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![Legal News & Trends]()
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Milwaukee
event showcases legal technology
The 1st Annual Wisconsin Law & Technology Show, Nov. 30
at the Sheraton Four Points in Milwaukee, brings together
a full day of seminars and legal technology exhibits specifically
geared toward lawyers, legal and MIS support staff, and court
personnel.
Presented by the Milwaukee Bar Association and the American
Bar Association Law Practice Management Section (cosponsors),
along with the State Bar of Wisconsin, Dane County Bar Association,
Law Librarian Association of Wisconsin, and the Paralegal
Association of Wisconsin, the program features sessions ranging
from "Developing a Law Firm Web Site on Little or No Budget"
to "Protecting Your System from Techno Gremlins." Speakers
include Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle and Hon. Barbara
B. Crabb, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District
of Wisconsin.
Admission is $99 for lawyers and $49 for nonlawyers registering
by Oct. 27. For more information, or to register, call (800)
328-4444, or visit www.npilaw.com.
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Eastern
District launches federal defender program
Federal Defender Services of Eastern Wisconsin Inc. (FDS), a nonprofit
charitable corporation for representing indigent defendants in federal
criminal cases, is setting up shop in Milwaukee.
The program, funded
by a federal judiciary grant and overseen by a board of directors, is
one of 15 privately-run community defender organizations nationwide.
An alternative to federal agencies and CJA (Criminal Justice Act) panels,
FDS will seek through its nine-member staff to provide clients with
"a defense as good or better than they could hire," says Dean Strang,
executive director. "Our overarching goal is to defend indigent people
accused in federal court with legal skill, creativity, and devotion,
taking advantage of the latitude afforded by the organization's private
status."
Strang sees the court's decision to implement this program as at least
partially rooted in the "desire for more uniformly good representation
of accused men and women who are too poor to hire an attorney and are
at a great disadvantage when prosecuted by the federal government. It
also is a more cost-effective way to provide defense to indigents when
a federal court caseload reaches a certain number of indictments," he
says.
Panel system continues. FDS supplements, rather than replaces, the
existing panel system. Strang estimates 25 to 35 percent of indigent
criminal defense cases in the Eastern District will continue to go to
private lawyers appointed by his office. "Because of conflicts of interest
and ethical constraints, we're not able to represent everyone who qualifies,"
he explains.
Strang cites helping to reform the CJA panel and providing ongoing
support and training for its members as a priority. He also looks to
develop a presence and rapport within Eastern District geographic pockets
that contribute disproportionately to the FDS clientele.
"Confronting and reshaping client and public expectations about public
defenders will be an ongoing challenge," adds Strang. "There is a perception
- particularly among many of our clients - that public defenders are
something less than lawyers; we must change that by proving we care
and doing superior legal work."
Strang anticipates FDS will take its first case in December.
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Corporate
information available online
It's now possible to access the Wisconsin Department of Financial
Institutions' (DFI's) Corporate Registration Information System
(CRIS) online at www.wdfi.org.
Visitors can obtain information including legal business name,
current status (incorporated, organized, merged, dissolved), statutory
entity description (corporation, limited liability company, cooperative),
registered agent's name and address, previously used entity names,
and more from 350,000 Division of Corporate and Consumer Services
business records.
DFI Secretary John F. Kundert sees the online service as "saving
customers time and money." He notes it's only the beginning of
what the department hopes to offer on the Internet.
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| Women
lawyers less optimistic
Fifty-six percent of women lawyers responding to a 2000 telephone
survey believe they are treated the same as men at work. However,
52.5 percent of women and 60.4 percent of men believe their prospects
for career advancement are equal, compared to 72 percent of women
and 83 percent of men surveyed 17 years ago.
Source: ABA Journal poll
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