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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    February 01, 2002

    Inside the Bar

    By becoming active in the State Bar you are, in fact, controlling the future of the profession.

    George Brown

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 75, No. 2, February 2002

    Controlling Your Future

    By becoming active in the State Bar you are, in fact, controlling the future of the profession.

    by George C. Brown,
    State Bar executive director

    George BrownA COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I WAS TALKING WITH A State Bar past president and I asked him why he had wanted to become president of the Bar. After all, here was a person, like so many others, who had given up a substantial amount of income and family time (another president called it the most expensive hobby he'd ever had) to spend anywhere from one-quarter to one-half of his time for a year serving as president.

    Quite simply he stated, "Because I wanted to be able to control the development of my profession." This was not exactly the "to give back to the community and the profession" comment I was used to receiving from lawyers who were active in the association.

    If you think about it, though, he's right. Whether your intention is to give back to the community and the profession, by becoming active in the State Bar you are, in fact, controlling the future of the profession.

    For example, February is High School Mock Trial Competition season. As you read this, 1,700 students from 135 high schools around the state are preparing to compete in high school mock trials, coached by 200 teachers and nearly 700 lawyer-coaches. Are the lawyers and judges who coach and judge these student competitions giving back to their community through their service? Most emphatically, yes. Are they controlling the development of the legal profession as they provide their expert advice to these high school teams? Yes, again. They are educating these students about the nature and values of the profession through their coaching; they are demonstrating that lawyers are expected to and do perform public service in their communities; and they are demonstrating that we live in a nation ruled by laws. And they are doing this all with future members of the profession and potential future leaders in their communities.

    There are other ways lawyers control the future of the profession by getting involved with the State Bar. Lawyers who serve on committees that develop and manage programs as diverse as the Fee Dispute Resolution Committee, the CLE Committee, and the Media Law Relations Committee improve the competency of the members and the image of the profession in the eyes of the public and the media. Members who serve on section or division boards help develop and improve the law, educate members about new law, and provide expert advice to policymakers and the courts through lobbying and amicus curiae briefs.

    February also begins the time for getting involved in the Bar next year. This month's newsletter provides a volunteer sign-up sheet for service on any of the Bar's 29 committees. President-elect Pat Ballman already is thinking about appointments that begin in July. February also is the time to consider getting active on your section or division boards or even running for the Board of Governors if your district is up for election this year. It's your future.


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