Madison, WI –Milwaukee attorney Fran Deisinger was joined by many friends, family members and fellow attorneys when he was sworn in as the State Bar of Wisconsin’s 61st president on Wednesday night at the State Bar’s Annual Meeting & Conference in Green Bay.
It was a special day for him, as he noted it was exactly 34 years ago to the day that he took the attorney’s oath to become a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
Attorney Mark Cameli, who served on Reinhart’s board of directors for nine years, emceed the event.
Deisinger conducted his duties as general counsel “with unfailing judgement,” said Cameli, “while simultaneously managing very strong and different personalities, a skill he will undoubtedly use in his new position.”
During his term as State Bar President, Deisinger plans to help the Wisconsin Supreme court in “improving the administration of justice.” During his presentation to the membership, he outlined his plan to put together a commission of volunteers to evaluate what the state’s legal community can do to address the issue of mass incarceration.
“There is no doubt that crime deserves punishment and that the public deserves safety,” Deisinger said. “But if we are going to imprison so many, at such extraordinary cost both economically and socially, we had best be sure it is not doing more harm than good.”
Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack administered the oath of office. Deisinger assumes a one-year term on July 1, succeeding outgoing State Bar President Ralph Cagle of Madison, who becomes immediate past president.
Deisinger, who graduated from U.W. Law School, is a partner at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C. in Milwaukee, where he has spent the entirety of his career. He is considered a natural leader, having previously served as president of the Milwaukee Bar Association and Reinhart’s general counsel for more than 15 years.
