Inside the Bar
Board adopts position on guardianship reform, opposes language in
budget bill, and more
At its March 18 meeting, the Board of Governors adopted a position in
favor of guardianship reform, opposed language in the governor's budget
bill, supported a petition amending district committee rules, and
discussed the "Civil Gideon" petition.
Guardianship. The board unanimously supported the
Elder Law Section's recommendations to reorganize and reform chapter 880
of the Wisconsin Statutes (relating to guardianship).
"This initiative is the culmination of more than 10 years and
thousands of pro bono hours by expert attorneys," James Jaeger, Elder
Law Section representative, told the board. "Reorganization and reform
of the guardianship law is necessary and timely. The current statutes
are difficult to navigate and do not accurately describe current
practice, nor do they reflect the most recent case law or contemporary
attitudes towards the effects of aging and disability. The goal of this
reform is to provide the most protection for the rights and
responsibilities of those individuals affected by this chapter and to
ensure that the procedures are clear and free of current
ambiguities."
Tax delinquent lawyers. The board unanimously
opposed provisions in the Governor's budget bill as they apply to
lawyers who are delinquent in taxes owed to the state. The bill
formalizes a process to deny or revoke the license to practice law for
tax delinquency.
While the State Bar recognizes that Wisconsin citizens have an
obligation to pay taxes to the state, the Bar believes attorneys are
unique in that their licensure is regulated by the supreme court and
that being tax delinquent does not per se render an individual unfit to
practice law. The bill's terminology describing license sanctions is not
consistent with the court's terminology. The bill calls for a revocation
of license. Under current supreme court rules, an attorney whose law
license is revoked must wait five years before applying for
reinstatement. An appropriate model, addressing child support payment
delinquencies, already exists in SCR 11.04. The Bar believes suspension
of a law license, with reinstatement upon certification that the tax
delinquency has been paid, is more appropriate to the legal profession.
Under current supreme court rules, an attorney whose law license is
revoked must wiat five years before applying for reinstatement. An
appropriate model, addressing child support payment delinquencies,
already exists in SCR 11.04.
The board also took a position that if lobbyists are unsuccessful in
getting the language removed, the Bar must have a fallback position to
change the language from revocation to suspension, which is consistent
with the child support language.
Civil Gideon. The board directed the Executive
Committee to monitor the status of the pending Kelly v. Warpinski
petition. If the supreme court accepted original jurisdiction, the
Executive Committee would prepare a report on the legal and economic
issues for presentation to the board at its May meeting.
Referred to as "Civil Gideon," this is a petition for original action
by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to declare for indigent persons a state
constitutional right to counsel in cases involving child custody
issues.
The court denied the petition on April 6 without comment.
District investigative committees. The board
supported the OLR petition to amend OLR District Investigative Committee
rules. District committees make the initial investigation and
recommendations in grievance matters against lawyers. The supreme court
appoints committee members in proportion to the districts' geographic
size and population.
The State Bar's Lawyer Regulation Study Committee reviewed the
petition (published in February 2005 Wisconsin Lawyer) and recommended
the State Bar support the petition.
"Probably the most significant change includes increasing the number
of public members on district committees," said State Bar President
Michelle Behnke, who will testify at the April 13 hearing.
In 2002, the Board of Administrative Oversight, which separately
monitors responses from district committee users, began surveying lawyer
regulation system users. The public's perception is that the committee
structure, as well as the entire lawyer regulation system, is inherently
unfair because lawyers investigate other lawyers. While the board found
no evidence to support the perception, it recognizes that increasing
public participation in district committees could help alleviate this
misperception.
Keller. The board set the fiscal year 2005
- 06 Keller dues rebate at $6.60 per member, under the standard
set in SCR 10.03(5). Under Keller, the State Bar cannot use
compulsory dues of objecting members for political or ideological
activities that are not reasonably related to regulating the legal
profession or improving the quality of legal services.
Keller allows members to decline to support activities that
have been determined to be political or ideological. The amount is
determined using the financial statements and activities for the Bar's
most recent audited fiscal year, which in this case is July 1, 2003 -
June 30, 2004. The Keller reduction is an option on the State
Bar's yearly dues and assessments statements.
The minutes will be posted on WisBar after they are approved at the
May 3 - 4 board meeting.
Inside the
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