carried on at a high level. You have practiced in various states, each with its own requirements for admission. There is a trend out there to nationalize bar examinations — New York just took a step in that direction. Do you foresee a day when Kentucky would join with other states in some form of national bar examination, beyond the multi-state portion now administered? I do not know a great deal about trends in bar admissions. However, it is clear that the practice of law is going to continue to evolve. I have been with my firm for 36 years. In my earlier years, I occasionally found myself frustrated because it seemed that the firm's expectations were always changing. Over time, I came to realize that the firm and all institutions are changing every day and are hopefully improving. This is true for the practice of law generally. But, we are not simply along for the ride. We can influence the future. To paraphrase the late Justice Charles Leibson's decision in the case in which Kentucky adopted comparative fault, Hilen v. Hayes, The practice of law is not a stagnant pool, but a moving stream. The practice of law is our responsibility. We are responsible for its direction. 5 B&B; • 7.15 FA R N S L E Y Q & A Q&A; WITH 2015-16 KBA PRESIDENT DOUGLASS FARNSLEY By: James P. Dady

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