Tom Barnett Named to the 2013 Fastcase 50

Tom Barnett, the Executive Director of the State Bar of South Dakota, was recently recognized as a member of the 2013 Fastcase 50.  The Fastcase 50 honors "the law's smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, & leaders."
 
Fastcase's recognition of Director Barnett notes his work to overcome the digital divide and innovate rural law practice and his work to defeat the J.A.I.L. for Judges referendum and reads as follows:

One of the quieter success stories in the future of law comes from Pierre, South Dakota, where Executive Director Tom Barnett for years has been reaching across the digital divide and innovating around the practice of law in rural communities. For years, the State Bar has created access to justice for communities unserved by high-speed Internet, creating and updating the popular Dakota Disc service on CD-ROM. This year, the State Bar also has worked with the South Dakota Legislature to create an incentive program to entice lawyers to serve rural areas of the state. The program may serve as a model for other rural areas, which face serious access-to-justice challenges as older lawyers retire. Tom also led the fight against J.A.I.L. for Judges – a referendum that would have had a citizen’s committee review whether the South Dakota Supreme Court “followed the law,” and would have threatened judges with the loss of their jobs and pensions if it were found that they didn’t. Tom worked tirelessly to defeat the referendum, which he saw as a threat to the rule of law and our judicial system.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Darla Jackson)