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Vol. 71, No. 7,
July 1998
Letters
Remembering Daniel R. Tuchscherer Jr.
Until the last year or two, I did not know Dan Tuchscherer well. Our
work with the Equal Justice Coalition changed that.
Dan got me involved with John Skilton's Equal Access to Justice Task
Force, which led to forming the Equal Justice Coalition Inc. Dan and I shared
many rides to Milwaukee, Madison, and points between, for meetings of the
Coalition's Board of Directors. During those rides, Dan discussed his wife
and children, of whom he was justly proud. He spoke of how good it was that,
in recent years, he had been able to spend some happy days hunting and fishing
with his father. Dan was a great outdoorsman, and spending that time with
his dad was a great joy to him. He spoke of visits to people and places
in Massachusetts, some of whom were familiar to me. Most of all, Dan spoke
of the legal problems of poor people in Wisconsin, and what we could do
to help them deal with the issues facing them.
Dan died unexpectedly while working in his yard on June 14. As I look
back on my friend, the memory that I will cherish is that of a man of great
compassion and regard for people of all walks of life, and a man whose dedicated
advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged people made better our northeastern
Wisconsin region and our state.
For the past eight years, Dan had been the executive director of Legal
Services of Northeast Wisconsin Inc. Previously he had been in private practice
in Pittsfield, Mass., and had served as the managing attorney for Western
Massachusetts Legal Services Inc. and as the executive director of the Berkshire
County Regional Housing Authority. His work on volunteer boards included
the United Way of Brown County, the Homeless Task Force in Pittsfield, Mass.,
and the Berkshire County Area Agency on Aging.
Dan's primary volunteer energies, in the last several years, were focused
on the Equal Justice Coalition (EJC), which was organized to design a more
permanent support base for providing legal services to the poor of Wisconsin.
In recognition of that involvement, Dan's family has suggested that donations
in lieu of flowers could be sent by friends and family to the Equal Justice
Coalition, 3505 N. 124th St., Brookfield, WI 53005. How fitting it would
be if all State Bar members who have ever thought about supporting the Equal
Justice Coalition would now act in Dan's memory.
Bert Liebmann, Green Bay
On June 14, 1998, Dan Tuchscherer unexpectedly passed away. Dan had served
as the executive director of Northeastern Wisconsin Legal Services from
1990 to his death. Dan also was an active member of the State Bar, serving,
for example, on the Bar's Commission on the Delivery of Legal Services.
Most recently, Dan served as a vital member of the Equal Justice Coalition
Board of Directors, the entity formed as a result of the Commission's recommendation
that the Bar find a way to provide long-term, adequate funding for our legal
service agencies that provide legal services to the poor.
Dan's loss is keenly felt on a personal level by his friends and colleagues.
But the timing of his death is particularly poignant givin his life-long
commitment to the delivery of legal services for the poor.
Our legal services community is literally fighting for its life. Every
year there is a battle in Congress just to maintain reduced funding to the
Legal Services Corporation, the federal agency that provides more than half
of the funding to our four Wisconsin legal services firms (of which Dan's
agency is one). In 1994 available funds were reduced by a third of our legal
services lawyers in this state.
Two days after Dan's death, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4
decision, using a "property rights" (Fifth Amendment) rationale,
put into question the constitutional underpinnings of IOLTA (interest on
lawyers trust accounts), the source of more than $1 million in funds that
are distributed by WisTAF (Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation) to Wisconsin
providers of legal services to the poor.
Dan, of course, was leading the charge to find alternative sources of
funding, but we did not assume that the IOLTA base also was in jeopardy.
What is at risk here is our in-place legal services delivery system.
Dan's untimely death underscores the potential mortality of this system.
The Equal Justice Coalition hopes to keep alive both Dan's memory and
the system he so well served. But we need your help.
John S. Skilton, President
Equal Justice Coaltion
When attorneys need confidential help
with abuse or depression ...
 On
behalf of all the active members of the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program
(WisLAP) Committee, we thank Wisconsin Lawyer for the informational
article, "WisLAP Combats
Career Killers," published in May. The article makes everyone aware
of WisLAP programs to assist lawyers with abuse/depression problems. Studies
have shown that the more our services are published and disseminated throughout
the legal community, the better response we will receive from afflicted
persons. We strongly emphasize the anonymity that is afforded those who
will ask for our assistance, and we believe your article highlighted that
feature while still emphasizing the one-on-one approach taken in these situations.
Thank you again for your continued assistance. We hope this article will
prompt more individuals to seek assistance when needed.
C. Michael Hausman and James E. Collis
Cochairs, WisLAP
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