President's Perspective

It's Been a Great Year, Thank You!

By Susan R. Steingass

As my year as president of the State Bar of Wisconsin draws to a close, I want to thank all of you for the wonderful year it has been. I was fortunate to follow Steve Sorenson, a president who, through Project Vision, accomplished essential strategic planning that guides this Bar - with forethought and introspection - into the 21st century. I am fortunate to be followed by President Leonard Loeb who will open our new Bar Center and direct us forward to even greater accomplishments, to be followed by President-elect Gary Bakke who will carry on the work. But most of all, I am fortunate to have worked with the greatest staff any volunteer could ever have, the staff of the State Bar of Wisconsin, rightly known statewide and nationally for the excellence of their work.

It has been a good year for the State Bar. Many things were accomplished, but surely many challenges remain. There is not enough room here to discuss everything, but here are a few.

State Bar Center

Front and center this year has been the new State Bar Center. Last year, President Sorenson and Facilities Chairperson Gerald O'Brien steered the Bar through the planning, site selection, design, and commencement of work. Ground was broken in July 1998, and slowly the building has risen from its foundations. As you pass by, you can see how the building has taken shape. With the completion of the interior work, the move into the new building will begin in August, with the grand opening on Sept. 17, 1999. You all are invited!

The completion of this project is truly a milestone of which we can all be proud. Fifty years ago, Wisconsin lawyers built and paid for the current Bar Center for those who came after them. We should be proud that we have done that for those who follow us.

The new building has involved a lot of volunteer time in its planning and execution. However, nowhere has the commitment been greater than in the successful fund drive undertaken to support the new Bar Center. Much of the Center was financed by our short-term reserves and the proceeds of the sale of our current Bar Center. Above and beyond that, our lawyers and partners have generously donated almost $1.2 million to our campaign to raise funds to reduce the need for debt on the new building. Campaign Chair Nathan Fishbach, Southern Regional Chair James Friedman, and Northern Regional Chair Dean Dietrich, along with 30 members of the campaign cabinet and 300 fundraising volunteers statewide, get tremendous credit for their hard work.

The funds have come from everywhere! There have been 605 pledges, representing 8,178 attorneys, more than half the resident membership of the State Bar. These pledges have come from 52 Wisconsin counties and 19 states. There are 210 firms in the 100 Percent Club, and just under half of these are solo practitioners. The largest participation in the campaign - representing more than a third of all the pledges - was at the "patron" level with gifts from $500 to $999. Dozens of business partners contributed. As you can see, the campaign has been a fabulous success, as much for the large number of volunteers who got involved in this common goal as for the money it raised.

Local bar outreach and communication

This also has been a year to work on local bar outreach and communication. It has been one of my highest priorities to get to as many local bars as possible and ask them what they want from the State Bar and to ask that we partner for the good of our profession and our communities. For the first time, each local and specialty bar association in the state has a State Bar representative to serve as a conduit for information and ideas. The work this year culminated in the largest ever Bar Leaders Conference held in Madison on April 16th. There were 36 local and specialty bars represented, and the day resulted in a successful sharing of ideas and a commitment to move forward together.

First 150 Women

It was indeed an awe-inspiring experience to participate in the State Bar's contribution to the Wisconsin sesquicentennial celebration. On Oct. 28, 1998, we sponsored an event honoring the first 150 women admitted to the practice of law in Wisconsin. Now in a time where roughly half of Wisconsin's law graduates are women, the immediacy of this history was striking, even shocking. Of these first 150 women, 28 are living, and 14 attended the event with their families, friends, and colleagues. Catherine Cleary, one of the first 150 women, gave an inspiring keynote address.

At the event, we premiered our excellent videotape honoring the history of women in the law of this state as well as a book assembled through the work of hundreds of volunteers and staff. The book contains biographies of each and every one of these women, and photos of most. More than 700 people attended the dinner and shared the celebration, the largest event ever hosted by the State Bar. The videotape and book have since been made available free of charge to all the schools in the state to use in their curricula.

Meeting you

Great as all this was, as I look back on this year, I know that while these highlights are important, what has been most gratifying is the people I have gotten to know and work with. The volunteers - the Board of Governors, the Executive and Finance committees, the local bar leaders, committee and section members, and others too numerous to mention - have made this year very rich for me and for the Bar. But most of all, it has been my sincere honor and pleasure to work with the great staff of your State Bar. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity.

Wisconsin Lawyer