Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 79, No. 4, April
2006
Wisconsin Law Foundation History: Charitable Giving Begins at
Home
Through their charitable contributions
to the Wisconsin Law Foundation, lawyers transform the lives of state
residents and stimulate them as citizens to understand our
constitutional rights and responsibilities and to explore the law and
our judicial system. Here is a look at the foundation's history and a
reminder that charitable giving begins at home.
Sidebars:
by James E. Garvey, Marygold
S. Melli & Michael J. Remington
The Wisconsin Law Foundation's first major activity was helping to
secure financing for and holding title to the first State Bar Center at
402 W. Wilson St., Madison. Facing page (from left): Charles Goldberg,
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Grover Broadfoot, and Harold Lichtsin
review their comments before dedicating the building.
he law is a significant force in
American society. As taught by the late U.W. Law School Prof. Willard
Hurst, the role of law "... has been to organize, channel, legitimize
and in a substantial measure to redirect the course of changes that
started outside the law."1 Change is one of
the most salient features of life in the United States, including in
Wisconsin. A broad version of the "Wisconsin Idea" embraces the nature
of change, asking the public and private sectors to work together to
channel change for the betterment of the state. Wisconsin values embrace
Midwestern virtues of decency, honesty, and egalitarianism. But, in
distinguishing Wisconsin from other Midwestern states, Wisconsin
tradition (including the Wisconsin Idea) does more than that. A faith
that people can work together to build a better future reflects
Wisconsin history.
The Wisconsin Law Foundation serves as a bridge channeling change to
the future. Through its activities and grant-making, the foundation -
through lawyers' financial contributions - transforms the lives of many
state residents, especially young people like mock trial competitors and
members of Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse, and stimulates them
to explore the law and judicial administration. Understanding the
foundation's genesis, implementation, and maturation during its more
than 50-year life span (from 1951 through 2005) is worthwhile not only
for members of the legal profession but also for the public.
The Early Years
The Wisconsin Law Foundation was incorporated in March 1951 as the
Wisconsin Bar Foundation by five visionary attorneys: S.R. Stroud, G.
Burgess Ela, Harlan B. Rogers, Lawrence Hart, and Wade Boardman.2 The foundation was planned as a nonprofit,
nonstock corporation, open to any State Bar of Wisconsin member. Its
statement of purpose included the goals of advancing professional
ethics; promoting the uniformity of judicial proceedings; offering
training courses for lawyers; elevating judicial standards; improving
relations among State Bar members, the judiciary, and the public;
acquiring property; and preserving the American constitutional form of
government through education, research, and publicity. All State Bar
members were invited to become members of the new foundation. No dues
were charged because the founders anticipated receiving gifts and
bequests.
The State Bar appointed the foundation directors, who in turn elected
the officers. All staff services were provided by the State Bar, because
it wanted to encourage and nurture the foundation. Philip Habermann,
then the State Bar executive director, served as the foundation's
secretary/treasurer.
The foundation's initial major activity was playing a role in the
construction of the first State Bar Center at the corner of West Wilson
and Broom streets, near the State Capitol in downtown Madison. Because
there was a question whether the then voluntary State Bar could hold
title to real estate, the foundation took title to the two lots
purchased for the building and assisted in financing by arranging a
mortgage.3 Construction began in the spring
of 1957 and ended in August 1958, and the building was dedicated in
October 1958. However, in December 1956, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
adopted rules that integrated the State Bar, requiring all
Wisconsin-licensed lawyers to be members and clarifying the ability of
the State Bar to hold property. As a result, in February 1958 the
foundation deeded title of the Bar Center to the State Bar of
Wisconsin.4
The 1960s and '70s: The Growth Years
James E. Garvey, Minnesota 1954, is the retired
senior stockholder of Garvey, Anderson, Johnson, Geraci & Mirr S.C.,
Eau Claire. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a
Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law
Foundation.
Marygold S. Melli, U.W.
1950, is Voss-Bascom Professor of Law Emerita at the U.W. Law School.
She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and was
founding executive editor of its journal. She is a member of the
American Law Institute, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a
Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation.
Michael J. Remington, U.W. 1973, is a partner in the
Washington, D.C., office of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. He is also a
former long-time chief counsel of the House Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property and an adjunct faculty
member at George Mason University School of Law and Columbus School of
Law, Catholic University. He is a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law
Foundation.
Beginning in 1961, the form and purpose of the fledgling foundation
began to take shape.
5 In December 1961,
foundation president Alfred LaFrance outlined its purposes as being to
provide:
- financial aid to law students;
- financial aid to legal aid societies;
- assistance to State Bar legal research programs;
- aid to indigent lawyers in need;
- aid in development of historical projects;
- promotion of study and development of judicial selection
methods;
- promotion of development of uniform rules of court; and
- promotion of study and adoption of uniform codes.
The foundation engaged in several projects in the 1960s that were in
keeping with these purposes. In 1962, at the request of the State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, which was building Stonefield Village -
a replica of an 1890s village at Cassville, Wis. - the foundation raised
$5,500-plus from lawyers to build and furnish a pioneer law office. The
pioneer law office, which opened in 1964, continues today as an integral
part of Stonefield Village.
In 1963 the foundation established a modest student-loan program,
based on the advice of the Marquette University and U.W. law schools on
the need for student loans. The program was terminated in 1968 on the
ground that there was no longer a need, but the foundation provided
emergency funds to law students on specific requests by the law schools.
In February 1969 the program was reestablished to provide law students
with loans payable without interest until two years after graduation and
at 5 percent interest thereafter.
In 1965 the foundation began working with the Wisconsin Supreme Court
to obtain pictures of all the justices who had served on the court and
to establish a continuing photo file of justices.
The foundation's first major undertaking was establishing Project
Inquiry, which was initiated by attorneys Christopher Wilcox and Gerald
Conklin in 1969. Lawyers statewide made presentations to high school
classes on legal subjects, advising the students about their rights and
responsibilities and explaining our system of government. The foundation
prepared the program materials and coordinated the presentations with
teachers.6 Project Inquiry was very
successful, receiving accolades from the Wall Street Journal,
the Milwaukee Journal, Parade Magazine and others. In
the early 1970s, programs were conducted statewide in more than 200
schools each year, with attorney/coordinators active in 64 counties.
The 1970s saw the development of several more projects that, like
Project Inquiry, sought to inform the public about the legal system and
citizens' rights and responsibilities. In 1975 the foundation developed
a program called "Law for Everyone." This program provided local bar
associations with outlines to use in their public outreach efforts on
six subjects: estate planning and probate, taxes, consumer law, real
estate law, family law, and civil lawsuits. On every sixth Saturday
morning the foundation held workshops on these subjects in Madison and
Milwaukee for persons with impaired hearing. Also in 1975, the
foundation presented, with the Wisconsin Education Radio Network, a
series on public radio of 15 segments on the topic "Inquiry: The Justice
Thing."
From 1977 to 1979 the foundation sponsored the Law Related Education
Project, which was underwritten by the Federal Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration and cosponsored by the Wisconsin Department of
Public Instruction. This program trained teachers and produced model
curriculum materials for law-related education. In the 1970s, the
foundation also began to maintain a library of law-related educational
materials for teachers and lawyers. It contained mock trial scripts,
outlines for "Law for Everyone," and video and audio tapes of programs
developed by the foundation.
In 1978 the foundation produced a television program named "Judge for
Yourself," involving a law quiz with questions answered by attorneys
Maryann Schacht of Beaver Dam and Richard Cates of Madison, that was
aired on public television stations statewide. The program was followed
by lawyer hotlines - 15 lawyers each in Madison and Milwaukee television
stations answered simple legal questions from callers. In 1979 "Judge
for Yourself" received the American Bar Association Gavel Award.
Based on the success of the pilot hotline program, in October 1978
foundation president Jack R. DeWitt requested funding from the State Bar
for a foundation-sponsored "Lawyer Hotline," which would use volunteer
lawyers to answer basic questions by telephone. Callers with more
difficult questions would be advised to contact the Lawyer Referral
Service at the State Bar. A toll free line, appropriate telephone
equipment with answering devices, and modest advertising were estimated
to cost $3,750 for the first year of operation. Following vigorous
debate over the propriety of giving legal advice over the telephone and
potential liability problems, the State Bar funded the Lawyer Hotline
with $3,750. The Hotline began operating and soon became such an active
and integral part of the Lawyer Referral program that the State Bar
completely took over operating the Hotline. In its first two years,
300-plus volunteer lawyers answered more than 111,000 calls placed from
more than 400 Wisconsin communities.
The mid-1970s saw a revision of the foundation structure to broaden
its membership base. Under the leadership of foundation president Gordon
Sinykin, in 1976 the foundation amended its articles of incorporation
and bylaws to make all active members of the State Bar members of the
foundation. The State Bar elected additional foundation directors,
supplementing the existing system under which all State Bar past
presidents served as directors. By "going public," giving every State
Bar member a vote for directors, and doubling the number of directors,
the foundation gained considerable new blood and enthusiasm.
The 1980s and '90s: Maturation
In the 1980s the foundation began a program to recognize the
importance of law in society. In 1982 it established the annual Charles
Goldberg Distinguished Service Award to honor a Wisconsin lawyer for
lifetime service in the public interest. The award is named for Charles
Goldberg, a distinguished and public-spirited lawyer who had served as
president of the State Bar and of the foundation. Goldberg Award
recipients have been outstanding leaders of the bar, the Wisconsin
academic community, and the bench.7
During the 1980s, the foundation also continued to develop innovative
programs, including a brochure explaining the legal rights and
responsibilities of reaching the age of majority in Wisconsin, entitled
On Being 18. Distributed free to schools statewide, the
brochure won the ABA's Silver Gavel Award in 1986. This publication has
seen regular revision and the 37-page booklet is still being distributed
in hard copy and online via LegalExplorer, the State Bar's consumer Web
site.
In 1983 the foundation instituted a Case Mediation Program in
conjunction with a Dane County Bar Association project. The program,
administered by Morris Slavney, who had chaired the Wisconsin Employment
Relations Commission for many years, handled an average of 100 mediation
cases a year in its first five years. With the success of that project,
the foundation assisted other local bars to develop case mediation
programs.
In 1984 a Mock Trial Program, based on earlier mock trials that were
part of Project Inquiry, began on a statewide basis. The Mock Trial
Program has been one of the most successful foundation projects ever
launched. In May 1992, the foundation hosted the National Mock Trial
Tournament in Madison with high school students from about 35 states
participating. Fundraising to finance the event took various forms,
including the sale of Holstein cow-inspired "M-o-o-o Shirts." In 1989
Wisconsin's champion, the Rhinelander High School Mock Trial team, was
crowned national champion in competition in Louisville, Ky. Rhinelander
repeated as Wisconsin champion from 1988 to 1991 and again from 2000 to
2004. In 2005, more than 1,700 students from 179 high schools across the
state - including a team from the Wisconsin School of the Deaf -
competed in the Mock Trial Program.
In 1987 the foundation developed a project to commemorate the
bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. It provided statewide
coordination of a national bicentennial essay contest and cosponsored
the bicentennial commemoration activities with the State Bicentennial
Committee on the Constitution, the State Bar Bill of Rights Committee,
and the State Bar Young Lawyers Division. In 1990 the foundation
arranged for Prof. Gordon Baldwin of the U.W. Law School to write a
booklet on the Bill of Rights. Called The Bill of Rights: An
Introduction, it is distributed free to high school students with
the booklet On Being 18.
In 1989 the foundation initiated a community legal education program
for senior citizens and produced a video, "In Your Hands: The Tools for
Preserving Personal Autonomy," and published other pamphlets and guides.
Under the foundation's auspices experienced trial lawyers also conducted
mock trials at the Wisconsin State Fair, and lawyers presented
law-related education (LRE) programs in Wisconsin high school classrooms
on a variety of legal topics.
By the late 1980s, the foundation's flourishing programs and the
shortage of money to run them produced considerable concern. In June
1991 foundation president Donald Heaney and State Bar president-elect
Daniel Hildebrand appointed a committee, chaired by Gerald O'Brien, to
review the foundation's work and make recommendations about its future.
That committee concluded that the foundation's primary role should be
raising money and that it should not be overly burdened with operating
and administering projects. The committee therefore recommended that,
although the foundation should continue its role as an innovator to
develop new project ideas, it should not actually operate programs. To
implement the committee's recommendation, the Mock Trial Program was
turned over to the State Bar, although the foundation continues to be
one of its major financial sponsors. The committee also recommended that
the Wisconsin Bar Foundation change its name so that the difference
between it and the State Bar would become clearer. In July 1992 the name
of the Wisconsin Bar Foundation was changed to the Wisconsin Law
Foundation and its programs were transferred to the State Bar. Today,
the foundation is solely a grant-making entity.
Finally, in 2000 the board of directors was restructured to provide
for a total of 22 directors: nine elected by foundation members, nine
elected by all past presidents, and four appointed (one each by the
State Bar, the Nonresident Lawyers Division, the Government Lawyers
Division, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court). The directors elect officers
for one-year terms. The foundation has been fortunate in being led and
served by a distinguished list of presidents.8
2000 and Beyond: Challenges of the Millennium
The millennium saw the foundation issuing its first newsletter,
Letter of the Law, to its membership. Under president John
Skilton the foundation welcomed the newsletter as a new communication
tool.
The Fellows Program, instituted in 1999, developed programs on timely
legal issues, starting in 2001 with a presentation by former ABA
president Jerome J. Shestack, entitled "Reflections on Lying and the
Honest Lawyer." In 2002, a symposium was held at the Marquette Law
School on "Terrorism and Civil Liberties." Keynoted by Fr. Robert Drinan
S.J., the symposium included presenters Dean Howard Eisenberg, Prof.
Gordon Baldwin, and U.S. Army (JAG) Major John Bickers. In 2003 the
Fellows heard from Marquette Law School Dean Joseph Kearney, and in 2004
from David S. Ruder, former chair of the Securities and Exchange
Commission. In 2005 Robert J. Grey, ABA immediate past president,
discussed the jury system.
During 2003 the Wisconsin Supreme Court celebrated its 150th birthday
and the State Bar its 125th. Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice
Shirley S. Abrahamson appointed a Legal History Committee, which
generated a variety of activities. The foundation participated in the
celebrations by providing seed money for celebratory activities and
long-lasting projects (including a video about the supreme court shown
to members of the public who visit the court). To celebrate the 125th
year of the State Bar of Wisconsin, Foundation Fellows convened at the
supreme court and reenacted the first State Bar meeting.
Success creates challenges for almost all charitable, nonprofit
activities. The foundation's future lies in meeting four challenges:
funding, staffing, grant-making, and communicating its message.
Funding. Financing for the foundation has been a
continuing challenge. In 1976, at the suggestion of State Bar member
John Joanis, the foundation and the State Bar agreed that the State Bar
dues statement include an assessment of a $10 contribution to the
foundation to be collected along with State Bar dues. Members could opt
out of the contribution, but use of the dues statement facilitated
payment - producing more than $60,000 in contributions for the
foundation in 1976 and more than $50,000 in 1977. However, the opt-out
contribution caused resentment from some State Bar members who were
opposed to the integrated bar and who used the automatic contribution as
one of the arguments against the integrated bar. In response, the
Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered the State Bar to provide only a line in
the dues statement for a voluntary contribution of no set amount, and
contributions then fell dramatically to only a few thousand dollars a
year.
In 1978 the foundation launched Lawyers Pro Bono Publico, a program
to recruit lawyers to give $50 a year for 10 years, or $500 total, to
support the foundation's work. In the board meeting minutes for January
1979, it was noted that 150 lawyers became members. The Pro Bono Publico
program was active for several years and raised money for the
foundation's operating expenses.
In 1981 the foundation began another fund-raising project, Lawyers
Endowment for Public Service (LEPS), which encouraged 1,000 lawyers to
pledge $1,000 each to create a $1 million endowment fund, with the
income to be used for foundation operating expenses. By 1986, 302
lawyers had each contributed $1,000. In 1988, as a result of another
drive, 280 lawyers provided a total of $126,000. Together, these funds
formed the endowment that is today a main source of operating funds.
Also in 1981, following the example of the Florida Bar Foundation,
the Wisconsin Bar Foundation began to explore the possibility of using
interest on lawyers' trust accounts to fund the foundation. Although the
Wisconsin Supreme Court provided for a pooled interest-bearing account
for nominal or short-term client funds, the court directed that the
interest be paid not to the foundation but instead to the Wisconsin
Trust Account Foundation Inc. (WisTAF), which would grant money to
various organizations. The foundation received some limited funds from
WisTAF to support individual programs but, unlike in many states, the
interest on lawyers' trust accounts in Wisconsin never became a major
source of foundation support.
By 1996, showing little or slow growth, the endowment fund of the
Wisconsin Law Foundation totaled $420,000. In 1997, in an effort to grow
those funds at a faster rate, foundation leaders considered several
possible innovations, including conducting a major capital fund drive,
but no such fund drive was authorized or conducted. Nevertheless,
foundation coffers continued to grow through the generosity of its
donors, reaching $558,000 in 1998 contributed from 1,100 foundation
members. By 2000, after grants had been distributed, invested funds
totaled more than $800,000. Shortly thereafter, a national economic
recession may have stunted participation, resulting in 673 foundation
members in 2002 and net assets approximating $754,000. In 2004, the
minimum membership dues amount was increased to $50, and this likely
contributed to a drop in memberships to 536 and net assets of $738,000.
However, by the end of 2005, memberships had risen to 610 and net assets
topped $736,000. During these last four years, while endowment funds
derived from general membership declined, development director John
Daugherty was pleased to find that donations designated for specific
programs or for foundation purposes had actually increased.
Over the years various foundation programs, particularly the Mock
Trial Program, the Bicentennial of the Constitution, and the Dane County
Case Mediation Program, have received support from other foundations and
corporations, including grants from the Evjue Foundation, American
Family Insurance Co., the Doctor Scholl Foundation, the Norman Bassett
Foundation, the Patrick and Anna M. Cudahy Fund, McDonald's Corporation,
and the Bradley Foundation.
The Foundation Fellows program was begun under the leadership of
Truman McNulty in 1999. It had a threefold purpose: to honor
accomplished State Bar of Wisconsin members who also had made
significant contributions to their communities; to offer quality
educational programs to foundation members; and to raise additional
funds for the foundation. Lawyers elected as Fellows are expected to
contribute $1,500 over 10 years. The initial class of Fellows in 2000
consisted of 83 members. By 2005 membership was at 161 Fellows.
Staffing. In 1974, with increased activity and more
contributions, the foundation hired its first staff director, David
Mills. Subsequent directors included Gary Wilbert, Linda Mundt, and
Gladys Kaufman, who had served as director of the foundation's Law
Related Education Program. When Kaufman resigned in June 1986, Cathryn
Balliett served as director, followed by Rhonda Lagoni and Karen McNett.
Later, the State Bar began providing administrative assistance on a
part-time basis with the foundation reimbursing the Bar for staff time.
That practice continues today.
In 2003 the foundation retained John D. Daugherty, an experienced
fund-raising executive, as its first fund development director to
formulate and lead fund-raising strategies. Under his direction,
increased donor support was sought from nonlawyers for law-related
education and public service projects in Wisconsin, and a Heritage
Society of the Wisconsin Law Foundation was created to recognize those
who made the foundation a beneficiary in a will, trust, or insurance
policy.
Grant-making. The foundation continues to make
grants to aid a variety of popular law-related projects in Wisconsin,
including longstanding foundation-originated programs such as the High
School Mock Trial Tournament and On Being 18 (soon to be
published in Spanish and Hmong translations). In the late 1980s grants
were awarded for a program for legal aid for farmers (conducted by the
Young Lawyers Division) and for a program for assistance to aliens in
obtaining legal resident status (conducted by the Milwaukee Young
Lawyers organization). More recently, grant recipients include programs
to fight sexual assault, to instruct social studies teachers on the U.S.
Constitution and the justice system, to assist the federal court pro
bono program, to conduct community adolescent programs, to operate
county teen courts, and to protect the legal rights of parents with
disabled children. The impact of these programs on the public has been
significant.9
The variety of grants is further illustrated by the 2002 efforts to
assist the Wisconsin Supreme Court in creating a legal history society
and efforts to aid in creating a Native American Tribal Code Information
Clearinghouse. This variety continues, as shown by the 2005 grant
projects, which included a legal information manual for incarcerated
parents, development of a roster of attorneys to assist families of
children with disabilities, and a Spanish language brochure for
tenants.
Programs aided by the foundation have used disparate strategies and
delivery systems, from traditional seminars and institutes to
law-related comic books, educational supplies and brochures, booklets
for students considering law as a profession, new juror orientation
videotapes, and televised legislative hearings on cable
television.10
Communications. The foundation's early
communications to its members and the public were conducted principally
through State Bar publications, including the Wisconsin Bar
Bulletin. For many years, the Bulletin carried the
bi-monthly "Bar Foundation News." In that column the foundation
president published an annual report and presented the foundation's
goals and plans for the year. Committee chairs or Bar staff would
announce foundation activities and accomplishments, including reports on
that year's High School Mock Trials and the annual presentation of the
Charles Goldberg Distinguished Service Award, and would urge lawyers to
become paying foundation members. From 1989 through 1991, the redesigned
and renamed magazine, Wisconsin Lawyer, regularly published
"Serving the Public - Wisconsin Bar Foundation," a column reporting on
the foundation's activities and progress. The frequency of articles
lessened with the foundation's change of emphasis in 1992; however, the
State Bar still reports on foundation activities in the magazine, with
additional coverage provided by the Inside the Bar newsletter,
articles on WisBar and LegalExplorer (the State Bar's member and
consumer and law-related education Web sites), and the foundation's and
sections' newsletters.
In Fall 2001 the foundation introduced Letter of the Law, a
newsletter that reports at least annually on the foundation's many
activities and events, advocates for financial support of foundation
programs, and discusses relevant matters affecting the foundation.
Letter of the Law articles are penned by foundation officers,
directors, committee chairs, and other volunteers and State Bar staff;
it reaches all foundation members and law and educational libraries in
Wisconsin.
The foundation gained an electronic presence with the creation of its
Web page, www.wisbar.org/wlf, on WisBar, the State Bar's member Web
site. When WisBar underwent a major redesign in 2004, the foundation
gained improved linkage with all State Bar entities' Web pages,
including those of its divisions, sections, and committees. These
improvements promise a greater ability to inform State Bar members about
the foundation through increased use of its Web site.
Conclusion
Institutions that deal with change in a rational way, in the words of
Prof. Hurst, are "to be counted one of the truly basic instruments of
civilized living."11 The Wisconsin Law
Foundation is one of those instruments. The foundation mission remains
true to its roots: to fund charitable and educational programs that
promote citizen comprehension of the law. In educating Wisconsinites -
especially young people - about this country's constitutional and
statutory justice system, the foundation truly has changed lives. Nicole
Opelt, a volunteer member of the Clark County Teen Court, eloquently
said: "Every case that I have heard has touched my heart in some way. I
have become a role model for other teens, changed several teens' lives
along with their families, and also helped better my community. I am
given the opportunity to make a difference in peoples' lives every day
and in return I have made a difference in my own."
Endnotes
1James Willard Hurst, The
Growth of the Law - The Law Makers 19 (1950). (Prof. Hurst was a
pioneer scholar at the U.W. Law School in the field of legal
history.)
2In his 1986 History of the
Organized Bar in Wisconsin, online at www.wisbar.org/BarHistory,
long-time (1948-1974) State Bar executive director Philip S. Habermann
recounted how the foundation was conceived. In the summer of 1950,
Habermann and Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Marvin Rosenberry
were driving back from a meeting of the Rock County Bar in Janesville.
Habermann related that an elderly Rock County attorney inquired if there
was a bar organization to which he could direct a bequest. Habermann
expressed concern that no such entity existed, and Justice Rosenberry
suggested that the State Bar needed a foundation to accept gifts.
Rosenberry drafted articles of incorporation for such an organization in
September 1950. Soon after, the State Bar executive committee allocated
$500 to cover organizational expenses and the cost of producing a
leaflet explaining the new foundation to Bar members. The Rock County
attorney who had raised the issue died without mentioning the foundation
in his will.
3A prominent attorney, Charles
Crownhart, who was secretary of the State Medical Society, was
instrumental in arranging a mortgage for the State Bar with the
society's Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS) medical insurance plan.
4The transfer was subject to the
condition that if the integrated State Bar was ever abolished as an
integrated association, title would revert to the foundation. The
transfer was subject to the mortgage from WPS. A special reason for
transferring title was that the foundation could not get a tax exemption
for gifts for the pledge drive; however, the State Bar as a state agency
could and did receive a favorable tax ruling. The real estate also was
expected to be exempt from property taxes.
5A July 1961 review of the status
and usefulness of the foundation conducted by the State Bar Executive
Committee concluded that the foundation could serve a constructive
purpose for the State Bar but recommended changing its structure to
provide that State Bar past presidents would serve as the foundation
board of directors.
6The lawyers primarily responsible
for preparing the materials and doing much of the instruction were
Christopher Wilcox and Gerald Conklin. These young lawyers worked with
Phil Habermann and Gordon Sinykin. Subsequently, they prepared mock
trial scripts for lawyers statewide to use.
7To date, the Charles Goldberg
Award recipients have been: Ralph Hoyt (1982), Robert B.L. Murphy
(1983), Dean Robert Boden (1984), Victor Miller (1985), James D. Ghiardi
(1986), Gordon Sinykin (1987), Steven Keane (1988), John A. Kluwin
(1989), George K. Steil Sr. (1990), Rodney O. Kittelsen (1991), Jack R.
DeWitt (1992), Margadette Demet (1993), Francis J. Wilcox (1994), the
Hon. Patrick T. Sheedy (1995), Chief Justice Nathan S. Heffernan (1996),
Prof. Frank Remington (1997), Philip S. Habermann (1998), Ben L. Chernov
(1999), Gerald M. O'Brien (2000), Truman Q. McNulty (2001), Frank M.
Gimbel (2002), Howard B. Eisenberg (2003), Donald L. Heaney (2004), and
Richard L. Cates and G. Lane Ware (2005).
8Harlan B. Rogers (1952-55),
Frederick N. Trowbridge (1955-56), Alfred E. LaFrance (1956-70), Gordon
Sinykin (1970-77), Jack R. DeWitt (1977-83), Rodney O. Kittelsen
(1983-85), Wayne E. Babler Jr. (1985-87), Don R. Herrling (1987-89),
Donald E. Heaney (1989-91), Donald J. Tikalsky (1991-92), Maryann
Scheftell Schacht (1992-94), Daniel W. Hildebrand (1994-96), Gerald M.
O'Brien (1996-98), G. Lane Ware (1998-2000), John Skilton (2000-02),
Cheryl Furstace Daniels (2002-04), John Stevens (2004-05), and Kathleen
Grant (2005-07).
9The success of Wisconsin's teen
courts was previously featured in this magazine. See Dianne
Molvig, Justice, Teen Style, 75 Wis. Law. 10 (Aug. 2002).
10Wisconsin Law Foundation Grant
Distribution Report 2005 - 1996. Total Grants made 1996-2005:
$270,300.
11Hurst, supra note 1,
at 19.
Wisconsin Lawyer