Early Experiences
Make for Lasting Impressions

Through his Life Planning Week initiative, State Bar President Leonard Loeb hopes to inspire the general public to view attorneys in a positive way - as he himself was inspired as a young child. Early impressions of lawyers and the law influenced Loeb's career choice.

By Dianne Molvig

Leonard Loeb's first impressions of the law profession date back more than six decades, when he was about six years old. His father, an immigrant who eventually started a scrap yard business in Columbus, Wis., regularly sought legal help in running his business. "I remember my dad had a tremendous respect for his lawyer, a guy by the name of Cal Callahan," Loeb recalls. "I always thought lawyers were 10 feet tall from the way my dad talked about them."

That image stuck with Loeb all through his youth, plus he was enchanted by stories he read about Abraham Lincoln's prowess as a lawyer. By the time Loeb reached high school, he was certain he wanted to pursue a law career. He graduated from the U.W. Law School and served a stint of active duty with the Judge Advocates General Division of the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Then he returned to his home state to take his first private practice job in the firm of Milwaukee attorney Ray McCann, whom Loeb describes as "my foster father in the practice of law." McCann also happened to be an old friend of Callahan, Loeb's father's lawyer.

Life Planning Week

Now that he's State Bar president, one of Loeb's top priorities is to inspire the general public to view attorneys in a positive way - not as the superhumans they were in the eyes of a 6-year-old boy, but as professionals garnering respect.

"Lawyers today don't have the greatest public image," he notes, "as a result of newspaper articles, some sensational trials, some terrible jokes, and maybe a little envy. Yet survey after survey shows that although the public views lawyers as a group as a little less than admirable, people will say, 'But my lawyer is a good lawyer and a good individual.' But the vast majority of people do not have lawyers. They only come across lawyers in the media. So I thought, in what way could people meet and get to know an individual lawyer?"

Pondering that question led Loeb to develop one of the key initiatives he'll enact during his tenure as president - an idea that has evolved, through consultation with other attorneys and the State Bar staff, into an event called Life Planning Week, to be publicized and held in conjunction with Law Day in May 2000.

"I thought, what is it that every human being in Wisconsin over the age of 18 should have that a lawyer can provide? The idea struck me: Everyone over 18 should have a living will and a medical power of attorney. And these should be done when it's not a crisis," Loeb explains. Thus, during Life Planning Week, the State Bar, with help from the State Medical Society, will educate citizens across the state about preparing necessary documents. As Loeb sees it, this activity will serve dual purposes. "It's a public service," he notes. "And it's a massive effort to show lawyers in their best light."

Rules of Negotiation

Not only can the public's image of lawyers stand some polishing, but relations among lawyers themselves could improve, Loeb says. Another of his presidential initiatives will address one aspect of that issue, by developing rules for negotiation. "Everybody has his or her own style of negotiation," Loeb points out, "but there are no rules." He feels there should be, just as there are rules of evidence, for instance, that apply to trying a case. Rules for negotiation could help avert the games lawyers sometimes play with each other, he contends.

"Unfortunately, a lot of lawyers don't want to negotiate," Loeb says. "Some give ultimatums. They'll say they have to have an answer by 5 p.m. on Friday or an offer will be withdrawn. Well, my nature doesn't do well with ultimatums. So I'll say, 'Gee, can I have till 5:30?' An ultimatum is the first sign of insecurity. Giving good lawyers ultimatums is counterproductive."

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