Philip Habermann exerted quiet influence
First State Bar executive director dies

February 26, 2003

On Feb. 11, 2003, Philip S. Habermann, 89, passed away in Madison following a lengthy illness. Habermann was hired as the State Bar of Wisconsin's first executive secretary, serving in the position from December 1948 until his retirement in November 1974.

Milestones achieved in early years had long-lasting impact. During the 26 years of Habermann's leadership, the Bar achieved several milestones, including leasing its first office in 1948 in Madison at 114 W. Washington Ave. and then later building - and enlarging - its own offices at 402 W. Wilson St. Habermann also served as the Bar's first lobbyist, and he soon began publishing a regular legislative bulletin. The contacts Habermann made with legislators during his time as the Legislative Council's executive secretary served the Bar in good stead for years to come.

Surge in membership, programs. Following World War II, the Bar through Habermann's efforts adapted to a surge in membership in the voluntary association as the legal profession saw rapid growth. Attorneys who had served the nation during the war sought educational offerings so as to be brought current in the law and infused the Bar with new member program and public service ideas. Meanwhile, thousands of returning service personnel boosted law school enrollment nationwide, with new law school graduates seeking networking and employment opportunities, among other Bar services.

Importance of continuing legal education, public service. With Habermann's guidance, the Bar embarked on publishing Wisconsin-specific law books and increasing the number and quality of seminar offerings through a partnership with ATS-CLE (the precursor to State Bar CLE Seminars and Books). According to attorney Jack R. DeWitt, State Bar president from 1975-76, "Phil was always very aware of the importance of continuing legal education. He worked with the Marquette and U.W. law schools to combine their efforts in this work with the Association to improve programs, avoid duplication, and to hold down costs." These efforts increased even more in response to the mandatory CLE requirements, effective on Jan. 1, 1977, of which Habermann considered among the most important issues during his years as executive secretary.

Habermann also encouraged the organized bar's and lawyers' individual public service and representation of low-income persons. In a July 7, 1994, Lodi Enterprise article reporting his achievements, Habermann said, "I get the most pride from having conceived and developed the Judicare program, which is still active in Wisconsin and has been adopted in some other states." Habermann conceived the Judicare program in response to a mandate to make civil legal services more accessible to poor people during President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. Habermann also worked to create the Wisconsin Bar Foundation.

Honoring a lifetime of service to the legal profession. In March 1994, Habermann was awarded the U.W. Law School Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his lifetime of service to the legal profession as State Bar of Wisconsin executive director (his title changed effective with the Bar's integration on Jan. 1, 1957). In the July 1994 Lodi Enterprise article mentioned earlier, Habermann included the bar's transition from a voluntary to a mandatory organization in 1957 as one of the most important issues he and the Bar faced. Attorney George Steil Sr., State Bar president from 1977-78, said of Habermann, "I can recall the arguments of many very respected lawyers who opposed integration and, when it was finally confirmed by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Lathrop v. Donahue, it was the respect that lawyers had for Phil Habermann that caused the State Bar of Wisconsin to prosper and serve the lawyers, the courts, and the public at large."

Leadership by example. Habermann also was influential in the Bar's efforts to provide ethics guidance to lawyers and in championing the concept of applying sound business practices to law office management, just as he applied those practices to managing the Bar's finances. Some attorneys referred to Habermann fondly as "Frugal Phil" and respected his abilities to do much with a slim budget. "[His] habit of frugality as a child of the Depression stood him in good stead as his budget was small and he husbanded association assets carefully," said DeWitt. Others will recall Board of Governors' meetings in the old Bar building with luncheon provided by Habermann and his wife from their kitchen at home.

In addition to his Wisconsin Bar work, Habermann was active in the American Bar Association, as a member of the ABA Commission on Organized Crime (1951-53), which was headed by U.S. Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson, to work with the Kefauver Committee on Organized Crime; and serving for eight years as a member on the Economics of Legal Profession Committee. Habermann also served as president (1951-52) of the National Association of Bar Executives.

Habermann never applied for the position of executive secretary. Following the Green Bay convention in 1947, where it was decided to employ a full-time executive, two U.W. Law School professors wrote to State Bar President Jacobson recommending Habermann for the post based on his previous experience with statewide associations (he was then executive secretary of the State Legislative Council). The letter was found in Jacobson's files after his death and forwarded to the search committee, which, it turned out, was not satisfied with the list of applicants. Habermann was asked to interview for and eventually offered the job - at the annual salary he requested of $7,500. (Unknown to Habermann and the other applicants, including one who would have accepted the job for $6,000, the top salary limit had been raised to $10,000.)

Following his retirement from the Bar in 1974, Habermann continued to serve the legal profession through the ABA Division of Bar Services by conducting management surveys of bar associations. And in 1986 Habermann wrote "A History of the Organized Bar in Wisconsin," which counts among his significant contributions to the Bar and to Wisconsin's legal history generally. In commemorating the Bar's 125th anniversary in 2003, the Bar continues to rely on Habermann's work.

Born on Aug. 11, 1913, Haberman was a Lodi native and noted local historian who was proud of his family's long history in Lodi (his grandparents settled there in 1888, his father was a veterinarian in the community, and Habermann attended Lodi schools through high school). Habermann served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and upon his discharge earned a law degree in 1947 from U.W. Law School under the G.I. Bill.