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Accused and accusers figure to benefit from proposed changes to the attorney discipline system, members of the State Bar of Arizona say.

Planners of this year’s State Bar of Arizona Convention have their eyes on the horizon, realizing one very important fact: the practice of law is changing.

Alan Bayham gets paid to argue, so it’s no surprise that he speaks passionately and convincingly about his goals as the incoming president of the State Bar of Arizona — just don’t mention that other staple of the legal profession, lawyer jokes.

A combination of fear and the state’s dire financial straits has pushed long-battling parties in a Maricopa County lawsuit into a tenuous agreement allowing the state to drastically reduce funding for mental health services and eliminate the office that ensures the lawsuit provisions are met.

The federal health care plan narrows the Medicare Part D prescription drug-coverage gap, known as the doughnut hole, by providing a rebate of as much as $250 to insured members who are not eligible for the Low Income Subsidy.

Pat Klein, assistant director for external affairs for the Arizona State Retirement System, focuses primarily on the immediate effects on retirees when explaining the differences and similarities of the health care plans for state retirees and the federal health care law.

ASRS official says state health care insurance ‘one step ahead’ of feds in many areas

Rick Romley, who was sworn in as interim Maricopa County attorney on April 16, said his initial focus is on repairing the agency’s relationship with the county’s judicial branch and officers.

Three GOP candidates have emerged in the special election to fill the last two years of Thomas’ term, and each of them are taking disparate campaign roads to get there. No Democrats have entered the race so far.

While the governor proposed eliminating the Department of Juvenile Corrections as a way to save money, one private company has said it could operate the program for slightly more than half of the agency’s fiscal 2009 budget.