Susan Steingass

Education

• Denison University, Granville, Ohio, B.A., with honors
  
  
• Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., M.A., with honors
  
  
• U.W. Law School, J.D., magna cum laude

Practice

• Partner, Habush, Habush, Davis & Rottier, Madison, Wis. (1994-present)
  
  
• Judge, Dane County Circuit Court, Branch 8, civil (1985-91), juvenile (1991-93), criminal (1993)
  
  
• Partner, associate, Stafford, Rosenbaum, Rieser & Hansen, Madison, Wis. (1977-85)
  
  
• Law clerk, Justice Nathan S. Heffernan, Wisconsin Supreme Court (1976-77)

Professional activities

• State Bar of Wisconsin: State Bar-elected representative to the Judicial Council (1995-present); State Bar representative to the Federal Nominating Committee (1996-present); Legal Assistance Committee (1996-present); Commission on Delivery of Legal Services, South Madison Task Force (1995-96); author/editor, CLE book, Wisconsin Civil Procedure Before Trial (1996); co-editor with Hon. Thomas H. Barland, Wisconsin Evidence: A Courtroom Handbook (1996-present); Professionalism Committee; Participation of Women in the Bar Committee; Bench Bar Committee; Bridge-the-Gap Committee; presenter and facilitator in more than 40 State Bar educational programs on varied subjects including evidence, civil procedure, court management and torts
  
  
• Wisconsin Equal Justice Task Force: Chair (1989-91); report on the effects of gender on decision making in the legal system (1991)
  
  
• American Bar Association: Delegate, National Conference of State Trial Court Judges (1986-92); participant, ALI/ABA programs nationwide on various litigation topics
  
  
• James E. Doyle Chapter, American Inns of Court: Member, membership chair, regional funding coordinator (1992-present)
  
  
• American Law Institute: Member (1987-present); advisor, Restatement of the Law, Torts, 3rd, apportionment of liability (1994-present)
  
  
• U.W. Law School: Instructor, evidence, environmental litigation, civil procedure, trial advocacy (1981-present); Board of Visitors (1987-94); Board of Directors, Wisconsin Law Alumni Association (1994-present)
  
  
• Judicial activities: Secretary of the Judicial Conference (1986-88); assistant dean, instructor, the Wisconsin Judicial College (1986-92); instructor, National Judicial College, Reno, Nev. (1993); editor, Wisconsin Judicial Benchbook, Civil (1989)
  
  
• Wisconsin Association of Trial Lawyers: Board of Directors (1995-present); program chair (1995-present)

Honors

Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (elected, 1995); Wisconsin Trial Judge of the Year, American Board of Trial Advocates (1992); Distinguished Service Award, Wisconsin Association of Mediators (1991); Order of the Coif (1976); Wisconsin Law Review (1974-76)

Civic activities

United Way of Dane County, Board of Directors (1993-present), chair, Community Problem Solving Committee (1995-present); Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Board of Trustees (1993-present), chair, Strategic Planning and Government Relations committees

Comment

Our profession and our Bar are at a crossroads. We are besieged by lawyer bashing and cynicism at the same time that the social issues of our times focus squarely on our profession. We too often fight against ourselves instead of working together.

Virtually all lawyers I know are hardworking and decent people who give to their clients and communities. This tells me our problems are less related to individual lawyers than to our failure to educate our citizens, our juries and our children about what we do, the ethical standards to which we adhere, that we are problem solvers, not problem makers, and that we are and remain, above all, a service profession.

Were I to be honored by election, among my highest priorities would be to expand ongoing efforts to educate the public about our legal system. I would like to see programs in our schools to help children understand early the critical part lawyers play in our system. President David Saichek's initiatives have built a firm foundation through such programs as "Law Talk." I am committed to expanding these educational efforts.

However, not all of our problems come from a public lack of understanding. Our courts and our institutions are jammed. The fallout from society's problems so often lands squarely at our door. Budget cuts have left many people without access to the system. As a profession, we need to find ways to adapt our roles to the needs of society.

Were I elected, I would build upon President Skilton's work through the Commission on the Delivery of Legal Services. The Bar and its members need to take up the challenge of continuing to serve those who cannot afford access to the legal system without us.

Over the years I have also become increasingly concerned about the breach between various components of our legal system. All too often we hear talk that lawyers regard each other and the bench as enemies. Incivility and rancor increasingly plague the practice. Lawyers too often regard judges as insensitive to the practice of law, and judges too often regard lawyers as impediments to progress. Yet we all serve the same system. We should be working together, not apart.

If elected, I would remain committed to increasing our common understanding. I think my many years as a practicing lawyer and judge help me appreciate this common purpose. I want to expand upon the work of the Bench-Bar Committee and make this a priority for all the Bar. I would like to rekindle the energy that came from the joint Bench/Bar winter convention of several years ago. We need to appreciate what binds, not what separates, us.

From travel to local bar associations, I know that the State Bar is not uniformly regarded as inclusive, welcoming and relevant to the professional lives of its members. Whether this is reality or perception makes little difference, because perception has a way of becoming reality.

I am totally committed to the proposition that we are required to be members of this Bar, and that this Bar has a concomitant responsibility to represent all of us, whether from Shell Lake or Milwaukee, from Darlington or Green Bay, from solo practice or the biggest firm in the state, from government service or family practice.

If elected, I would remain committed to the idea that the Bar must serve all its constituencies. I would personally visit and listen to local bar associations around the state, not just during the election campaign but also afterwards. I would also use the appointment prerogative to bring in new people and new ideas.

In all this, I will be, as I have been, a consensus builder. I have been involved for a long time in a lot of positions - as a litigator and a teacher, in both small- and medium-sized firms, as a judge and an employee of the State of Wisconsin, in numerous bar endeavors statewide and nationally, and in service to my community. I think I understand the issues that face our profession and our Bar as we approach the second millennium. I want to be involved in Bar progress, not Bar politics. I would be honored to serve.

Wisconsin Lawyer