State Bar of Wisconsin

President’s Message: Government Attorneys Gain an Equal Footing with Large Law Firms with Fastcase – the State Bar’s New Member Benefit

By William Domina

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of running for president of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Although unsuccessful (by 92 votes, but who's counting!), I took away a strong impression from my contact with government lawyers around Wisconsin. I was consistently greeted with questions from government lawyers pondering the specific benefits they receive from their membership in the State Bar. During my three terms as finance chair for the State Bar, I have encouraged investment into projects that help members better answer these questions. In my next several President's Message columns, I will focus on some recently-added member benefits.

This fall the State Bar launched a new member benefit that provides free, unlimited access to a comprehensive 50-state and federal case-law database. State Bar members now have online access to free legal research powered by Fastcase. Fastcase national case law coverage includes state, federal appellate, and bankruptcy courts as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Members have free access to Wisconsin statutes, the Wisconsin Administrative Code, Wisconsin Supreme Court rules, the Wisconsin Constitution, Wisconsin attorney general opinions since 1982, and Wisconsin Acts since 1989. Fastcase also provides all federal cases going back to 1 U.S. 1, 1 F.2d 1, 1 F.Supp.1 and B.R. 1, as well as state and appellate cases going back to 1950. Several other helpful Fastcase features include the capability to:

• print multiple cases simultaneously in a dual column format;

• print directly to PDF files;

• save the files to the user's computer;

• include official pagination;

• search using Boolean, natural language, and citation searching; and

• conduct sort results by relevance, date, and jurisdiction.

There are many government lawyers practicing in offices that have a very small budget that limits access to research tools. With Fastcase, gone are the budget-busting research timers that charge you by the minute or search. This Fastcase research member benefit is included in your dues payment at no extra cost. It will help place all government practitioners on equal footing with the largest law offices.

For more information including frequently asked questions, online tutorials and a schedule of upcoming free webcast seminars, visit www.wisbar.org/fastcase.

The next President's Message will focus on the State Bar CLE Seminars Ultimate Pass. Can't wait until the next issue? Find out more now.

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Spring 2009 Elections Approach, GLD Seeks Candidates for Officer and Director Positions, Nominations due Feb. 1

By Mike Kernats

It’s that time of year again, when Government Lawyers Division (GLD) elections are a top priority. In 2009 GLD members will choose a president-elect, secretary, treasurer, and three division directors to serve two-year terms. The GLD nominating committee, which includes James Godlewski, Lennie Lehman, and me, is busy assembling a slate of candidates. Nominations are due Feb. 1.

The GLD has four officers (president, president-elect, secretary, and treasurer) and a six-member board of directors. Officers and members of the board of directors serve two-year terms. The terms of the current president-elect, secretary, treasurer, and three members of the board of directors will expire at the end of June 2009. Elections take place in April. Persons elected take office on July 1, 2009.

The duties of GLD officers are described in the division bylaws. GLD officers and directors meet six times a year – half of these meetings are in-person conferences at the State Bar Center in Madison; the rest of the meetings are teleconferences.

We encourage any GLD member who wishes to be included on the ballot for one of the open board of director or officer positions to send a letter to the GLD Nominating Committee in care of the State Bar, P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, by Feb. 1.

Although not required for inclusion on the ballot, GLD bylaws provide that the nominating committee shall include in the slate of nominees any member who obtains the signatures of 10 GLD members nominating that member as an officer or director. Candidates for election to the board of directors, or as an officer, must be GLD members.

Feel free to contact any member of the nominating committee, or any of the current GLD officers or directors, if you have questions about serving on the board of directors or as an officer.

The GLD promotes the interests of government lawyers and provides an opportunity for government lawyers to participate in the leadership of the State Bar. Membership in the division is voluntary, and any member of the State Bar who is a salaried employee of any government is eligible for membership.

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Funding Available for Government Attorneys for Educational Conferences

Your Government Lawyers Division (GLD) has limited reimbursement funding available for government attorneys interested in attending educational conferences. The funds are disbursed on a first come, first served basis, subject to the GLD’s budget constraints.

Applicants must be government attorneys, and the expenditure of the funds must provide a benefit to other government lawyers or government groups in the performance of their duties or mission. This may be accomplished by reporting on the use of the funds through CLE programs, news articles, or other acceptable dissemination of information.

All requests for funding must be submitted in writing to the GLD president. If possible, matching funds should be provided by the recipient or the recipient’s government agency or specialized association. The GLD does not discriminate against any applicant because of sex, race, religion, color, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, lawful source of income, marital status, sexual orientation or familial status.

For more information, contact GLD liaison Patricia Morgan at (608) 250-6107.

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Back by Popular Demand – A GLD-Sponsored Land Use Seminar

By Ann Molitor

The Government Lawyers Division (GLD) is joining with the Administrative and Local Government Law Section and the Indian Law Section to present, Wisconsin Land Use Regulations and Taxation: Past, Present and Future, a day-long land use seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the State Bar Center in Madison.

From Wisconsin‘s early efforts to regulate land use to its current state of affairs, this seminar will address issues covering the land use spectrum, including a recent case law update. Other topics will include:

• drafting and implementing intergovernmental agreements with Indian tribes in the areas of commercial development, environmental regulation, and zoning;

• planning large, high-profile infrastructure projects and understanding the interplay between state and local regulation of energy projects;

• assessing commercial property after recent changes in acceptable methodology and addressing the challenges of assessing property in a declining real estate market; and foreseeing the adoption of a model statute on land use regulatory procedures.

As a special bonus, GLD members who attend the Feb. 18 seminar will receive free tuition to the one-hour Ethics for Government Lawyers: Determining Who is the Client webcast seminar on March 12, from 12 to 1 p.m. (CST). GLD land use seminar attendees will automatically receive electronic notification of their registration for the March 12 webcast seminar.

The seminar will be submitted for up to 7.0 CLE Credits. Tuition is $199.

Register.

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A Look Ahead! GLD 2009 Convention Program Speaker Line Up is Stellar

The Government Lawyers Division ‘s (GLD) continuing legal education (CLE) program at the State Bar annual convention is scheduled for Thursday, May 7, from 1 to 4:35 p.m. This year’s convention will be held at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee from May 6 to 8.

GLD Convention Program Chair Linda U. Burke, Milwaukee City Attorneys Office, has put together an impressive program with a stellar faculty.

To register or for more information about the 2009 State Bar Annual Convention, visit the convention page on WisBar.

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I Was a Poll Worker on Election Day

By Mike Kernats, Madison, GLD President-elect

Did you know that Wisconsin government employees have a statutory right to serve as an election official, or poll worker, for an election, without loss of salary, benefits or seniority. (Wis. Stat. section 7.33)? The process is very simple. You have to give your supervisor at least seven days notice and get permission for a paid leave of absence. You also have to get training and permission from your local municipal election clerk.

Because of the high voter turnout expected in the November 2008 elections, Wisconsin municipal clerks contacted the Government Accountability Board for assistance in recruiting state and local government employee volunteers to serve as poll workers. The Government Accountability Board asked the State Bar of Wisconsin to help get that word out and the State Bar answered that request by posting a notice on its website.

I volunteered to serve as a poll worker for this election, and I want to let you know how easy it was to get approval, sign up for training, reserve a time and location, and perform my election-day duties.

Approval: I simply sent an e-mail request to my supervisor. He approved it right away.

Training: I went to the City of Madison website, found the link for poll workers, checked the list of available times, dates, and locations for training and signed up. I then attended a two-hour training session at city hall on a Saturday afternoon.

Location and time: I again went to the City of Madison website poll workers link, checked the list of available times and locations, and selected where and when I wanted to work (I chose the polling place where I vote). I simply showed up on Nov. 4, voted, and spent the rest of the day processing absentee ballots.

It was that simple. I encourage you to sign up to be a poll worker in future elections. Don’t wait to be asked, volunteer. It was easy, and volunteering made me feel good about being part of the election process, especially for such a historic election.

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Thank You Authors

The State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books Division thanks the following Government Lawyers Division members for their contributions of time and expertise over the last six months:

• Atty. Luis C. Cuevas (Critical Terms in Criminal Proceedings in Spanish& English)
• Atty. Michael Joseph Gratz (Wisconsin Business Advisor Series: Intellectual Property Law)
• Atty. Rudolph M. Konrad (Wisconsin Governmental Claims & Immunities Handbook)
• Atty. Jean Marie LaTour (Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook)
• Atty. Jennifer Sloan Lattis (Wisconsin Governmental Claims & Immunities Handbook)
• Comm. Laura Florian Lau (Family Law Casenotes & Quotes)
• Atty. Devon M. Lee (Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook)
• Atty. Eryn Michelle Menden (Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook)
• Atty. Gina Marie Pruski (Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook)
• Hon. Richard J. Sankovitz (Contract Law in Wisconsin)
• Atty. Jan A. Smokowicz (Wisconsin Governmental Claims & Immunities Handbook)
• Atty. Melanie R. Swank (Wisconsin Public Records & Open Meetings Handbook)
• Atty. Peter A. Tomasi (Wisconsin Business Advisor Series: Environmental & Real Estate Law)
• Atty. John Miro Vandlik (Wisconsin Governmental Claims & Immunities Handbook)
• Atty. Gretchen G. Viney (Guardian ad Litem Handbook; Guardianship & Protective Placement for the Elderly in Wisconsin)
• Atty. Mary A. Wolfe (Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook)
• Atty. Walter E. Zimmerman (Wisconsin Business Advisor Series: Intellectual Property Law)

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