Vol. 71, No. 3, March
1998
Board of Governors Actions
The State Bar Board of Governors took the following actions at its Jan.
28 meeting in Madison.
RECEIVED several recommendations from the Facilities Committee,
and acted to:
- approve the concept of a new building, agreeing that the current facility
is inadequate;
- purchase for $1 a 90-day option on a building site at the American
Center Commercial Business Park on Madison's far northeast side but
directed the committee also to continue reviewing other possible sites
as they become available;
- approve the financing model that includes selling the existing Bar
Center, assuming a conventional bank mortgage, and liquidating some intermediate
and short-term investments; and
- agree to investigate the possibility of a membership fund-raising effort.
ACCEPTED the Finance Committee report and voted to accept and
endorse the documentation and methodology presented by the Finance Committee
as a conceptual presentation of a three-year rolling budget plan and planning
for 1999 and direct that the Finance Committee provide further reports detailing
and further specifying proposals for a three-year rolling budget.
ACTED on several recommendations of the joint State Bar/BAPR Committee
on Mandatory Fee Agreements. The board:
- disapproved the recommendation to require written fee agreements for
matters over $1,000;
- approved the recommendation that fee arbitration remain voluntary;
- referred to the Office Management Section, the recommendation to develop
voluntary sample fee agreement forms; and
- recommended that law school curriculum include information on fees
and fee agreements.
SUPPORTED the New York State Bar in its fight against the federal
"Granny's Lawyers Goes to Jail" law. First, the board issued
a resolution, "That the State Bar of Wisconsin supports the efforts
of the New York State Bar Association to judicially determine the constitutionality
of Section 217 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act."
Second, the board went on record as opposing the law.
APPROVED the report of the Project Vision Task Force, directed
its implementation, and authorized the appointment of an implementation
committee.
Note: To place a matter on the advance agenda for the April 3-4
meeting in Appleton or the June 24 meeting in Lake Geneva, notify the executive
director at the State Bar Center and submit appropriate materials at least
two weeks before the meeting. For further information, please contact Stephen
L. Smay at the State Bar Center.
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