Dec. 2, 2009 – It’s not too late to add your voice to those of more than 2,800 State Bar colleagues regarding the mandatory/voluntary study.

“By now I’m sure that all 23,000 members of the State Bar of Wisconsin are aware of this project, but we want to hear from as many as possible before we develop our recommendations for the Board of Governors,” explains John P. Macy, chair of the State Bar’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC), which is sponsoring the study.

He stresses that the SPC will collect written responses to a mailed and online survey through Dec. 4 and will conduct a public hearing on Dec. 10 - 12 at the State Bar Center in Madison to gather additional perspectives. Anonymous submissions will be reviewed by the committee but may be more difficult to evaluate and may or may not be incorporated into the SPC’s final report to the Board of Governors.

“This is a unique opportunity for all of our members to provide information on this important issue. The information gathered through this process will be used by the committee in formulating a recommendation to the Board of Governors prior to that group’s Feb. 26, 2010, meeting. The board will, upon receipt of the committee’s recommendation, decide whether to take any action regarding the same, including whether or not to submit a petition to the Supreme Court to change the current status of the Bar Association and membership in the same,” Macy explains.

Additional information about the process, including a message from State Bar President Douglas W. Kammer and comments collected from thousands of members over the past several weeks, is available at www.wisbar.org/stratplancomm.