Expand Your Practice: Seminar offers federal
appellate training
Would you like to expand your practice to handle criminal appeals in
the Seventh Circuit, but lack experience? On May 24, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit will host a day-long seminar designed
for attorneys with limited or no federal appellate experience who wish
to handle criminal appeals in the Seventh Circuit by appointment.
In the morning, experienced appellate practitioners and Seventh
Circuit judges will cover the basics of handling a criminal appeal. In
the afternoon, attendees will assemble in small groups. Each group, led
by an experienced criminal appellate attorney, will review the record in
a criminal case and learn how to construct a brief. Hon. Prentice
Marshall will conclude the program with a talk on the legacy of
attorneys representing indigent defendants in criminal cases. A
reception for attendees and presenters will follow.
This free seminar will be held on Wednesday, May 24, at The John
Marshall Law School in Chicago. To register, or for more information,
contact Donald J. Wall,
counsel to the circuit executive, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit, at (312) 435-5805.
Exploring the need for - and role of - interpreters in court
The challenges presented by an increasing need for courtroom
interpreters in Wisconsin has led Director of State Courts J. Denis
Moran to form the Committee to Improve Interpreting and Translation in
the Wisconsin Courts.
Figuratively Speaking
Lawyers are 3.6 more times likely to experience Major Depressive
Disorder compared to nonlawyers of the same socio-economic group,
according to a Johns Hopkins study of 104 occupations.
Source: Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 4
|
According to Moran, the committee is charged with recommending
policies and practices that will promote equal court access to people
from all language backgrounds.
"The committee will discuss what law and language training should be
provided for court interpreters, whether interpreters should be screened
or tested before serving in court, and whether interpreters should be
subject to a code of ethics.
"It also will examine how to finance court interpreters' services,
what new technology might be cost effective, and how courts in other
states approach interpreting. The committee also will investigate
possible training for judges, court staff, and attorneys," said
Moran.
The committee's first report, which Moran will receive by October,
will recommend court priorities, suggest statute and rule changes, and
propose items for the next biennial budget. Hon. Elsa Lamelas, Milwaukee
County circuit court, chairs the committee.
Anyone interested or involved in this issue is encouraged to provide
input.
For more information, please contact Marcia
Vandercook, 110 E. Main St. #410, Madison, WI 53703; phone (608)
267-7335; fax (608) 267-0911.
Racine County Bar reinstates call of the calendar
Attorneys who have practiced in Wisconsin for more than 25 years may
remember the traditional call of the calendar. Under former section
270.12 (9), Wis. Stats., a presiding judge could hold an annual call of
the calendar, where lawyers who practiced before that court would
assemble and give the status of their cases.
In Racine County, the call of the calendar was followed by a memorial
to all local attorneys who had passed away since the previous call, with
a friend or colleague paying tribute to each one. The court reporter
entered the memorials into the record, retaining the tributes for
posterity. Unfortunately, this practice disappeared along with the call
of the calendar in the early '70s.
The Racine County Bar Association recently revived the tradition - at
least the memorial service. Each September association members gather at
the Racine County Courthouse to pay their respects to those Racine
attorneys who passed away in the previous year. As before, friends and
colleagues read tributes to the professional and personal
accomplishments of the deceased.
After the memorial service, any new members of the association are
then sworn in. They also sign the association's registration book, which
dates back approximately 150 years.
Conference focuses on Midwest women attorneys
At the 1995 annual meeting of the American Bar Association (ABA), a
group of women attorneys from the Midwest met and discussed their
practices and lives. That discussion led to the idea of a Midwest
Regional Conference for Women in the Law. The first biennial conference
was held in Milwaukee in 1996; the second, in Kansas City in 1998.
This year's conference will be held April 27 and 28 in Indianapolis.
The conference will address challenges faced by women attorneys over the
past century and will identify leadership roles available to women in
the future. Three main conference sessions will offer insights on the
global status of women, views from the bench, and women's health issues.
Other breakout sessions will focus on starting a firm, family and work
conflicts, courtroom ethics and civility, trial skills, technology, and
the media's effect on the image of women in the law.
Featured speakers include Louise Raggio, a Texas attorney and family
law pioneer; Leslye Obiora, a gender-and-the-law specialist at the World
Bank Africa Project; Laurel Bellows, former chair of the ABA Commission
on Women in the Profession; George Edwards, director of the
International Human Rights Law Program at Indiana University; Betty
Barteau, mission chief for the Russian Judicial Project; and Joan
Williams, author of Unbending Gender - Why Family and Work Conflict
and What to Do About It.
The cost of the conference is $250; nonlawyers pay $125. For more
information, or to register, call (800) 428-4337, ext. 2301.
Ethics Pointers: Charging a percentage fee is prohibited in probate
matters
In the last six months, the Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility (BAPR) has seen several violations of Wis. Stat. section
851.40(2)(e), which prohibits the charging of percentage fees in
probate matters. SCR
20:8.4(f) provides that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer
to violate a statute, supreme court rule, supreme court order, or
supreme court decision regulating the conduct of lawyers. Attorneys who
charge a percentage of an estate's value as their fee to probate that
estate are in violation of the statute and supreme court rule. Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Sylvan, 202 Wis. 2d 123, 548 N.W.2d 447 (1996).
Legal Action's Web site provides directory of services,
opportunities for involvement
Since 1967 Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. has provided legal
representation for Wisconsin's low-income residents. The organization's
Web site explains the services
Legal Action offices provide, including public benefits/health, family,
housing, education, and elder law. The site also provides information on
the income requirements necessary to qualify for assistance through
Legal Action.
Volunteer opportunities through Legal Action's Volunteer Lawyers
Project (VLP) also are presented on the site. Each year, VLP attorneys
donate more than 3,000 hours of legal work on projects like Pro Bono
panels, the Domestic Violence Injunction Project, Legal Services intake
panels, the SeniorLAW Clinic, and the Consumer Advocacy & Bankruptcy
Assistance Project.
Wisconsin
Lawyer