Vol. 75, No. 7, July
2002
Raising the Bar
Howard Eisenberg's deep religious beliefs and his belief in the law
led him to a lifetime of service - raising the bar for us all.
by George C. Brown,
State Bar executive director
WHEN HOWARD EISENBERG, DEAN OF THE
MARQUETTE University Law School, died on June 4 at age 55, he left a
long list of accomplishments and an equally long list of unfinished
business.
Howard's deep religious convictions and his strongly held belief in
the law led him to a lifetime of service. Many of those activities are
documented elsewhere in this month's issue. Howard also was an active
volunteer member of the State Bar. I'd like to take a few moments to
reflect on this relationship.
On Monday, May 20, Howard attended the swearing-in ceremony of his
2002 law school class in the beautifully restored hearing room of the
Wisconsin Supreme Court. Law school classes are too large to fit into
the hearing room all at once, so each class is broken into three or four
groups. Following their swearing-in, the State Bar hosts a reception for
the new lawyers and their guests. Howard usually attended these
ceremonies and often arrived at the reception with the last group of now
former students.
During the State Bar's annual convention the previous Thursday,
Howard had led his last meeting as the 2001-2002 chairperson of the
State Bar's Appellate Practice Section. Howard had been active in the
section for several years and had served as chairperson-elect the
previous year. Also, during his year as chairperson-elect, the section
publicly recognized Howard for his appellate pro bono work in
Wisconsin.
Last year Howard, along with University of Wisconsin Law School Dean
Ken Davis, accepted an appointment to serve on the State Bar's
Multidisciplinary Practice (MDP) Commission. He also served as a
resource to the State Bar's multijurisdictional practice (MJP) working
group, providing research and written commentary as part of the State
Bar's efforts to overturn a draft requirement that would have required
attorneys to pass a bar examination in order to qualify for some of the
safe harbor provisions in the MJP recommendations that will be before
the American Bar Association House of Delegates this August.
Though no longer chair of the Appellate Practice Section, and though
the work of the MDP Commission was winding down, Howard had planned to
continue his active role in the State Bar, for he had just accepted a
three-year appointment to serve on the Bar's Continuing Legal Education
Committee.
Howard Eisenberg was there when you needed him. He believed in
service to the public; that is how he lived his life. Along with so many
others, we will miss him.
Wisconsin
Lawyer