By Adam Korbitz, Government Relations Coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin

Nov. 4, 2009 – For the second time in a week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has unanimously approved a rule-making petition filed by the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Following a public hearing on Nov. 2, the court approved petition 09-06, which the State Bar filed this summer to amend Supreme Court Rule 10.04(1) to permit non-resident members of the State Bar to hold office as treasurer, secretary and chairperson of the Board of Governors.

In October 2008, the board of the State Bar’s Non-Resident Lawyers Division (NRLD) requested that the Board of Governors petition the Supreme Court to permit State Bar members who do not reside and practice in Wisconsin to be elected and serve in those three State Bar offices.

The NRLD’s board did not request that non-resident members be permitted to serve as president-elect or president. At its meeting in May 2009, the Board of Governors adopted the NRLD’s recommendation and approved filing the petition.

Under current SCR 10.04(1), only active members currently residing and practicing in Wisconsin are eligible to serve as officers of the State Bar.

As of June 1, 2009, 31.4% or 7329 of the State Bar’s total membership of 23,320 are non-residents and are ineligible to serve as officers under the current rule. All State Bar members who reside outside of Wisconsin are automatically enrolled in the NRLD, and the NRLD’s board is elected directly by the division membership.

In addition to State Bar President Douglas W. Kammer, Attorney Steven Schuster, past president of the NRLD board, and Attorney Wendy Calvert, the current president of the NRLD board, spoke for the State Bar at the public hearing on the petition.

According to Schuster, the NRLD has advocated the revision to SCR 10.04(1) as a matter of general fairness and democracy.

“No substantive policy reasons exist why non-residents should not be eligible to serve in the State Bar officer positions referenced above,” Schuster said. “Non-resident members of the State Bar pay dues equal to those charged of resident members, yet they are currently denied the opportunity to serve as officers of the State Bar.”

The NRLD board has not requested that non-residents be eligible to serve as president-elect or president due to the numerous duties those positions require.

However, according to the State Bar’s petition, the positions of treasurer, secretary and chairperson of the Board of Governors are not so onerous that a non-resident member could not perform them if given the opportunity to serve. According to the petition, approving the proposed revision to SCR 10.04(1) will merely allow non-resident lawyers the opportunity to be nominated for treasurer, secretary and chairperson of the board; as with resident candidates for those positions, those lawyers would still need to be elected to the officer positions by State Bar members.

Pursuant to SCR 10.05 and 10.06, each year the president of the NRLD is a member of both the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee, and attendance by the NRLD president at meetings of those bodies in Wisconsin has consistently been equal to that of resident members.

In 2008, the Supreme Court approved adding two additional non-resident lawyers to the Board of Governors in order to bring non-resident representation on the board to 14 percent. The NRLD subsequently sought the revision to SCR 10.04(1) proposed in the State Bar’s petition so that non-resident lawyers can be further integrated into the State Bar’s leadership by allowing those lawyers the opportunity to be eligible to serve as certain State Bar officers.

On Nov. 2, the court also gave tentative approval to two petitions filed by the Director of State Courts. Petition 09-02, filed on behalf of the court’s Records Management Retention Committee, will make various technical amendments to SCR 72.01 regarding record retention, in order to take into account statutory changes that have occurred since the last major revision to the rule in 1997. Petition 09-03, filed on behalf of the court’s Committee to Improve Interpreting and Translation in the Wisconsin Courts, will create a rule governing the submission of evidence originating in a language other than English. The State Bar’s Board of Governors did not taken a position on either petition.

Previously, on Oct. 29, the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously approved another State Bar rule-making petition, 08-27, which clarifies the class of judicial membership in the Bar.

Under Wis. Stat. section 751.12 and Supreme Court Internal Operating Procedures II.B.5. and III, any person may file a petition to change Supreme Court rules, pleading, practice, procedural statutes and administrative matters.

The State Bar’s activities regarding Supreme Court rule-making petitions are coordinated by the State Bar’s government relations team. If you have questions regarding the State Bar’s position on a rule-making petition pending before the Supreme Court, please contact Adam Korbitz, government relations coordinator.

Continue to monitor WisBar.org and visit the State Bar’s Government Relations page for updated information.

Related articles:

Supreme Court approves State Bar petition regarding classes of membership – Nov. 2, 2009
Court to tackle recusal issue and other rules petitions – Oct. 27, 2009
State Bar faces busy year with Supreme Court rule-making – Sept. 21, 2009
Board tackles petitions on judicial independence, court procedures, and more – Sept. 14, 2009

Rotunda Report is the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Government Relations e-newsletter that highlights legislative, judicial, and administrative developments that impact the legal profession and the justice system. It is published twice a month and is distributed free to attorneys, public officials and others who help shape public policy in Wisconsin. We invite your suggestions to make the Rotunda Report more informative and useful and we encourage you to visit our Web site for the most current information about justice-related issues.

© 2009, State Bar of Wisconsin