For Immediate Release
|
|
CONTACT: Jason Westphal
State Bar of Wisconsin
(800) 444-9404, ext. 6077
jwestphal@wisbar.org |
|
|
Three Madison area attorneys elected to State Bar Board of
Governors
MADISON, April 25, 2003 - Three Dane County
attorneys have been elected to the State Bar of Wisconsin Board of
Governors, the body responsible for managing and directing the affairs
and activities of the statewide association. The three members elected
last week to two-year terms will join three other local lawyers on the
Board.
As created by Supreme Court Rule, the State Bar is governed by a
48-member Board of Governors consisting of six officers, 34 members
elected by State Bar members from the association's 16 districts, five
elected by divisions of the State Bar, and three non-lawyers appointed
by the Supreme Court. As policy makers, the Board of Governors and
officers influence the future of the legal profession and the delivery
of legal services in Wisconsin.
Those elected from Dane County include:
KENT I. CARNELL, of Lawton & Cates, S.C., who
was admitted to the Bar in 1970. A current member of the Board of
Governors, he received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law
School. Additionally, Carnell is active in the Bar's Litigation and
Construction Law Sections and the association's Professionalism
Committee. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National
Board of Trial Advocacy. Carnell's community service activities include
the Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Second Harvest Food Bank of
Southern Wisconsin
JOHN L. CATES is a partner at Gingras, Cates &
Luebke, S.C. He was admitted to the Bar in 1980 after graduating from
the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he now often lectures.
Cates is admitted to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the
U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit and both the Eastern and Western
U.S. District Courts of Wisconsin. He is a past member of the Wisconsin
Academy of Trial Lawyers board of directors, and currently belongs to
the Dane County Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America.
DEBORAH M. SMITH received her J.D. from the
University of Wisconsin Law School in 1980. That same year she began
work as a staff attorney with the Wisconsin State Public Defender, and
recently became director of the Assigned Counsel Division. Smith is a
past president of the James E. Doyle chapter of the American Inns of
Court and was a key member of the planning/advisory committee
establishing Wisconsin's first drug treatment court in Dane County. She
is a mentor with the UW-Law School Legal Education Opportunities program
and is also a UW-Law School instructor. Smith serves on the Board of
Administrative Oversight for the Office of Lawyer Regulation, and is the
president of the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation Board. Smith was
recently appointed by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk to the Justice
Center Planning Oversight Committee.
The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association,
created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a law
license in Wisconsin. With more than 20,000 members, the State Bar aids
the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides
continuing legal education for its members, and assists Wisconsin
lawyers in carrying out initiatives to educate the public about the
legal system.
Press Releases