President's Report:
No Time to be Timid

By David A. Saichek

It is a predictably short step from lawyer-bashing to intimidation of the judiciary. This year our Judiciary as a Co-Equal Branch of Government Commission studied the concepts of separation of powers, court accountability, community collaboration and the building blocks for interbranch cooperation. The report was adopted unanimously by your elected governors, and President Sorenson has asked Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox and me to cochair an implementation committee.

The Board of Governors also overwhelmingly adopted the report of our Violence and the Justice System Commission that currently is being implemented under the direction of cochairs Joan Kessler and the Hon. Gerald Nichol.

We met these issues as an organized bar should - with solid research, open debate, definitive recommendations and the courage to call for action - for this is not a time to be timid. We did that while going full-steam ahead with our initiatives in technology, online CLE, an award-winning Internet presence, public education and innovations for the delivery of legal services to low-income citizens. Our cable and broadcast TV initiative has grown in strength and diversity as a proactive means to reach out for public understanding of legal issues and lawyers.

On a personal note, I enjoyed my two years as your president-elect and president. Our success is attributable to a capable staff serving hundreds of volunteer lawyers. Special thanks to members and cochairs of the two commissions and to chair of the Board of Governors, Robert Goepel, and to Nathan Fishbach and Maria Lazar, coproducers of the "Law Talk" TV programs. My sincere "thank you" to all State Bar members for giving me the opportunity to serve.