The Silicon Valley Bar Association [“SVBA”], a newly formed California non-profit association, was founded by a number of local attorneys who serve on the Executive Committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association's Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section. The SCCBA has decided that it will no longer print written materials such as program books and forms for seminars. Instead, it has decided to give attendees a floppy disk with material for later review, and if time permits, to try to put such material on its web site for downloading by registrants for seminars one or two days prior to the event. The attorneys who have founded the SVBA feel that this is a major mistake. Many of the founding attorneys have been past chairs of the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section or Trustees of the SCCBA, or both.

The lack of written materials will make it difficult for seminar attendees to follow the lecturers and to take notes. The new electronic technology is not considered to be an adequate substitute for a written program handbook. Some attorneys are not that familiar with computers; some computers (especially newer models) lack a built in floppy disk drive to read the disk that will be given out; and the downloading of materials is a time-consuming and sometimes technically difficult operation.

The Silicon Valley Bar Association is dedicated to putting on first-class professional seminars on a variety of topics at a moderate cost and will full written materials. The SVBA is a member-run and member-focused non-profit professional association. While the first evening seminar is in the field of estate planning and taxation, future seminars will address other substantive law subjects with a particular emphasis on serving Silicon Valley individuals and companies.

The seminar presenter was Michael Patiky Miller of the Palo Alto law firm of Weinberg, Ziff & Miller. Mike had just been elected by the Board of Trustees of the SVBA as its first president. He was a past chair of the Santa Clara County Bar Association's (SCCBA) Trusts & Estates Section's Executive Committee, a former Trustee of the County Bar, and a frequent presenter for SCCBA, the San Mateo County Bar Association, Palo Alto Area Bar Association, other local organizations as well as a 20-year veteran of numerous CEB programs. He had planned presenting this seminar for the SCCBA but concluded that their unwillingness to provide a seminar program book, which was something that CEB and the other organizations did as a matter of routine, made it impossible for him to present the seminar under the new rules for seminar promulgated by the SCCBA.

The initial incorporators of the SVBA were Jann Besson, Diane Brown, Janis Carney, Linda Kramer, Joyce Levy, and Michael P. Miller. Bettie Baker Marshall had registered the name with the California Secretary of State and also obtained the web domain for the new group, SVBA.org. The SVBA organized as a California non-profit unincorporated association, which form it continues to hold. Its initial Articles of Association are set forth on the next pages. By the time the Articles were finished, a nine-member Board of Trustee was in existence; the members are shown in the Articles. Besides Mike Miller as President, Joyce Levy was elected by the Trustees as Treasurer and Patricia Nichols as Secretary.

The first seminar was a “sell-out success” and was followed in short order by a variety of other evening seminars, luncheon programs and “Sandwich Seminars.” The then-sitting Probate Judge, the Hon. Catherine A. Gallagher, made arrangements with the Superior Court for a large courtroom to be available during the lunch hour for the Sandwich Seminars. The SVBA continued the traditions of the SCCBA's Trusts & Estates Section, such as the annual Judge's Talk (usually held in February or March) and the Recent Developments luncheon held in December. The SVBA quickly made cooperative hosting agreements with the San Mateo County Bar Association, Palo Alto Area Bar Association, West Valley Bar Association and other professional organizations.

Unlike some other bar organizations, every seminar, luncheon or “Sandwich Seminar” provides MCLE and applicable State Bar specialization credits without additional charge.
Linda Kramer succeeded Mike Miller as the second President in 2005, and she was elected for two more annual terms. The SVBA originally operated on an October-September fiscal year and held its annual membership meeting in September.

The Articles of Association were revised and expanded at a special membership meeting held in March 2004. The governing board now consists of nine Trustees, each one elected for a one-year term, plus the immediate past President as a voting, ex officio member. The Board elects the officers of the Association, also for one-year terms each, President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Association depends heavily upon attorney volunteers and its has only one part-time paid employee acting as Executive Administrator. Full Membership is open to any California attorney, although membership is predominately from Santa Clara County along with a number of San Mateo County attorneys. Non-attorneys, such as trustees, bank officers, paralegals, etc. can be Associate Members with the same rights except the right to vote or hold office. The SVBA continues its proud and growing history of being an attorney centered non-profit association.