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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    April 01, 2003

    Legal News and Trends

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 76, No. 4, April 2003

    Legal   News & Trends

    Former State Bar President Leonard Loeb's contributions touched many - families, lawyers, the profession ...

    Leonard Loeb"Leonard deeply believed the practice of law was a profession and not a business," said Gregg Herman, who practiced with Loeb for 19 years. "As a result, he loved involvement in bar associations. Being president of the State Bar was the crowning achievement in his 50-plus years of practice. His legacy to us is to act as professionals at work and as devoted spouses, parents, children, and friends outside of work."

    Leonard Loeb died of a heart attack at his home in Fox Point on Sunday, March 9. He was 73.

    Measuring "worth." "Leonard told clients that their real worth was measured not by what was in the bank, but by their family and their children," said Herman. "He practiced law and lived his life consistent with that principle. His pride and joy were his four children, two of whom are lawyers."

    Loeb leaves his wife Karen, daughters Jennifer and Hallie, sons Harlan and Jordan, and three grandchildren.

    "Over the years people have commented on how I have 'followed in the footsteps' of my father by becoming a lawyer," said Jordan Loeb. "I always wanted (and still want) to follow in my dad's footsteps, but that can't be done by simply becoming a lawyer. He was so much more than that. His qualities center around integrity, insight, and compassion."

    "Dad was a role model in an era when role models were few and far between," said Harlan Loeb. "His professionalism was priceless, his understanding was extended to all he knew, and his loyalty to his friends and organizations was daunting. He believed the enterprise was larger than himself, and he wove his humanity and love of people in all he did."

    "Leonard made a huge impression on the practice of family law in Wisconsin, not just because he was one of the best in the field, but also because he raised the level of the practice for others," said State Bar President Pat Ballman.

    "I think Leonard's most impressive skill was his gift of relating with people, including clients, judges, and opposing counsel," said Ballman. "He was unfailingly gracious, whether as a coworker on a Bar project, or as opposing counsel in a hotly contested divorce case. He never stooped to negative comments about the other side in a case. Rather, he was always constructive, optimistic, and positive. And as he always said, settlements had to be a 'win - win.' That was Leonard - always assuring everyone walked out a winner."

    Dedicated to the profession, clients. "Leonard was a great friend to our profession," said Myron LaRowe, former State Bar president. "His dedication to the law and his clients was unsurpassed. Leonard will be missed by all of us who had the pleasure to know him as a friend and fellow practitioner."

    "Leonard was the 'Compleat Lawyer and Bar Junkie,'" said Harry Hathaway, immediate past chair, ABA Senior Lawyers Division, who served with Loeb on the ABA Board of Governors, the House of Delegates, and the ABA Senior Lawyers Division Council. "He was knowledgeable about so many issues facing the profession, he was the ultimate resource to us. He was respected by lawyers and spouses alike because he truly cared about their lives and well being. He was generous, full of love and friendship."

    "The first thing Leonard did as Milwaukee Bar Association (MBA) president was to convene an all-day retreat of board members to discuss ideas for new bar projects," said Nathan Fisbach former Milwaukee Bar Association president. "By the end of the day, we had a list of over 25 new projects. Leonard appointed each board member as a leader of at least one of the projects. Almost over night, every board member felt that he or she was an important part of the MBA."

    At the time of his death, Loeb was State Bar Senior Lawyers Division president; Wisconsin Bar Foundation director; Delegate at Large to the ABA House of Delegates; a member of the ABA Council of Senior Lawyers Division, the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Services, and National Conference of Bar Presidents; a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; elected to the American Law Institute; and a retired Colonel, U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's Department.

    Founding principles, service. A 1952 U.W. Law School graduate, Loeb began his law career in the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps. He built the firm of Loeb & Herman S.C. in Milwaukee, upon the principle that children are the most precious assets in a marriage and should be the most protected asset during a divorce.

    During his career Loeb served as State Bar of Wisconsin president and chair and long-time member of its Family Law Section. He was an active ABA member serving on the Board of Governors, as ABA Consortium for Legal Services president, and as chair of both the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel and Family Law Section. Loeb served as Milwaukee Bar Association president and chair of its Family Law Section. Loeb also was the founding president of the Thomas E. Fairchild American Inns of Court and the Leander J. Foley Jr. Matrimonial Chapter - American Inns of Court.

    Memorial contributions can be made to the Leonard L. Loeb Memorial Fund, Milwaukee Jewish Community Foundation, 1360 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202.

    Supreme court creates Wisconsin Ethics 2000 Committee

    In February the Wisconsin Supreme Court created a 19-member committee to review the American Bar Association's (ABA) proposed changes to the Model Rules that the ABA House of Delegates considered and adopted in part in 2002. The Wisconsin Ethics 2000 Committee will hold its first meeting on April 21 in Madison.

    The Wisconsin Ethics 2000 Committee will review the Wisconsin Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys in light of the changes, both proposed and adopted, to the Model Rules by the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission, and propose any other changes it deems appropriate. The committee also will consider the rules petition to be submitted by the supreme court-appointed Fee Arbitration Study Committee and will respond to that petition at a public hearing in the fall of 2003. The court created the Fee Arbitration Study Committee to study and make recommendations regarding mandatory and voluntary fee arbitration programs for lawyer-client fee disputes.

    Wisconsin Ethics 2000 Committee members

    Committee members include 13 lawyers and 6 nonlawyers. Attorney Michael McChrystal, Milwaukee, will serve as reporter; and Attorney Kenneth Streit, Madison, will serve as associate reporter.

    Other attorney members include: Thomas J. Basting Sr., Ralph Cagle, Daniel W. Hildebrand, Ben Kempinen, Earl H. Munson, Barbara A. Neider, and Maura Whelan, all of Madison; Nathaniel Cade Jr., Hannah Dugan, and Mel Scott Johnson, all of Milwaukee; and Dean R. Dietrich, Wausau. Nonlawyer members include: Rosemary Hinkfuss and Casey L. Perry of Green Bay; Marcia Mentkowski and Dawn L. Miller, Milwaukee; Mary O. Pieschek, Oneida; and Michael Staeck, Racine.

    The Ethics Committee will not consider multijurisdictional or multidisciplinary practice matters.

    The committee will recommend changes, if any, to the existing Wisconsin rules by petition to the supreme court by October 2004. The supreme court anticipates scheduling the matter for a public hearing next winter.

    The committee will solicit written input from the bench, bar, and public.

    "The changes proposed to the ABA Model Rules run the gamut from simple refinements of rule language, to new rule coverage, to reversals of prior policy on a few matters," says committee member Michael McChrystal. "We will certainly have our hands full over the next several months in evaluating all the issues involved."

    The Commission on the Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, commonly known as Ethics 2000, was appointed by the ABA in 1997 to review the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which were adopted in 1983, and propose changes or revisions to update the rules for today's legal practice. The commission completed its work in 2001 and proposed changes to the Model Rules, which the ABA House of Delegates considered and adopted in part in 2002.

    Wisconsin courts easier to find at new url

    The Wisconsin court system has a new address in cyberspace:
    www.wicourts.gov.

    Western District Bar holds annual meeting in Madison

    All State Bar members are invited to attend the Western District of Wisconsin Bar Association (WDBA) annual luncheon and CLE program on April 24, from 12 to 4:30 p.m. in Madison.

    Luncheon speaker, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum, will present "Challenges in Judicial Administration" at noon at the White Horse Inn.

    Flaum will lead the CLE program from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the U.S. Courthouse with the subject of "Practicing Before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals." Other CLE presentations include "Employment Litigation Update - Recent Developments in State and Federal Employment Law" and "ERISA and the Federal Court Practitioner." A panel discussion with federal judges will conclude the CLE program, which will be followed by a reception.

    The luncheon is $15. The CLE program is free for WDBA members; $50 for non-WDBA members. Annual WDBA membership dues are $35. The program has been submitted for 3 CLE credits and 2.75 Minnesota CLE credits. For more information, contact Bob or Le Jordan at (608) 848-9008 or cow@mailbag.com.


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