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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    February 07, 2008

    Former State Bar President Dan Hildebrand devoted his life to the public and the profession

    Wisconsin LawyerWisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 81, No. 2, February 2008

    Legal News & Trends

    Former State Bar President Dan Hildebrand devoted his life to the public and the profession

    Former State Bar president Daniel W. Hildebrand passed away on Dec. 31, 2007. He was 67. Hildebrand was a senior litigator with DeWitt Ross & Stevens in Madison. Service and excellence were early hallmarks of his career. "Dan Hildebrand was a splendid lawyer," said long-time friend and colleague Jack DeWitt. "He was a fine legal scholar, blessed with good judgment and common sense. He was devoted to service to both the bar and the public, not only the State Bar but also the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Dane County Bar Association (DCBA). In recognition of his long career of such service Dan was recently awarded the prestigious Wisconsin Law Foundation (WLF) Charles L. Goldberg Award."

    Dan Hildebrand

    "The legal profession has lost one of its great ones," noted long-time friend and colleague John Skilton.  "Dan saw the best in what we do for a living, and he practiced law as a calling.  Indeed, he represents the best in us.  He brought much good to our pursuits. He is, truly, irreplaceable, and we will miss him dearly."

    Active leader. Hildebrand was a former president of the WLF and the DCBA. He was a Fellow of the WLF and the ABA and a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He served as a board member of Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. and as a member and chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission.

    Jon Axelrod, long-time friend and colleague, noted, "Dan was a highly respected legal ethics expert to whom the profession and the courts often turned to for guidance.  He will be sorely missed."

    Hildebrand was appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to chair the Wisconsin Ethics 2000 Committee to review Chapter 20, the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys.

    The president of the ABA appointed Hildebrand to its Amicus Curiae Briefs Committee where he participated in reviews of all amicus curiae briefs filed by the ABA in the U.S. Supreme Court. Hildebrand also was a member of the ABA Litigation Section's Trial Practice Committee. He served six years as a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, 14 years as a Wisconsin delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, and recently completed a three-year term with the ABA Board of Governors.

    He was a frequent lecturer for State Bar CLE programs and contributing writer for Wisconsin Lawyer™ magazine. For more than 30 years Hildebrand provided updates of Supreme Court decisions to the DCBA. He also taught courses in federal jurisdiction and professional responsibility at the U.W. Law School.

    Hildebrand regularly accepted appointments to represent indigent criminal defendants who desire to appeal their convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

    Early years. He received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1964 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the Coif. Hildebrand served as an editor of the Wisconsin Law Review. He spent four years as an associate with Willkie, Farr and Gallagher, New York City, participating in the litigation brought by the state of Wisconsin against the Milwaukee Braves and the National League. He joined DeWitt Ross & Stevens in 1968.

    Another colleague and long-time friend, Frank Gimbel, said, "Dan's death demonstrates the vulnerability of us all - if he could not successfully plead his case for a longer term on this good earth by way of his extraordinary good deeds - his gracious leadership style, his commitment to family and community - then we all best take the lesson of making each of our remaining days, weeks, months, or years relevant to our own circumstances and understand that our mortality will prove again that nobody gets out of life alive."

    Hildebrand leaves his wife Dawn, also a lawyer with DeWitt Ross & Stevens, and their three young children. He also leaves three adult children.

    Memorial contributions can be made to the Wisconsin Law Foundation.


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