Supreme Court Orders
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hold a piblic hearing on Sept. 14
regarding the review of the lawyer disciplinary system.
Lawyer Disciplinary System
In the Matter of the Review of the Lawyer Disciplinary System
Order 99-03
The court has determined it advisable to initiate a comprehensive
review of the structure of the lawyer disciplinary system in Wisconsin,
including the structure of its Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility (Board), the Board's administrative committee, Board
staff, and the district professional responsibility committees. That
review will address such matters as the relationship of the Board to the
bar, to the State Bar's BAPR Study Committee, to this court, and to the
public, and the way in which appointments to the Board are made. That
review also will examine the relationship between the Board's
investigative staff and the Board itself in respect to the
investigative, prosecutorial, and disciplinary functions and the role of
the district committees in the disciplinary process, as well as the
relationship of those committees to the Board and to the staff. The
review is intended to contribute to a determination of the appropriate
relationships among the components in the disciplinary process in order
to provide an effective lawyer disciplinary system that best serves the
interests of the legal system and the interests of the public it
serves.
The first step in the comprehensive review is a public hearing to
address the current structure of the lawyer disciplinary system in
Wisconsin and to suggest ways in which it may be restructured to better
serve those it regulates, the legal system, and the public. The court
will invite the deans of the University of Wisconsin Law School and the
Marquette University Law School, or their designees, and a
representative of the American Bar Association Center for Professional
Responsibility to make presentations at that public hearing on the issue
of structure. The court also will invite other persons and organizations
having interest and experience in the matter to appear. In addition, the
court will hear from other interested persons by written submission or
in person who wish to present their concerns with and ideas about the
structure and process of the disciplinary system in its handling of
grievances against attorneys. The hearing will not, however, address
individual grievances against particular attorneys.
IT IS ORDERED that a public hearing on the review of the structure of
the lawyer disciplinary system and the Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility shall be held in the Supreme Court Hearing Room, 119
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, Wis., on Sept. 14, 1999, at 9
a.m.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that notice of the hearing be given by a single
publication of a copy of this order in the official state newspaper and
in an official publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin as soon as
practicable.
Dated at Madison, Wis., this 28th day of April, 1999.
By the court:
Marilyn L. Graves, Clerk
Wisconsin Lawyer