President's
Report: Spirit of Service Redefines Bar
Mission
of the State Bar
State
Bar of Wisconsin Financial Reports (PDF) *
1998 State Bar Annual Report: Partners in Practice
It was a year for lawyers to connect with each
other, to work more closely with each other. Initiatives such as
long-range strategic planning, moving forward with a
new headquarters for the Bar, bringing lawyers together at smaller
regional conferences, and assessing member needs headlined the year.
Hundreds of members statewide joined in Project
Vision, the State Bar's long-range planning initiative. State
Bar divisions, sections, committees, and affiliated organizations held
strategic planning sessions during the year to help guide the Bar well
into the 21st century.
Recognizing that the Bar simply had outgrown its existing facility,
the Board of Governors approved a recommendation to acquire land on
Madison's northeast side and construct a building to meet its current
and future needs. Groundbreaking for the new Bar Center
occurred this past summer. The new 40,000-square-foot Bar Center will provide:
- easy member access from the Interstate and major highways;
- adequate free parking;
- meeting and work space for members while in Madison; and
- space for CLE seminars and computer/technology training.
Smaller than the Bar's two yearly conventions, regional
conferences in Hudson and Wisconsin Rapids provided area
attorneys the opportunity to gather for networking and CLE programming
that they might otherwise miss. And the first-ever Midwest Small Firm
Success Conference, initiated and sponsored by the State Bar, brought
more than 300 attorneys from eight Midwest states together for special
programs geared to small and sole practices.
The State Bar continually surveys its members to
assess their needs, to find out how the Bar is doing to meet those
needs, and what the Bar should be doing in the future. This research
points the way to better understand and meet member needs.
In addition to the many programs and initiatives moving the Bar and
its member service efforts forward into the next century, the Bar
continued its commitment to public service. This Annual Report
highlights many of those achievements.
This truly was a year of partners in practice with the members and
the Bar working hard to meet the needs of the legal community and the
public.
Assessing Members' Needs
Understanding where the legal profession is headed and analyzing
other market forces allows the Bar to anticipate the current and future
needs of its members. Assessing member needs is a never-ending process,
not just a periodic ritual.
Member survey
The current membership survey continues the Bar's effort to gauge
members' needs and how to better meet them. (The full text of the survey
was published in the October
1998 Wisconsin Lawyer.)
Membership Profile
1998 -- 19,732 members
% members female
25%
% members male
75%
New members admitted
703
1988 -- 15,459 members
% members female
17%
% members male
83%
New members admitted
699
1978 -- 11,197 members
New members admitted
591
(breakdown of male vs. female not available)
1968 -- 7,784 members
New members admitted
N/A
(breakdown of male vs. female not available)
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When asked to rate the value of the Bar's offerings,
resident and nonresident respondents ranked the same offerings within
the top six, but with different values. Those offerings include CLE
Seminars, CLE Books, Wisconsin Lawyer magazine, Wisconsin
Lawyer Directory, CLE seminar written materials, and the ethics
hotline.
What do you need from the State Bar that is currently not
provided? Some respondents wanted lower costs or price breaks
for everything from Bar dues to convention and seminar registration
fees. Others suggested that the Bar do more to improve the public image
of lawyers and to meet the needs of government lawyers.
Nonresident members wanted better local access to Bar services,
including seminars delivered through teleconferences or the Internet,
and CLE classes convened near state borders.
How can the State Bar help you prepare for practicing law in
the 21st century? Respondents asked for more computer training,
software reviews, technology updates, and continued improvements of the
Bar's Web site. Other requests ranged from lower fees and costs, to
efforts to improve civility and collegiality among lawyers.
Law firm technology survey
The second annual 1997 Law Firm Technology Survey measured current
technology usage levels among members and identified opportunities to
assist members with adopting and using computer technology. The State
Bar intends to annually assess members' evolving technology usage and
needs. (The full results were published in the October 1997 Wisconsin
Lawyer.)
The 1997 Law Firm Technology Survey revealed:
- 50 percent of responding firms have Internet
access, up from 30 percent the previous year; 11 percent plan
to obtain Internet access within the next year;
- 486-based PCs are the most frequently used
computers, averaging about five computers per firm;
Pentium-based PCs average four per firm; and 386-based PCs average three
per firm; and
- 57 percent of respondents are interested in downloading CLE
self-study materials from the Internet if credits were
available.
Survey results are used by law firms to compare their own technology
use with that of their counterparts. This information helps lawyers plan
for future technology acquisitions and training to better position
themselves in the legal marketplace. The survey results also help the
Bar meet existing member needs and anticipate future needs - so that
information and training is available even before members request
it.
Meeting Members' Needs
The State Bar recognizes that one of the most valuable commodities
for any attorney is information. To meet its members' professional
challenges, the Bar has developed a wealth of high-quality information
resources, ranging from books, seminars, and special periodicals to
conventions, computerized research services, and even a hotline to
assist members with ethics questions.
Internet technology
More than one million pages of information were accessed from WisBar,
the State Bar's Internet site, testimony to the Bar's commitment to
providing members with pertinent, accurate, and timely legal
information. The site has welcomed visitors from as far away as Hong
Kong, Norway, Greece, New Guinea, Hungary, and dozens of other
locations.
WisBar's goal is to provide daily practice tools for busy Wisconsin
attorneys in a 24-hour, easy-access, easy-use, secure transaction
environment. In furtherance of its goals, WisBar's advances this past
year include:
The State Bar successfully broadcast its first CLE seminar
live over the Internet to a test audience. This effort lays the
groundwork for future live, online seminars.
WisBar now offers a secure environment for members
to purchase CLE books and other products and to register for seminars
and other events.
Caselaw Express, a free weekly
email service, delivers subscribers the previous week's court
decisions.
Lawyer Search, a
database-driven search engine allows users to search around the clock
for Wisconsin attorneys by name, city, and law school.
Resolving lawyer and client disputes
The new State Bar Lawyer Dispute Resolution
Program helps lawyers resolve differences during law firm breakups.
The Professionalism Committee developed this program to head off
litigation, protect clients, and reduce the burden on the courts.
The Resolution of Fee Disputes service provides the
public and lawyers with fast and inexpensive arbitration hearings to
settle fee disputes between lawyers and clients. Confidentiality is
guaranteed. During FY '98, more than 400 clients, attorneys, and judges
contacted the State Bar for information on the program, with a total of
57 applications accepted for arbitration hearings.
Ethics advice
During FY '98, the State Bar Ethics
Hotline conducted 2,114 informal consultations with members on such
topics as confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
The Professional Ethics Committee also issues formal ethics opinions
at the request of members. This year the committee issued opinions
regarding representation in real estate transactions and professional
obligations that arise when a lawyer and law firm part company.
Local bar outreach
Supreme Court Rules direct the State Bar "to encourage the formation
and activities of local bar associations." Accordingly, the State Bar
sponsors an annual Wisconsin Bar Leaders Conference.
This past year's program focused on helping local bar leaders "build a
better bar." It included breakout sessions on strategic planning,
structuring and organizing the framework of local bars, and helping
local bars move forward in the rapidly changing world of cyberspace.
The State Bar also provides assistance to lawyers wishing to form
their own local bars. Door County lawyers took advantage of this service
to help form the new Door County Bar Association.
In addition, the State Bar of Wisconsin supports public service
activities of local and specialty bars through a Local Bar Grant
Competition. More than $7,600 was awarded for projects last year.
Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program
The Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance
Program (WisLAP) continued to help lawyers, judges, law students,
and their families cope with alcoholism and other chemical addictions,
depression, acute and chronic anxiety, and problems related to the
stress of practicing law. Trained volunteers provide
information and confidential, meaningful assistance 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Considerable attention was given to the stresses of lawyering during
the Bar's Annual Convention. The convention's theme, "Balancing Life and
Practice," set the stage for many informative WisLAP programs.
CLE books
CLE Books continued to spotlight the
expertise of some of Wisconsin's most talented attorneys as nearly 300
lawyers volunteered to be authors or reviewers. Advising Older Clients and Their
Families, a two-volume set, was copublished this year with the
Elder Law Section. A comprehensive guide to all aspects of elder law, 25
experienced Wisconsin practitioners wrote the handbook, and more than 30
others served as expert reviewers.
Top six State Bar offerings members use or participate
in
Wisconsin Lawyer
95% (residents)
88.9% (nonresidents)
CLE Seminars
94.4%
60.2%
State Bar Newsletter
91.6%
78.9%
CLE Books
90.5%
62.3%
CLE Seminar written materials
89.9%
57.7%
Wisconsin Lawyer Directory
87.4%
83.7%
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CLE Books also revised 12 existing publications and supplemented 22
other books during the fiscal year. Some of the new editions included Eckhardt's Workbook for Wisconsin Estate
Planners, Worker's
Compensation Handbook, Guardian ad Litem
Handbook, Organizing
a Wisconsin Business Corporation, and Wisconsin Employment
Law.
CLE seminars
CLE Seminars presented nearly 70 live
programs during this past fiscal year. It also produced more than 500
video replays and seven teleseminars, offering a total of 370
credits and reaching more than 12,000 registrants. More than
260 Wisconsin practitioners volunteered their time and expertise as
seminar faculty.
CLE Seminars continued to cosponsor and produce programs in
cooperation with other professional organizations, putting on successful
joint programs with the Corporate Practice Institute, the Wisconsin
Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Board of
Trial Advocates.
The most popular programs focused on technology-related issues,
including research on the Internet, and an examination of the law of
privacy in the information age. In response to member feedback, CLE
Seminars continues to explore alternative ways to deliver CLE, including
developing cost-effective, online, on-demand CLE programming.
Committee, division, and section member outreach
Most of the work of the State Bar is accomplished through committee,
division, and section volunteers. These entities give members an
opportunity to participate in the Bar, expand and share their expertise,
and network with colleagues who share a common focus.
Among their many work products, volunteers produce special focus
newsletters, work on legislative issues, and provide CLE programming at
conventions and conferences. This past year, for instance, the
Bankruptcy Section began issuing periodic "Supreme Court Scoop"
postcards to members - a fast way to communicate recent decisions; the
Business Law Section expanded its Business Assistance Program to cover
nonprofit organizations as well as small businesses; and the
International Practice Section provided speakers for legal issues
seminars hosted by the Wisconsin World Trade Center for the benefit of
Wisconsin businesses.
Conventions and conferences
Partnerships were emphasized at the 1998
Midwinter Convention in Madison, as State Bar President Steve
Sorenson stressed fostering better relationships between the Bar and
other organizations. More than 200 professionals attended the first
lawyer/banker breakfast meeting at the convention.
During the convention, the graduating class of 1948 was honored as
50-year State Bar members. More than 30 program chairs organized nearly
160 speakers to bring numerous CLE opportunities to the 1,000-plus
convention attendees. Topics ranged from an introduction to labor law
for construction attorneys to the tools of the public-interest lawyer to
practical computer technology tips.
More than 700 members gathered during the June Annual Conventionin Lake Geneva. There
were seminars on "Balancing Life and Practice" including healthy
cooking, relaxation techniques, and stress reduction in addition to the
usual wide range of CLE seminars featuring more than 100 speakers.
Madison attorney Susan Steingass was sworn in during the event as the
43rd State Bar president, only the second woman to hold this position.
And Jonathan Harr, the best-selling author of A Civil Action,
spoke to an overflow crowd at the Litigation Section's CLE program.
For the first time, small firm lawyers and solo practitioners had a
chance to share ideas and learn how to build successful practices during
the 1998 Midwest Small Firm Success Conference. Held in
La Crosse this two-day conference, initiated and hosted by the State
Bar, included more than 300 attorneys from eight Midwest states.
The State Bar also hosted during the year tworegional
conferences in Hudson and in Wisconsin Rapids. The conferences,
described by some as mini-State Bar conventions, reached out to lawyers
unable to attend the two statewide conventions each year.
LOIS CD-ROM legal research
The State Bar of Wisconsin continues its partnership with Law Office
Information Systems (LOIS) to bring members an affordable
Wisconsin law library on CD-ROM. Nearly 1,500 law offices have
subscribed to the service, which offers more than 250,000 pages of
Wisconsin caselaw, Wisconsin Statutes, administrative code, and supreme
court and court of appeals decisions.
In a new development this past year, the State Bar and LOIS
established a new partnership with the Bureau of Justice Information
Services and the State Public Defenders Office to provide access to LOIS
and hands-on training to every public defender and district attorney in
Wisconsin.
Government relations
The State Bar's government relations team worked with the Board of
Governors and Bar sections to help develop policy positions on
legislation that affect the legal profession, and presented these
positions to the Wisconsin Legislature, Congress, and government
agencies.
The Lawyers Legislative Action Network, which is now
600 members strong, is key to the Bar's legislative success. Grassroots
member attorneys, found in legislative districts statewide, stay
informed and in touch with their elected officials through the State
Bar's Capitol Update , a weekly insider's look at legislative
activities.
Grassroots success stories this year include: six additional circuit
court judgeships across Wisconsin; a revamping of Wisconsin's Probate
Code; an update of Wisconsin's Nonstock Law; and a defeat of proposals
to eliminate judicial substitution.
Educating and Serving the Public
The State Bar takes very seriously educating the public about its
legal rights and responsibilities, and working with lawyers and the
justice system to ensure the public's access to the legal system. From
booklets, videos, talk shows, and hands-on programs like mock trials and
lawyer hotlines, the Bar's commitment to that mission is evident in its
varied public outreach programs and services.
Connecting with students
The State Bar's Mock Trial Tournament , sponsored by
the Law-related Education
Committee, is one of the most successful and visible of the Bar's public
outreach programs. The program garners extensive coverage by local and
statewide media throughout the competition, generating hundreds of
column inches of print media copy alone. For this year's 15th Annual
Mock Trial Tournament, more than 615 justices, judges, and attorneys
volunteered hundreds of hours as coordinators, attorney coaches, and
judges to the more than 168 teams and 1,680 student participants from
high schools statewide.
The Mock Trial Journalism Contest, held in
conjunction with the Mock Trial Tournament and sponsored by the
Media-Law Relations Committee, attracted nearly 30 students from 11 high
schools statewide to this year's competition. Contestants are judged on
the hard news and feature articles they write about the mock trial.
The Mock Trial Journalism Contest received two awards this year at
the ABA Midyear Meeting in Nashville. The ABA awards recognize programs
that promote greater understanding of the justice system and enhance the
legal profession's community service.
Cosponsored by the State Bar and the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the
Court with Class program gives high school students an
up-close look at the supreme court in session. This educational tool has
been overwhelmingly successful, with more than 20 schools signed on a
waiting list to visit the supreme court. The program invites high school
students to observe oral arguments before the supreme court, then visit
afterward with a justice to discuss law-related issues.
This past year, the Court With Class program also received an ABA
Award of Merit at the ABA Midyear Meeting.
Peers in Education Addressing Conflict Effectively
(PEACE) teaches educators conflict resolution techniques to reduce the
level of violence in their schools. PEACE successfully completed its
fourth year as more than 80 teachers from 16 schools statewide attended
a training session in Madison. Teacher participants in turn train
students in the PEACE techniques. The State Bar and the Office of the
Attorney General jointly sponsor the program.
The Commission on the Judiciary as a Co-Equal Branch of Government,
and the State Bar Videotape and Law-related Education Committees
produced a video for middle school students titled "Can
Anyone Name the Three Branches of Government?" The video will be
distributed to all Wisconsin middle schools in the fall of 1998.
Consumer publications
Published by the Law-related Education
Committee with support from the Wisconsin Law Foundation, the
16-page booklet, " Opportunities in the Law," answers
questions frequently asked by high school students contemplating legal
careers. The booklet also paints a realistic picture of law school,
attorney incomes, career choices, and life as a lawyer.
" Understanding Guardianships: A Handbook for
Guardians ," developed by the State Bar's Consumer Protection
Committee, defines a guardian's role and duties; outlines the court
procedure for choosing and appointing guardians; discusses special
problems guardians face; and describes methods of tracking guardians'
activities. The book includes sample forms guardians can use to take
inventory, track receipts and disbursements, and provide an annual
accounting.
Sponsored by the Communications Committee and written by attorneys
expert on the issues discussed, the State Bar's series of
consumer information pamphletsgives lawyers and firms
an ideal, low-cost way to disseminate basic legal information that
clients and the public need and want. Comprising 16 titles, the series
covers legal issues that many people face sometime in their lives - such
as marriage, divorce, probate, starting a business, and so forth. More
than 258,000 pamphlets were delivered to law firms and other
organizations for distribution to clients and the public this year.
State Fair Mock Trial
Cosponsored by the State Bar and the Wisconsin Academy of Trial
Lawyers, the State Fair Mock Trial is in its 10th year. Each weekend
during the fair, a 90-minute fictional criminal or civil trial is
presented to fairgoers. Judges preside over the trials, which are argued
by attorneys. Audience members serve as jurors. The program educates the
public about the jury system by providing an in-person glimpse of a
criminal or civil trial.
Business assistance program
This Business Law Section program
provides businesses with the help they need to start up or expand.
Participating attorneys donate two hours oflegal counseling to
businesses, or eight hours of counseling to nonprofit
organizations. The program helps new and emerging businesses avoid legal
problems that could result in failure or bankruptcy. More than 2,500
businesses have been assisted since the program's inception in 1992.
Local bar grants
Each year the Local Bar Grant Competition funds grants of up to
$2,000 for local and specialty bar public service projects.
During FY '98 the Local Bar Grant Competition Committee awarded more
than $7,600 in grants for these projects:
- production and distribution of lesson plans introducing the law
(crimes) to children and adolescents - Dane County Bar Association;
- training of attorneys to staff the Richland County Circuit Court's
Courthouse Resource Center to assist pro se litigants in limited matters
- Richland County Bar Association;
- updating a booklet dealing with the rights of incarcerated parents -
Dane County Bar Association; and
- development of a pro bono directory for Milwaukee County - Milwaukee
Bar Association.
LawTalk and Wisconsin Forum
LawTalk, a 30-minute cable access television show,
continued this past year with topics such as real estate law, child
support, and youth violence. The program continues to run on public
access systems in Madison, Milwaukee, Watertown, Sheboygan and
elsewhere, with expansion expected in the next year.
The Cable and Broadcast Outreach Committee created LawTalk to educate
the public about law-related issues and to help the public understand
how to use the legal system and how it can best serve Wisconsin
citizens.
An off-shoot of LawTalk, Wisconsin Forum aired on
the Fox Network affiliate in Madison on Sunday mornings, addressing
current legal and social issues.
Lawyer Referral and Information Service
Experienced LRIS legal assistants field more than 50,000 calls from
the public each year - referring on average one in six callers to LRIS
panel attorneys. The legal assistants carefully screen each call to be
sure an attorney is needed and that the caller can pay an attorney's
fees. For those callers who don't meet strict referral criteria, LRIS
assistants can provide information or referrals to other resources.
The Lawyer Hotline program, which
coordinates volunteer lawyers to answer consumers' simple legal
questions, responded to 2,200 information requests.
Legal assistance
The State Bar and its Legal Assistance Committee focused on efforts
to more effectively provide Wisconsin lawyers with programming
opportunities to assist Wisconsin's low-income citizens with their civil
legal needs. Special emphasis was given to:
- the impact ofPhillips on Wisconsin's IOLTA program and the
Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation;
- increased outreach to local bars, specialty bars and law
schools;
- increased public awareness efforts of pro bono and legal services
delivery issues;
- support of the Equal Justice Coalition's efforts to develop funding
sources to provide direct legal services to Wisconsin's poor; and
- recognition of lawyers' outstanding pro bono efforts through annual
awards programs.
The Future
The State Bar of Wisconsin is embarking on a new era of membership
and public service. It pledges to listen to members, address their
concerns, and meet their ever-changing needs.
One thing is certain. Members expect the State Bar to be ahead of the
curve, to be in a position as the 21st century approaches to offer
education and technical support for their law practices - whether solo
or small-firm practi-tioners, government lawyers, public interest
attorneys, large-firm practitioners, or corporate lawyers.
The initiatives undertaken in this year as Partners in Practice -
from long-range strategic planning to breaking ground on a new Bar
Center, from reaching out to members to bringing lawyers together at
regional conferences - have helped pave the Bar's way into the 21st
century.
Wisconsin Lawyer