Inside the Bar
The Importance of Being President
Please vote in the upcoming state bar elections.
the people you elect affect your association and profession.
by George C. Brown,
State Bar executive director
DURING NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN THE CHICAGO of my youth, so
the story goes, Mayor Richard Daley's political machinery kicked its
get-out-the-vote campaign into gear with the enthusiastic (though
possibly apocryphal) slogan, "Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Democrat."
During the 1960 presidential campaign, that slogan was further refined
to "Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Kennedy."
Mayor Daley, it is presumed, played a central role in moving Illinois
into the win column for the young senator from Massachusetts, resulting
in 1960 being the closest election in recent history. Until, of course,
last year's presidential contest.
When all the dust settles, and all the books and Ph.D. dissertations
are written, one thing will remain clear. If 537 Florida voters had not
voted for President Bush, he would not be in the White House - this out
of the millions of ballots in Florida and across the nation.
Close elections are not isolated to presidential races. Every
election, recounts are held in Wisconsin for one seat or another. We've
even experienced close races in State Bar elections. In a
president-elect race some years ago, one candidate won by fewer than 20
votes out of more than 5,500 cast by members across the country.
All of this is simply saying that your vote counts in State Bar
elections. The people you elect have extraordinary authority and
responsibility for decisions that affect the development of the
association and the profession. Think about some of the State Bar
creations that have an impact on your professional life. The Equal
Justice Coalition, which raises millions of dollars from citizens,
businesses, and lawyers and law firms to help fund legal services to the
poor, was created by a State Bar president and your Board of Governors.
The Wisconsin Lawyer Mutual Insurance Corporation that provides
certainty in a sometimes-uncertain professional liability insurance
world, has the same heritage. So does the State Bar relationship with
LOIS for computerized legal research and the existence of the Wisconsin
Trust Account Foundation, which has distributed more than $10 million
across Wisconsin for civil legal services and public education about the
law. Today, the Resolution in Response to the Seize the Future
Conference that is being discussed by the board and among lawyers
throughout Wisconsin comes from the same roots.
The people you elect to office are making decisions that affect your
professional life. This is important work that they take seriously.
Soon, President-elect Gerry Mowris will begin to formulate the work of
his year as president by making committee appointments for the fiscal
year beginning July 1.
On April 13, the State Bar will mail the ballots for president-elect,
treasurer, and judicial council, and for your governor if a seat is up
for election in your district. You'll find information about the
candidates in the March Inside the Bar, online at www.wisbar.org, and in
a mailbox near you. When your ballot arrives, take the time to vote.
After all, it's your profession and your association. Your vote
counts.
Wisconsin
Lawyer