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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    June 01, 2005

    President's Message

    I hope that my year as president shows that member participation in the State Bar is open to a wide variety of practitioners and viewpoints, because all of our voices are valued and needed to advance members' and the public's interests in the law.

    Michelle Behnke

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 78, No. 6, June 2005

    Is There a Difference?

    I hope that my year as president shows that member participation in the State Bar is open to a wide variety of practitioners and viewpoints, because all of our voices are valued and needed to advance members' and the public's interests in the law.

    by Michelle A. Behnke

    Michelle BehnkeIt seems like only yesterday that I was preparing for the May 2004 State Bar Annual Convention and my swearing in. Almost from the day the election results were announced, I received attention for being the first person of color to be elected president of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Often the questions were about how it felt to be the first rather than what I hoped to accomplish during the year. As my year draws to a close, I took some time to consider what difference, if any, my election and service made on the organization. Perhaps the many visits that I made to local bar organizations will spur members to become more involved in the State Bar. As I stated often, involvement can take many forms: writing letters, serving on committees, running for the Board of Governors, responding to a survey, participating in the State Bar's pro bono program, or just giving feedback on the products and services that the State Bar offers and the issues that come before the association. But this outreach effort was not unique to my term or different because of my race. Many presidents have traveled the state to reach out to members.

    When the association faced important issues such as the WisTAF petition and the Ethics 2000 petition, members responded to the calls for feedback. The Board of Governors took that feedback and employed new decision-making techniques to allow for problem solving, not just "political" debate. While I suggested bringing in the consultant to teach the Board this knowledge-based decision-making process, the process employed is not new in the association world and my race certainly had nothing to do with the suggestion.

    Hundreds of lawyers served on committees to further the work of the association. Many dedicated lawyers spent thousands of hours coaching high school students in mock trial teams. Other lawyers reached out to their colleagues who were experiencing difficulties with stress and alcohol or other drugs. Still others worked to develop the Law Office Management Program. Likewise, the dedicated men and women on the State Bar staff kept member service first in their minds. As only one of many examples, our State Bar staff worked diligently to launch the new and improved State Bar Web site. Two years in the making, the new site has a stronger search engine and more information as well as the ability to allow individual members to track their CLE credits. Again, I can't take credit for the commitment of these lawyers or the State Bar staff and I don't think they worked harder or differently because of me or my race.

    So what is the difference? Perhaps the difference is simply that members will see that the organization is open to a wider variety of practitioners. Maybe members will see that all voices are needed and valued.

    Perhaps I've encouraged a few students of color to consider law as a career or Wisconsin as a place to practice or encouraged attorneys of color to be willing to step into leadership roles within the profession. The demographics are changing, and our state will look different over the next 20 or 30 years. This profession needs to be ready to serve a diverse population, and the composition of this profession needs to reflect the changing demographics. Our law schools do a tremendous job of recruiting a diverse student body. We must encourage these students to remain in Wisconsin so that Wisconsin will be well positioned for serving our changing clients.

    In many ways my year was a typical Bar year. We accomplished many things. Members willingly stepped forward to serve their profession. The State Bar staff shared its collective expertise and experience to move the organization forward. That said, in some ways my year was different. The fact that the lawyers of this state elected a person of color sends a powerful message to young people of color and practitioners in a variety of settings: You are welcome and your opinions and thoughts are valued and need to be added to the collective work of the legal profession.

    It has been an honor to serve this profession and this association for the past year. The passion and commitment of the vast array of volunteers will remain with me for the rest of my career.


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