Vol. 75, No. 12, December 2002

Happy Birthday to Us!

by Pat Ballman

In January we will begin a year-long celebration of several important milestones in Wisconsin's legal history. The year 2003 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the State Bar, the 150th anniversary of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the 25th anniversary of our Court of Appeals, and the 75th anniversary of the Wisconsin Lawyer. Numerous activities and events will commemorate these milestones. Here is a glimpse of what is planned.

At noon on Jan. 9, 1878, several hundred leading lawyers from across the state assembled in the supreme court in the old Capitol in Madison to found the State Bar of Wisconsin. The meeting was called to order by Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan, chair of the committee formed to create a statewide organization. In his remarks, the chief justice noted, "The bar, as a body, can only have the influence which properly belongs to it, on professional subjects, through an organization by which it can speak with one voice."

Our 125th State Bar anniversary commemoration begins on Jan. 9, 2003, with two performances of a historical reenactment of our founding to be held in the supreme court hearing room in Madison. Former State Bar President Steve Sorenson will lead an ensemble of performers in the reenactments. The noon performance will be open to the public, while the 3:30 p.m. performance will be followed by the Wisconsin Law Foundation Fellows' Dinner at the Monona Terrace Convention Center.

During the year, the Wisconsin Lawyer will focus on historical content that will give readers a look back at the development of the Bar, the law, and Wisconsin's courts, along with continuing Jay Ranney's series of profiles of Wisconsin Supreme Court justices. A special fall anniversary issue will highlight the magazine's contribution to the history of the Bar.

The Bar's May 7 - 9 Annual Convention, held at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, will include a Spotlight CLE program on Wisconsin legal history, commemorating the development of law, the legal system, and legal service in Wisconsin. The Friday morning program is entitled "Echoes of the Past: Landmark Issues, Famous Cases, and Legal Giants Shaping Wisconsin Yesterday and Today." A long title, but there is so much great legal history to cover.

With funding from the Wisconsin Law Foundation, the Humanities Council, and the Milwaukee Bar Foundation, members of the joint Wisconsin Supreme Court/State Bar Legal History Committee have planned a variety of other projects to celebrate the 2003 anniversaries. Members of the Legal History Committee are collecting and will publish oral histories of some of Wisconsin's great lawyers and judges. The committee is working with a professional museum exhibit designer to create a traveling exhibit that will contain historic photographs, artifacts, and newspaper articles about famous Wisconsin cases. The Marquette Law Review will devote a symposium issue to the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Portraits of Justice, a book about all Wisconsin Supreme Court justices since statehood, will be updated. And there will be a variety of speeches and articles throughout the year on historical legal topics, to mention just a few of the Legal History Committee's projects.

I am proud of my profession, and I know I share that pride with my fellow State Bar members. In his welcoming remarks to those who convened 125 years ago, Chief Justice Ryan conveyed the same sentiment when he remarked, "We are all proud of our profession; proud of the multitudinous worthies who have made it illustrious in the past, and who are showing forth its honor in the present. No profession or calling has given so many great names to American history as the bar. There is no state in the Union on which the names of its great lawyers have not shed lustre."

Let us hope that 125 years from now, when our successors meet to plan the 250th anniversary celebration, State Bar of Wisconsin members will still be "shedding lustre" through their dedication to serving their clients and their communities, just as they have during the past 125 years.

Wisconsin Lawyer