A Time to Take Stock

Page 3: Making Connections

Making Time

Sitting at his desk in his Madison lakefront office one May afternoon, his shoes characteristically abandoned to a spot on the floor nearby, Mowris already has a taste of the demands placed on the Bar president, even though he'll not officially take office for several more weeks. "They say the law is a jealous mistress," he jokes, "but it's nothing compared to the State Bar. They want all my time."

Still, he hopes to somehow squeeze in a few days this year on the slopes at Indian Head Mountain in Michigan, where he's served for 25 years as a member of the National Ski Patrol, providing emergency assistance to skiers in trouble. He'll also participate in Madison's Paddle and Portage race again this summer, as he has numerous times in the past. Add to that some hours spent on the golf course and helping out in his wife's garden, plus scheduling in a trip or two to Canada during the upcoming year to go walleye fishing with his family. Mowris and wife Leah Sachtjen, a court reporter, have two children. Danae, 21, is a University of Michigan undergraduate now studying for a year in France, and Jeffrey, 19, recently finished his first year at the U.W.-Madison, where his father also attended college and graduated from law school.

On top of all that, Mowris plans to continue to pour lots of energy into his criminal defense practice, although he knows he'll need to scale back somewhat to fulfill his presidential duties. Staying active in practice is, after all, the best way to stay attuned to the daily rewards and stresses of his colleagues. "The Bar's function is to help lawyers do their job better," he notes. "And the Bar president coordinates that effort. That's really what I see my job to be."

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