CONTACT: Teresa Weidemann-Smith
State Bar of Wisconsin
(800) 444-9404, ext. 6025
twsmith@wisbar.org
Thomas Basting Named President-Elect of State Bar
Members also elected to secretary and judicial council
positions
MADISON, May 24, 2006 – Madison attorney
Thomas J. Basting, Sr. of Brennan, Steil & Basting
SC, has officially been named president-elect of the State Bar of
Wisconsin after winning a statewide election of Wisconsin lawyers.
Basting will serve as President-elect for one year beginning July 1,
2006. He will then take office as president of the bar for a one-year
term July 1, 2007.
Basting received 2599 votes to defeat Madison attorney Kent I.
Carnell of Lawton and Cates, SC, who received 2092 votes. Basting will
succeed retired Madison attorney Steve Levine as president. Levine's
term as president runs from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.
"I'm honored that Wisconsin lawyers have chosen me for this
important job. My goal in the next few years is to lead the Bar in
promoting the public interest by maintaining and furthering the highest
standards of conduct in the legal profession and by aiding in the
efficient administration of justice," said basting. "The State
Bar of Wisconsin has long been recognized as one of the best in the
country and I look forward to assisting in maintaining that standard of
excellence."
Basting graduated from Marquette University in 1959 and received his
law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1962. He has
served as an instructor of general practice at the University of
Wisconsin and lectures at numerous State Bar of Wisconsin educational
seminars in the area of legal ethics. He is a member of the American Bar
Association, the Rock County Bar Association (past president), and the
State Bar of Wisconsin, having served as Chairman of the Litigation
Section and the Professional Ethics Committee.
He has served as Special Counsel to the State of Wisconsin Ethics
Board and was appointed by the Governor as a Special Prosecutor in the
state lobby law investigations. He acts as counsel to the Wisconsin
Judicial Commission and the Office of Lawyer Regulation. He is a member
of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers and is certified as a Civil
Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a Fellow
of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation,
the International Society of Barristers, and the Wisconsin Law
Foundation.
Wisconsin attorneys elected Baraboo attorney Gretchen G.
Viney of Viney & Viney in Baraboo as State Bar secretary.
She received 3141 votes to defeat Madison attorney Micabil Diaz
Martinez, who received 1487 votes.
Viney is a clinical associate professor at the University of
Wisconsin Law School, associate director of the Lawyering Skills program
and also teaches Client Interviewing & Counseling and Real Estate
Transactions. She is a partner with her husband in the firm of Viney
& Viney in Baraboo. She is a Sauk County contract guardian ad litem
representing the interests of children, the elderly, people with mental
illness, and the developmentally disabled in court proceedings. She
received her B.A. degree, with highest honors, from the University of
Wyoming in 1974 and her juris doctor (J.D.), with honors, from the
University of Wisconsin Law School in 1978. In 2005, she was named by
Law & Politics as a Super Lawyer and one of the top 25 women lawyers
in Wisconsin.
She is a past-president of the Baraboo Rotary Club and has been
active at both the local and district levels of Rotary. From 1991 to
2005 she was a member of the Baraboo Plan Commission. She is currently
secretary of the State Bar of Wisconsin and has served on Bar committees
and boards since 1980. She is the author of the book Guardianship
and Protective Placement for the Elderly in Wisconsin as well as
chapters in other publications. She is a frequent presenter at
continuing legal education workshops and community-based workshops, most
often on the topics of guardian ad litem practice or elder law.
Wisconsin attorneys also elected Manitowoc attorney Robert L.
McCracken to the Judicial Council. McCracken received 2470
votes to defeat De Forest attorney Jason J. Hanson, who received 1817
votes.
McCracken a partner in the Manitowoc law office of Nash, Spindler,
Grimstad and McCracken, LLP, received his undergraduate degree from
Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and his law degree from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of the State Bar of
Wisconsin, the Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin, the Defense Research
Institute, and the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is also a
co-author of Wisconsin Trial Practice published by the State
Bar of Wisconsin, has been a litigation course instructor at the
University of Wisconsin Law School in 1994, 1996, and 2000, and is a
frequent speaker at professional meetings and conventions.
The State Bar of Wisconsin elections are held in April. Those elected
will be sworn in during the State Bar's Annual Convention in May, and
will officially take office July 1, 2006. The president-elect will serve
a one-year term before becoming president, the secretary will serve for
two years and the Judicial Council representative serves three
years.
The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association,
created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a
Wisconsin law license. With more than 21,000 members, the State Bar aids
the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides
continuing legal education for its members to help them maintain their
expertise, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out community
service initiatives to educate the public about the legal system and the
value of lawyers.
For more information, visit www.wisbar.org.
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