Margaret Hickey, chair of the Board’s Finance Committee, chats with District 5 Gov. Charles Hanson after briefing the board on the final proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, which the board approved.

Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Richard Sankovitz attended the board meeting in Wisconsin Dells to explain a petition submitted by the Judicial Council to the Wisconsin Supreme Court concerning discovery rules. The board voted to support the petition. In this video, Judge Sankovitz explains what the petition proposes to do.

Joe Troy, chair of the Judicial Task Force created by State Bar President Jim Brennan, appeared to update the board on the Task Force’s work.

June 13, 2012 – The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors approved the organization’s fiscal year 2013 budget today at its board meeting in Wisconsin Dells. For the ninth consecutive year, dues will remain at $224 for full dues-paying members.

To balance the State Bar’s $11.5 million budget for fiscal year 2013 (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013), the budget relies on revenue enhancements and expense reductions. It also uses approximately $100,000 from a reserve fund designed to avoid or mitigate dues increases. The State Bar has spent down approximately $1 million of dues reserves since 2008.

“Working with current revenues, which have not met non-dues revenue expectations, requires the State Bar to make important decisions about where to put its resources,” said Margaret Hickey, chair of the board’s Finance Committee.

“This budget expands programming in key member support areas such as the ethics and lawyer assistance programs, but also reduces resources for other services,” she said. “However, the continued use of our reserves to meet annual budget needs is not healthy for the bar.”

Increased operating costs and declining revenue sources resulted in a 10 percent reduction in staff and other expense cuts to address a budget shortfall for the current (2012) fiscal year.

Throughout the year, the board discussed the possibility of a $35 dues increase for FY 2014 (July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014). Such proposal was not a part of the final proposed budget, but the board moved next year’s Finance Committee to consider a dues increase.

The FY 2013 budget expands support for the State Bar’s Ethics program, which will increase service to members who contact the ethics hotline for advice. The budget also increases resources for the Wisconsin Lawyer Assistance Monitoring Program (WisLAP).

The WisLAP Monitoring program, approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court effective July 1, 2010, allows the Office of Lawyer Regulation to refer lawyers to WisLAP as an alternative to discipline, as part of the conditions to continue practice or gain licensure reinstatement, or because an attorney pleaded impairment or medical incapacity following an investigation or complaint of professional misconduct.

In the coming year, State Bar members will pay more for PINNACLE™ seminars and books. Hickey noted that prices have not increased for nearly a decade, and the State Bar cannot absorb the increasing costs of providing CLE and other legal resources to members. Pricing for seminars and books will increase by about 10 to 12 percent.

“Even with this increase, these State Bar products will be at or near the low end of pricing compared to our competitors,” Hickey noted.

In addition, State Bar members will no longer automatically receive the annual Wisconsin Lawyer Directory; however, the print publication will be available for a fee for those who rely on it for lawyer and court personnel contact information.

With the growing usage of Lawyer Search on WisBar.org, declining revenue support, increasing production costs, and approximately 10,000 changes to member contact information each year, the print directory is becoming increasingly obsolete and expensive to produce.

The budget also allows the State Bar to complete a redesign of its website and the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine. The WisBar website, built on 10-year old technology, is unable to keep pace with growing site usage and members’ expectations for delivering online learning and other information.

Michelle Behnke, former State Bar president, presented on behalf of the State Bar’s Diversity Outreach Committee to urge the board’s adoption of a diversity declaration, demonstrating a commitment to diversity. The board adopted the declaration, which will be placed on the State Bar website and will be used to guide future diversity initiatives.

From left, attorneys Christina Plum, Anthony Gray, Thomas Schwaba, Patrick Fiedler, and Sarah Ponath listen to discussions about the budget. Plum was one of three State Bar members elected as State Bar of Wisconsin Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates; Gray, Hartford, Conn., is incoming president-elect of the Nonresident Lawyers Division; Schwaba is an incoming District 10 governor; Fiedler is incoming president-elect of the State Bar; and Ponath is an incoming District 6 governor.

District 9 Gov. Kelli Thompson, director of the State Public Defender Office, confers with District 2 Gov. Art Harrington. Thompson was appointed to serve as the board’s chairperson for fiscal year 2013.

For more photos from today's BOG meeting, visit the State Bar's Facebook page, or click here.

Board Supports Petition Related to Inadvertent Discovery Disclosures

The board voted unanimously to support a petition, filed by the Wisconsin Judicial Council, to supplement discovery rules relating to disclosures of privileged information.

Specifically, petition 12-03 would create and amend existing Supreme Court Rules on discovery, allowing a party to “clawback” documents inadvertently produced. The proposal would also guide courts on how to decide the legal effect of inadvertent disclosures, if one was made.

“The proposal seeks only to provide a predictable, uniform set of standards under which parties can better determine the consequences of a disclosure covered by the lawyer-client privilege or work-product protection,” a Judicial Council supporting memo explained.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Richard Sankovitz, who helped draft the petition, appeared at the board meeting on behalf of the Judicial Council to ask for the board’s support. He noted that new discovery rules were adopted in 2010, but needed tweaking.

The 2010 rules, Judge Sankovitz explained, had unfinished parts that needed more study and were awaiting development in the federal courts.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not yet scheduled a public hearing on petition 12-03, which was filed in February 2012, but is expected to do so in late summer or early fall. “With board’s approval, I’m hoping it will be a fairly uncontroversial matter,” Judge Sankovitz said.

Board Adopts Diversity Declaration

At the request of the State Bar’s Diversity Outreach Committee, the board adopted a diversity declaration that will appear on the State Bar’s website and in various State Bar publications, with an invitation for law firms to adopt the declaration as signatories.

The statement reads: “The State Bar of Wisconsin is an inclusive organization committed to recognizing, respecting, promoting and encouraging diversity among its leadership, its membership and the entire legal community. We encourage all local and specialty bars to promote diversity and inclusion in their membership and leadership. We encourage legal employers and law firms to promote diversity and inclusion within their workplaces to mirror the world in which we practice.”

Former State Bar of Wisconsin President Michelle Behnke appeared on behalf of the State Bar’s Diversity Outreach Committee to discuss the importance of adopting the diversity declaration in demonstrating the State Bar’s commitment to diversity.

“Adopting this statement and placing it on the website will show the State Bar’s renewed interest in the work of diversity, and it will help to support the committee in its work on diversity,” Behnke said. “We also hope that placing the statement on the website will invigorate law firms, government entities, and other legal service employers knowing that the State Bar will be working to assist them in their efforts to attain diverse workplaces.”

Board Briefed on Judicial Task Force Committee

Appleton lawyer and former judge Joe Troy, chair of a Judicial Task Force Committee, appeared to brief the board on the task force and its mission for the next year.

The purpose of the task force, created on initiative of outgoing State Bar President Jim Brennan, is to create better public trust and confidence in the judiciary. Specifically, the task force is established to accomplish the State Bar’s strategic goal of finding ways to promote a fair and impartial judiciary in order to improve the administration of justice for all persons. The task force will objectively measure current public perception regarding the independence of the judicial system and evaluate those factors that contribute to reduced trust and confidence.

Board Takes Policy Positions, Sunsets Others

The State Bar board voted to sunset approximately 20 policy positions that are outdated. The board also adopted a policy position supporting a requirement that all judges be lawyers, including municipal judges.

Finally, the board adopted the following policy on filing fees: “The State Bar of Wisconsin fundamentally believes the Judicial Branch of government should be funded through general purpose revenues. The State Bar also believes increases in filing fees make access to justice very difficult. In any case, any increase in filing fees must go to support the justice system.”

Board Appointments and Elections Starting July 1

• The board elected six members to the 2013 Board of Governors’ Executive Committee: Susan Collins; William Curran, Mauston; Margaret Hickey, Milwaukee; Kevin Lyons, Milwaukee; Kelly Nickel, Elkhorn; and Paul Swanson, Oshkosh. Other members of the 2013 Executive Committee will include incoming State Bar President-elect Patrick Fiedler, incoming State Bar President Kevin Klein, and outgoing State Bar President Jim Brennan, who will serve in the past-president role.
• On the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Board Nomination Committee, the board appointed Kelli Thompson, Madison, as the 2013 Chairperson of the Board.
• The board appointed attorney Thomas Schwaba, Marinette, to a two-year board term serving District 10. Schwaba replaces Oconto Falls attorney Vance Waggoner, who defeated Schwaba by one vote in the April election but has since relocated out of District 10.
• The board elected three members to the ABA House of Delegates as representatives of the State Bar of Wisconsin: Nate Cade, Milwaukee; Kelly Nichol, Elkhorn; and Christina Plum, Milwaukee.
• The board approved President Jim Brennan’s four appointments to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation Board: Attorneys Kristin Bergstrom, Milwaukee; Ken Knudson, Superior; Kevin Palmersheim, Middleton; and Ms. Denis Tobie.