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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    April 01, 2004

    President's Perspective

    The State Bar of Wisconsin has many reasons to be proud, not the least of which are the accomplishments of its more than 6,500 nonresident members.

    George Burnett

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 77, No. 4, April 2004

    Pride in Our Nonresident Colleagues

    The State Bar of Wisconsin has many reasons to be proud, not the least of which are the accomplishments of its more than 6,500 nonresident members.

    by George Burnett

    George Burnett The State Bar of Wisconsin is again at the forefront of state bar associations. No other bar association has a division devoted exclusively to the interests of nonresident lawyers.

    Of the 21,000 State Bar members, more than 6,500 reside and practice outside Wisconsin. Some left this state very early in their careers, while others moved from Wisconsin much later in life.

    The accomplishments of our nonresident lawyers are sometimes overlooked in this state, principally because of geography. These members have become judges, prosecutors, and lawyers accomplished in every aspect of public and private practice. There are hundreds of nonresident lawyers who, having achieved much in this profession, would be representative of the Nonresident Lawyers Division. Nevertheless, there are two who are especially appropriate to cite as examples of the prominence our colleagues have achieved. They are lawyers who enjoyed very different careers and, although they are close in age, it is doubtful that their professional paths ever crossed.

    John Frank was born a lawyer's son in Appleton. He left the then-small Fox Valley community to obtain his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Frank served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black during World War II and spent eight years teaching law at Indiana University and at Yale. Leaving academia, he entered private practice. He is best remembered for his significant pro bono contributions, accomplished appellate advocacy, and participation in monumental cases in the development of the law. He advised Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Brown v. Board of Education. He served as lead counsel in Miranda v. Arizona, the famous criminal case that still inspires debate and is the subject of interpretation in U.S. Supreme Court cases today.

    John Frank died in Phoenix, Ariz., approximately 18 months ago. The New York Times noted his passing in a lengthy obituary and he was eulogized in several law journals across the country. The Ninth Circuit recently established a lifetime service award in his memory. One colleague summarized his life:

    "John had a white-hot intellect, ... but he was infinitely more than brilliant. John was unique, perhaps nationally unique - a giant of a mind, posing as country lawyer. His hallmark was a multi-faceted personal style: first and foremost that of family man, but also that of gracious host, appeals expert, opera buff, craps player, prolific author, world traveler, Lincoln authority, fun-loving soul, creator of ritual - and friend of true character."

    Dick O'Melia was born in Rhinelander. He too was a lawyer's son and the heir to a legendary legal name in Northern Wisconsin. I had the privilege of sitting next to Dick O'Melia during a recent dinner, and have rarely met a more engaging, gracious, or plainspoken man. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1939, served as a fighter pilot in World War II, and obtained his law degree from Marquette University in 1948. He bypassed joining his brothers, Don, a past State Bar president, and John in practice in Rhinelander, instead opening an office in Milwaukee. He later served as a Milwaukee assistant city attorney, leaving that post in 1953 to join Sen. Joseph McCarthy as general counsel for the U.S. Senate Operations Committee. O'Melia worked with Robert Kennedy as one of McCarthy's chief advisors.

    O'Melia's government service has been extensive. He served as assistant general counsel to the Civil Aeronautics Board, as the deputy director of the Bureau of International Affairs, and as the director of the Bureau of Enforcement for the Civil Aeronautics Board, of which he became a member by presidential appointment in 1973, vice chair in 1975, and chair in 1976. His papers are collected at the Hesburg Library at the University of Notre Dame.

    Dick O'Melia's twin brother, Don, when State Bar president, appointed Dick as liaison officer for the State Bar in Washington, D.C., before a nonresident lawyers division was formed. O'Melia says he was appointed because of his good looks, but more likely it was because he believed that nonresident lawyers deserve a strong voice in this organization, given the fact that they comprise such a large component of our membership. He worked actively, along with a handful of others, in starting our Bar's Nonresident Lawyers Division.

    O'Melia left Milwaukee for Washington, D.C., planning to return to Wisconsin in a year. He notes that it is now 50 years later and he is still there. When I asked him recently why he had remained a member of our Bar association for better than half a century, he told me plainly that our Bar has a long and proud tradition and membership gave him closer ties to home. I expect that he spoke for many of our nonresident members in his explanation.

    John Frank and Dick O'Melia took very different paths in their careers. They share, however, three qualities. Each exemplifies a professional life well lived; each observed and made U.S. history firsthand, history that is still the subject of much discussion and controversy today; and each has held membership as a nonresident lawyer in the State Bar of Wisconsin. The State Bar of Wisconsin has much to be proud of, especially the accomplishments of its 6,500 nonresident members.

    For more information about the Nonresident Lawyers Division, or to locate a chapter in your area, please see the 2004 Wisconsin Lawyer Directory, page 641.


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