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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    May 01, 2006

    Legal News and Trends

    Wisconsin LawyerWisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 79, No. 5, May 2006

    Legal news & trendsLegal News & Trends

    State Bar welcomes new members

    54 lawyers attend swearing in

    Fifty-four lawyers who passed the Wisconsin bar exam were admitted to practice in Wisconsin on April 18. Surrounded by family and friends, the lawyers were welcomed by members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, State Bar President D. Michael Guerin, and the Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) board chair, the Hon. Charles Constantine.

    Diana Smioldo Goodman

    Diana Smiroldo Goodman signs the supreme court roll that has been signed by every lawyer admitted to practice in Wisconsin since the state was a territory.


    Justices David T. Prosser, Patience D. Roggensack, and Louis B. Butler administered the oath in the supreme court hearing room during three ceremonies throughout the day.

    Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson reminded each group that as lawyers they have a responsibility to be courageous. "Celebrating and protecting our freedom and democracy is a task for all of us. Courage is a mindset and an approach to life. Courage is the price life demands for being at peace with yourself. I ask each of you as a member of the Wisconsin legal community to use your courage and legal training to make a difference in society. Look beyond the everyday work you do and find other ways to serve your community," she said.

    Following the swearing-in ceremonies, the lawyers attended a reception hosted by the State Bar at the Madison Concourse Hotel. During the reception, each newly sworn attorney signed the supreme court roll that has been signed by every lawyer admitted to practice in Wisconsin since the state was a territory.

    Of the 124 individuals representing 24 jurisdictions nationwide who took the bar exam, 87 passed. The State Bar also welcomes the 33 lawyers who did not attend the April swearing-in ceremonies. This brings membership to 21,976. The U.W. and Marquette 2006 law school classes' swearing-in ceremonies will be held in May and June.

    This month's practice management tip

    Return receipts for emails

    Many lawyers never use return receipts for emails because they generally are not that useful as evidence in court. But when you are emailing important, time-sensitive documents to clients or other lawyers, it is often helpful for you to know they received the document. Spam filters are one of many reasons an email may not be received, but no "bounce message" is returned to you to let you know the message was not received. Use the return receipt option to show your clients or other lawyers that you care that they receive a document, and save yourself the aggravation of calling to see if they got your email. In most Microsoft Outlook versions, return receipt is located under View and Options. Return receipt also can be located using the Help files if you use a different email provider.

    Visit www.wisbar.org/lomap for more practice management tips. For practice management guidance, contact Law Office Assistance Program Advisor Nerino Petro at PracticeHelp@wisbar.org, (608) 250-6012, or (800) 444-9404, ext. 6012.

    Wisconsin courts publish nation's first Hmong legal glossary

    The Wisconsin Director of State Courts Office has published the first Hmong-English legal glossary in the United States. It defines more than 800 common court terms and suggests equivalent Hmong phrases for many of them. "The glossary will be useful to the courts, law enforcement, social services, researchers, teachers, and state government - particularly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California where there are large Hmong communities - as a resource for interpreting legal proceedings and for translating government forms into Hmong," says Marcia Vandercook, senior policy analyst, Office of Court Operations.

    Training for Hmong translators

    Twenty-five participants attended training for Hmong translators in April.

    "The glossary defines general court terms and specific terms for criminal, juvenile, family, eviction, small claims, probate, and deportation cases," says Vandercook. "The equivalent Hmong phrases will help court interpreters develop common usages and attain the speed necessary for simultaneous interpretation. The glossary also will be used by court interpreter programs in Wisconsin and Minnesota for training Hmong interpreters and helping them prepare for the oral certification exam."

    The glossary has been translated into White Hmong as the predominant dialect in America. The court recognizes that there may be other acceptable equivalent terms available from Green/Blue Hmong, Lao, and regional dialects.

    The glossary grows out of a collaboration of the Wisconsin and Minnesota courts, the Minnesota Translation Lab (Dr. Laurence H. Bogoslaw, director), the Marathon County Bar Association, the Southeast Asian Outreach Committee, and Hmong contributors from Minnesota and Wisconsin. The interpreting was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Bureau of Migrant, Refugee, and Labor Services. The printing was funded by a grant from the State Bar of Wisconsin Local Bar Grant Competition.

    The 75-page glossary can be downloaded at www.wicourts.gov/services/interpreter/resources.htm. A limited number of print copies are available. For more information, contact Vandercook at (608) 266-3121 or marcia.vandercook@wicourts.gov.

    Mandatory court form updates: criminal, general, guardianship, and probate

    As of Jan. 19, 2006, the Wisconsin Records Management Committee has updated and introduced the following forms. Key: New (N)/Revised (R)

    Criminal

    CR-208 Petition and Stipulation to Waive Appearance and Hearing (R)
    CR-244 Order for Presentence Investigation Report (R)

    General

    GF-142 Arrest - Bench Warrant/Capias (R)

    Guardianship

    GN-2016 Order Appointing GAL (R)
    GN-2017 Annual Report of Guardian ad Litem (R)
    GN-2018 Summary Hearing Findings and Order Continuing Protective Placement (R)
    GN-2023 Annual Report of Guardian (R)|
    GN-2024 Account of Guardian/Conservator (R)
    GN-2051 Transfer of Placement and Notice of Transfer
    by GAL/Placement Facility (N)
    GN-2053 Petition on Objections to Transfer (N)

    Juvenile

    JD-1709 Minutes - Juvenile (R)

    Probate

    PR-1935 Corporate Trustee's Account (R)
    PR-1937 Trustee's Account (R)

    Forms and summaries are available in PDF or MS Word format at www.wisbar.org/forms. For more information, contact Terri Borrud at (608) 266-7143 or terri.borrud@wicourts.gov.


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