News Notes
Legal Issues in the Media
March 7, 2002
A bi-weekly update on media coverage of legal news in the state and around the nation. Produced for members of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Editor: Jason Westphal
State headlines
"Enron makes case for Kohl's bankruptcy cap" (2/24/02) Wisconsin State Journal - Editorial
One of the actions that Congress should take in response to the Enron collapse is to pass a bankruptcy reform provision championed by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI).
Enron's bankruptcy has brought to light the following outrage: If any of Enron's executives declare personal bankruptcy, Texas law will allow them to keep their multimillion-dollar Texas homes, even if creditors get "stiffed."
That's because Texas and four other states allow people who declare bankruptcy to shield wealth from creditors by keeping even fabulous mansions. (Wisconsin limits this exemption to $40,000.)
The wealthy work this to their advantage to dodge creditors. For example, after former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's law firm went bankrupt and creditors came after Kuhn's assets, he escaped by buying a mansion in Florida, which has an unlimited homestead exemption.
Kohl's provision, part of a Senate-passed bankruptcy reform bill, would cap homestead exemptions at $125,000 (farms would be exempt from the cap). The House's version of the bill lacks the cap. The differences in the two bills are being hashed out in a conference committee.
Kohl's homestead cap is one of the few good things about a bad bankruptcy reform bill. The bill should not pass without the Kohl cap.
"State's truth-in-sentencing tab to hit $40.9 million" (2/27/02) Associated Press
The state will likely pay an extra $40.9 million over the next eight years to house a group of inmates sentenced under Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing law because their sentences have gotten substantially longer, Department of Corrections (DOC) statistics show.
The DOC compared the sentences of 990 inmates who were imprisoned between January 200 and September 2001 with the average sentence lengths of inmates released before truth-in-sentencing took effect in January 2000.
An Associated Press analysis of the data showed the truth-in-sentencing inmates would serve 18,384 more months in prison than the earlier inmates, costing the state about $40.9 million, based on the cost of housing prisoners in 2001.
Former Eau Claire Circuit Judge Thomas Barland was chairman of the Criminal Penalties Committee that drafted changes to the state's sentencing system. He said the analysis results were "shocking, but not unexpected."
These recently released statistics updated a September 2001 DOC report estimating the preliminary impact of truth-in-sentencing at $26 million.
"Second man charged in ID theft case" (3/1/02) Green Bay Press-Gazette & Wausau Daily Herald
A second suspect was charged last week in a sprawling Wausau-area identity theft investigation. Similar charges against at least a half-dozen others are expected as prosecutors continue to compile evidence in the case.
Dawyonn McNeal faces 11 counts of identity theft, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. His father, Frederick A. Mitchell, was in court a day earlier facing 29 counts of the same charge.
Each man is accused of using stolen identities to "live for free" in the Wausau area. According to court records, Mitchell told his 23-year-old son that by using strangers' identities to buy things and set up phone service, he and his son were "just taking from Uncle Sam what he took from us."
Most of the victims listed in both cases are employees of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Prosecutors believe Mitchell stole the employees' discarded time cards while working at a Green Bay paper recycler under his son's name.
"Waupaca pursues security fees" (3/2/02) The Post-Crescent
A Waupaca County committee is proposing that state law be changed to allow the county's circuit courts to assess fees to pay for courtroom security.
Statutes give judges authority to order a sheriff to provide courtroom security. Waupaca does not routinely provide courtroom security.
"The state will have to make a provision for counties to collect those fees," said Waupaca County Circuit Judge Philip Kirk, who supports the idea.
The county Legislative, Judicial and Safety Committee recently voted in favor of presenting the proposal to the state Legislature and Supreme Court.
The rule change would be contrary to legal precedent. "Ultimately, the state Supreme Court has the authority to determine what fees can be collected," Kirk said. "Routinely, the court does not look favorably on user fees."
"Litigation without lawyers" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
To help prevent the increasing number of people who represent themselves in court from getting lost in the legal maze, some counties - at the urging of Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson - are offering Web sites and free attorney consultations.
The most comprehensive effort yet in Wisconsin is in Waukesha County with the recent opening of the Family Court Self-Help Center. The center will provide those individuals with access to computers, court forms, instructions, educational materials, attorney lists and community resources. The goal is to help citizens decide whether self-representing is the best option for them. If not, they will be directed to local attorneys or other community-based agencies for help.
Recent surveys have shown that even individuals who can afford to hire an attorney are trying to handle it themselves. Computer stores now offer how-to software on a variety of legal casework.
Waukesha County's program will offer an extensive Web site that includes a quiz to gauge whether self-representation is a good idea. Every answer selected brings up gentle warnings and legal insights. And, at the end of the quiz, the tallied results give the quiz-taker a red, yellow or green light to go pro se.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Kathryn Foster said that when the self-help center idea was floated, the reaction from local divorce attorneys was "very guarded. I know there were attorneys who were very much opposed to it," she said.
But the State Bar of Wisconsin offered a donation to the Waukesha County project, and members of the Waukesha County Bar Association sat in on steering committee meetings and helped create the court forms that will be featured on the Web site.
"Van Hollen resigns as Bayfield County DA" Ashland Daily News
Bayfield County District Attorney J.B. Van Hollen is reported to have resigned his position as Bayfield County DA in order to accept a nomination as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
The disclosure was made in a column that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently.
According to the story, Van Hollen will join Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic of Wauwatosa as a U.S. Attorney nominee. Biskupic has been tabbed to serve as U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee. Van Hollen will reportedly take over the Madison position formerly held by Peggy Lautenschlager who resigned last year and is running as a Democrat for Wisconsin Attorney General.
Both selections must pass background checks before President Bush formally nominates them for the Justice Department posts.
A National perspective
"Web site offers point-and-click splits" (3/6/02) USA Today
Couples can find a mate, fill out a bridal registry and plan a honeymoon on the computer. Now they can also divorce online.
A Web site started last year by a Seattle attorney gives the unhappily wed in Washington, California, Florida and New York the option of dissolving their marriages online. Texas is next, and several other states are being considered. The site is the latest twist in a do-it-yourself trend.
No national figures exist on self-representation. But some experts estimate that as many as half of the 1.2 million couples divorcing annually in the USA do so without a lawyer representing at least one of the parties.
The Web site, www.completecase.com, differs from many self-help sites offering advice, referrals or downloads of documents needed to file for divorce in a particular state.
For $249, the Web site prompts couples with questions on everything from dividing financial assets to deciding where the kids celebrate birthdays. The software then uses their answers to fill out the documents that a couple can download and submit to a court.
Randy Finney, a family law attorney for 11 years and the founder of the Web site, says it was designed for uncontested divorces. It's not for couples with convoluted finances or for those fighting over child custody and who gets the dog.
"Lawyer turned soldier" ABA Bar Leader
Some of the reservists being mobilized for duty in the war against terrorism are attorneys, and not all serve as JAG lawyers. In the Wisconsin National Guard, Madison Attorney Tom Rhatican commands a helicopter unit, while Rock County Circuit Court Judge James Daley is an infantry commander. Whatever their assignment, these lawyers and judges must be prepared to leave their practice for however long their tour of duty may last. The December 2001 issue of the State Bar of Wisconsin's publication Wisconsin Lawyer profiled several of these reservists and how they're coping with the uncertainty.
Louis Epps, a Milwaukee public defender, has been in the Wisconsin Air National Guard for 14 years. He was deployed once to Japan and once to southern France, where his unit supported missions to Bosnia. Knowing that he might be called up again, Epps has avoided taking new long-term cases and has kept current cases in shape to transfer them to someone else in the office. Still he feels responsible for the outcome. "Even though you know someone else is going to pick up a case and do a good job, you don't want to leave before it's done."
Barron County Circuit Court judge and Army reservist James Eaton had 48 hours' notice in 1990 to report to a base in Illinois and be shipped to Saudi Arabia. Court administrator had to cover the docket. During his five-month tour, 14 different substitute judges handled the cases Eaton had to drop.
Green Bay Attorney Jim O'Neil spent seven months in Iraq and Kuwait in the early 1990's, when he was an associate in a five-member firm. Then he was called to Bosnia for seven months in 1996, when he was in solo practice. That time, he had to shut down his practice, farming out his cases to other attorneys.
The Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program is keeping a list of lawyers who served in previous military operations and are willing to offer advice to those facing mobilization now. The state bar is also encouraging local bars to develop networks to support lawyers called to active duty. "We've heard from lawyers who were called up during the Gulf War and felt they had no resources," said Trina Gray, public relations coordinator for the bar. "They want to help now."
Lawyers in the news
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the eccentric G. Douglas Cofrin, 59, died of pneumonia on Easter Island. Cofrin was a lawyer turned disc jockey, a U.S. Senate candidate, a Catholic interested in Buddhism, a world traveler, a person who was fluent in three languages, a philosopher and a lover of the music of Wagner and Beethoven.
In Business: Madison mentioned that Foley & Lardner raised $25,000 last year for the Madison Community Foundation. Foley & Lardner also made headlines in the Madison East High School Parent Newsletter as Atty. Allen Arnsten recently presented the school a check for $650 on behalf of the firm to help sponsor their Mock Trial Tournament Team.
The Associated Press announced that former Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske was confirmed last week to serve as interim Milwaukee County executive while voters decide who will replace F. Thomas Ament, who retired under pressure of a pension scandal.
Atty. Mark Poker was profiled in a recent edition of the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The Ozaukee County News Graphic mentioned that Atty. Mark Goldner received the Community Pillar Award from the Congregation Agudas Achim Chabad's (CAAC). Goldner was recognized for his dedication and friendship to the community and to the CAAC. He has been the organization's vice president for two terms, leads many classes there and remains tirelessly committed to the synagogue's abundant projects and outreach efforts.
Madison Attorney Daniel Rottier was elected treasurer of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers (WATL) according to the Capital Times.
Arthur Harrington, a lawyer at Godfrey & Kahn in Milwaukee, wrote a guest commentary on recently enacted federal brownfield legislation for the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The Viroqua County Broadcaster reported that Viroqua High School participated in the State Bar's Mock Trial Tournament.
Atty. Tom Arnot made news in the DeForest Times-Tribune as Hilton Hotels Corp. recognized him with the Outstanding Merit Award for 2001 at a February conference in New Orleans.
The Osceola Sun ran an article on Polk County Circuit Court judge candidate Bruce Anderson.
The Janesville Gazette reported that Gov. Scott McCallum has reappointed Atty. George Steil Sr. to the University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics Authority.
The Milwaukee Business Journal published a letter to the editor that was authored by Atty. Frank Daily. The letter discussed the positive influence that prep football coaches have on their players.
Stevens Point Attorney Jerry O'Brien, a member of the state's Natural Resources Board, was the subject of a feature story in the West Bend Daily News.
Atty. Paul Gagliardi was recently re-elected to the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers (WATL) says the Kenosha News.
Atty. David Grove drafted an article on estate planning for a recent edition of the DeForest Times-Tribune.
The Bloomer Advance announced that Dowling & Dowling Law Office was named "Business of the Week" by the Bloomer Chamber of Commerce.
Atty. Jack Enea made headlines in the West Bend Daily News for being elected president of the Boy's & Girl's Club of West Bend/Washington County.
Dodge County District Attorney candidate Steve Bauer was profiled in the Mayville News.
A look ahead
Students from 16 state high schools will compete in the semifinals of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Mock Trial Tournament on Sunday, March 10 at the Dane County Courthouse in Madison. The two semifinal winners will compete in the finals at 1:30 p.m. on Monday in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Teams competing in the final round will present their cases before all seven Supreme Court justices. The state champion will represent Wisconsin in the National Mock Trial Finals in St. Paul, Minnesota this May.
