1998 State Bar Annual Report: Partners in Practice

• President's Report: Spirit of Service Redefines Bar
• Mission of the State Bar
• State Bar of Wisconsin Financial Reports 26.3 KB *

It was a year for lawyers to connect with each other, to work more closely with each other. Initiatives such as long-range strategic planning, moving forward with a new headquarters for the Bar, bringing lawyers together at smaller regional conferences, and assessing member needs headlined the year.

Hundreds of members statewide joined in Project Vision, the State Bar's long-range planning initiative. State Bar divisions, sections, committees, and affiliated organizations held strategic planning sessions during the year to help guide the Bar well into the 21st century.

Recognizing that the Bar simply had outgrown its existing facility, the Board of Governors approved a recommendation to acquire land on Madison's northeast side and construct a building to meet its current and future needs. Groundbreaking for the new Bar Center occurred this past summer. The new 40,000-square-foot Bar Center will provide:

• easy member access from the Interstate and major highways;
• adequate free parking;
• meeting and work space for members while in Madison; and
• space for CLE seminars and computer/technology training.

Smaller than the Bar's two yearly conventions, regional conferences in Hudson and Wisconsin Rapids provided area attorneys the opportunity to gather for networking and CLE programming that they might otherwise miss. And the first-ever Midwest Small Firm Success Conference, initiated and sponsored by the State Bar, brought more than 300 attorneys from eight Midwest states together for special programs geared to small and sole practices.

The State Bar continually surveys its members to assess their needs, to find out how the Bar is doing to meet those needs, and what the Bar should be doing in the future. This research points the way to better understand and meet member needs.

In addition to the many programs and initiatives moving the Bar and its member service efforts forward into the next century, the Bar continued its commitment to public service. This Annual Report highlights many of those achievements.

This truly was a year of partners in practice with the members and the Bar working hard to meet the needs of the legal community and the public.

Assessing Members' Needs

Understanding where the legal profession is headed and analyzing other market forces allows the Bar to anticipate the current and future needs of its members. Assessing member needs is a never-ending process, not just a periodic ritual.

Member survey

The current membership survey continues the Bar's effort to gauge members' needs and how to better meet them. (The full text of the survey was published in the October 1998 Wisconsin Lawyer.)

When asked to rate the value of the Bar's offerings, resident and nonresident respondents ranked the same offerings within the top six, but with different values. Those offerings include CLE Seminars, CLE Books, Wisconsin Lawyer magazine, Wisconsin Lawyer Directory, CLE seminar written materials, and the ethics hotline.

What do you need from the State Bar that is currently not provided? Some respondents wanted lower costs or price breaks for everything from Bar dues to convention and seminar registration fees. Others suggested that the Bar do more to improve the public image of lawyers and to meet the needs of government lawyers.

Nonresident members wanted better local access to Bar services, including seminars delivered through teleconferences or the Internet, and CLE classes convened near state borders.

How can the State Bar help you prepare for practicing law in the 21st century? Respondents asked for more computer training, software reviews, technology updates, and continued improvements of the Bar's Web site. Other requests ranged from lower fees and costs, to efforts to improve civility and collegiality among lawyers.

Law firm technology survey

The second annual 1997 Law Firm Technology Survey measured current technology usage levels among members and identified opportunities to assist members with adopting and using computer technology. The State Bar intends to annually assess members' evolving technology usage and needs. (The full results were published in the October 1997 Wisconsin Lawyer.)

The 1997 Law Firm Technology Survey revealed:

• 50 percent of responding firms have Internet access, up from 30 percent the previous year; 11 percent plan to obtain Internet access within the next year;
• 486-based PCs are the most frequently used computers, averaging about five computers per firm; Pentium-based PCs average four per firm; and 386-based PCs average three per firm; and
• 57 percent of respondents are interested in downloading CLE self-study materials from the Internet if credits were available.

Survey results are used by law firms to compare their own technology use with that of their counterparts. This information helps lawyers plan for future technology acquisitions and training to better position themselves in the legal marketplace. The survey results also help the Bar meet existing member needs and anticipate future needs - so that information and training is available even before members request it.

Meeting Members' Needs

The State Bar recognizes that one of the most valuable commodities for any attorney is information. To meet its members' professional challenges, the Bar has developed a wealth of high-quality information resources, ranging from books, seminars, and special periodicals to conventions, computerized research services, and even a hotline to assist members with ethics questions.

Internet technology

More than one million pages of information were accessed from WisBar, the State Bar's Internet site, testimony to the Bar's commitment to providing members with pertinent, accurate, and timely legal information. The site has welcomed visitors from as far away as Hong Kong, Norway, Greece, New Guinea, Hungary, and dozens of other locations.

WisBar's goal is to provide daily practice tools for busy Wisconsin attorneys in a 24-hour, easy-access, easy-use, secure transaction environment. In furtherance of its goals, WisBar's advances this past year include:

The State Bar successfully broadcast its first CLE seminar live over the Internet to a test audience. This effort lays the groundwork for future live, online seminars.

WisBar now offers a secure environment for members to purchase CLE books and other products and to register for seminars and other events.

Caselaw Express, a free weekly email service, delivers subscribers the previous week's court decisions.

Lawyer Search, a database-driven search engine allows users to search around the clock for Wisconsin attorneys by name, city, and law school.

Resolving lawyer and client disputes

The new State Bar Lawyer Dispute Resolution Program helps lawyers resolve differences during law firm breakups. The Professionalism Committee developed this program to head off litigation, protect clients, and reduce the burden on the courts.

The Resolution of Fee Disputes service provides the public and lawyers with fast and inexpensive arbitration hearings to settle fee disputes between lawyers and clients. Confidentiality is guaranteed. During FY '98, more than 400 clients, attorneys, and judges contacted the State Bar for information on the program, with a total of 57 applications accepted for arbitration hearings.

Ethics advice

During FY '98, the State Bar Ethics Hotline conducted 2,114 informal consultations with members on such topics as confidentiality and conflicts of interest.

The Professional Ethics Committee also issues formal ethics opinions at the request of members. This year the committee issued opinions regarding representation in real estate transactions and professional obligations that arise when a lawyer and law firm part company.

Local bar outreach

Supreme Court Rules direct the State Bar "to encourage the formation and activities of local bar associations." Accordingly, the State Bar sponsors an annual Wisconsin Bar Leaders Conference. This past year's program focused on helping local bar leaders "build a better bar." It included breakout sessions on strategic planning, structuring and organizing the framework of local bars, and helping local bars move forward in the rapidly changing world of cyberspace.

The State Bar also provides assistance to lawyers wishing to form their own local bars. Door County lawyers took advantage of this service to help form the new Door County Bar Association.

In addition, the State Bar of Wisconsin supports public service activities of local and specialty bars through a Local Bar Grant Competition. More than $7,600 was awarded for projects last year.

Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program

The Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP) continued to help lawyers, judges, law students, and their families cope with alcoholism and other chemical addictions, depression, acute and chronic anxiety, and problems related to the stress of practicing law. Trained volunteers provide information and confidential, meaningful assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Considerable attention was given to the stresses of lawyering during the Bar's Annual Convention. The convention's theme, "Balancing Life and Practice," set the stage for many informative WisLAP programs.

CLE books

CLE Books continued to spotlight the expertise of some of Wisconsin's most talented attorneys as nearly 300 lawyers volunteered to be authors or reviewers. Advising Older Clients and Their Families, a two-volume set, was copublished this year with the Elder Law Section. A comprehensive guide to all aspects of elder law, 25 experienced Wisconsin practitioners wrote the handbook, and more than 30 others served as expert reviewers.

CLE Books also revised 12 existing publications and supplemented 22 other books during the fiscal year. Some of the new editions included Eckhardt's Workbook for Wisconsin Estate Planners, Worker's Compensation Handbook, Guardian ad Litem Handbook, Organizing a Wisconsin Business Corporation, and Wisconsin Employment Law.

CLE seminars

CLE Seminars presented nearly 70 live programs during this past fiscal year. It also produced more than 500 video replays and seven teleseminars, offering a total of 370 credits and reaching more than 12,000 registrants. More than 260 Wisconsin practitioners volunteered their time and expertise as seminar faculty.

CLE Seminars continued to cosponsor and produce programs in cooperation with other professional organizations, putting on successful joint programs with the Corporate Practice Institute, the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

The most popular programs focused on technology-related issues, including research on the Internet, and an examination of the law of privacy in the information age. In response to member feedback, CLE Seminars continues to explore alternative ways to deliver CLE, including developing cost-effective, online, on-demand CLE programming.

Committee, division, and section member outreach

Most of the work of the State Bar is accomplished through committee, division, and section volunteers. These entities give members an opportunity to participate in the Bar, expand and share their expertise, and network with colleagues who share a common focus.

Among their many work products, volunteers produce special focus newsletters, work on legislative issues, and provide CLE programming at conventions and conferences. This past year, for instance, the Bankruptcy Section began issuing periodic "Supreme Court Scoop" postcards to members - a fast way to communicate recent decisions; the Business Law Section expanded its Business Assistance Program to cover nonprofit organizations as well as small businesses; and the International Practice Section provided speakers for legal issues seminars hosted by the Wisconsin World Trade Center for the benefit of Wisconsin businesses.

Conventions and conferences

Partnerships were emphasized at the 1998 Midwinter Convention in Madison, as State Bar President Steve Sorenson stressed fostering better relationships between the Bar and other organizations. More than 200 professionals attended the first lawyer/banker breakfast meeting at the convention.

During the convention, the graduating class of 1948 was honored as 50-year State Bar members. More than 30 program chairs organized nearly 160 speakers to bring numerous CLE opportunities to the 1,000-plus convention attendees. Topics ranged from an introduction to labor law for construction attorneys to the tools of the public-interest lawyer to practical computer technology tips.

More than 700 members gathered during the June Annual Convention in Lake Geneva. There were seminars on "Balancing Life and Practice" including healthy cooking, relaxation techniques, and stress reduction in addition to the usual wide range of CLE seminars featuring more than 100 speakers.

Madison attorney Susan Steingass was sworn in during the event as the 43rd State Bar president, only the second woman to hold this position. And Jonathan Harr, the best-selling author of A Civil Action, spoke to an overflow crowd at the Litigation Section's CLE program.

For the first time, small firm lawyers and solo practitioners had a chance to share ideas and learn how to build successful practices during the 1998 Midwest Small Firm Success Conference. Held in La Crosse this two-day conference, initiated and hosted by the State Bar, included more than 300 attorneys from eight Midwest states.

The State Bar also hosted during the year tworegional conferences in Hudson and in Wisconsin Rapids. The conferences, described by some as mini-State Bar conventions, reached out to lawyers unable to attend the two statewide conventions each year.

LOIS CD-ROM legal research

The State Bar of Wisconsin continues its partnership with Law Office Information Systems (LOIS) to bring members an affordable Wisconsin law library on CD-ROM. Nearly 1,500 law offices have subscribed to the service, which offers more than 250,000 pages of Wisconsin caselaw, Wisconsin Statutes, administrative code, and supreme court and court of appeals decisions.

In a new development this past year, the State Bar and LOIS established a new partnership with the Bureau of Justice Information Services and the State Public Defenders Office to provide access to LOIS and hands-on training to every public defender and district attorney in Wisconsin.

Government relations

The State Bar's government relations team worked with the Board of Governors and Bar sections to help develop policy positions on legislation that affect the legal profession, and presented these positions to the Wisconsin Legislature, Congress, and government agencies.

The Lawyers Legislative Action Network, which is now 600 members strong, is key to the Bar's legislative success. Grassroots member attorneys, found in legislative districts statewide, stay informed and in touch with their elected officials through the State Bar's Capitol Update , a weekly insider's look at legislative activities.

Grassroots success stories this year include: six additional circuit court judgeships across Wisconsin; a revamping of Wisconsin's Probate Code; an update of Wisconsin's Nonstock Law; and a defeat of proposals to eliminate judicial substitution.

Educating and Serving the Public

The State Bar takes very seriously educating the public about its legal rights and responsibilities, and working with lawyers and the justice system to ensure the public's access to the legal system. From booklets, videos, talk shows, and hands-on programs like mock trials and lawyer hotlines, the Bar's commitment to that mission is evident in its varied public outreach programs and services.

Connecting with students

The State Bar's Mock Trial Tournament , sponsored by the Law-related Education Committee, is one of the most successful and visible of the Bar's public outreach programs. The program garners extensive coverage by local and statewide media throughout the competition, generating hundreds of column inches of print media copy alone. For this year's 15th Annual Mock Trial Tournament, more than 615 justices, judges, and attorneys volunteered hundreds of hours as coordinators, attorney coaches, and judges to the more than 168 teams and 1,680 student participants from high schools statewide.

The Mock Trial Journalism Contest, held in conjunction with the Mock Trial Tournament and sponsored by the Media-Law Relations Committee, attracted nearly 30 students from 11 high schools statewide to this year's competition. Contestants are judged on the hard news and feature articles they write about the mock trial.

The Mock Trial Journalism Contest received two awards this year at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Nashville. The ABA awards recognize programs that promote greater understanding of the justice system and enhance the legal profession's community service.

Cosponsored by the State Bar and the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Court with Class program gives high school students an up-close look at the supreme court in session. This educational tool has been overwhelmingly successful, with more than 20 schools signed on a waiting list to visit the supreme court. The program invites high school students to observe oral arguments before the supreme court, then visit afterward with a justice to discuss law-related issues.

This past year, the Court With Class program also received an ABA Award of Merit at the ABA Midyear Meeting.

Peers in Education Addressing Conflict Effectively (PEACE) teaches educators conflict resolution techniques to reduce the level of violence in their schools. PEACE successfully completed its fourth year as more than 80 teachers from 16 schools statewide attended a training session in Madison. Teacher participants in turn train students in the PEACE techniques. The State Bar and the Office of the Attorney General jointly sponsor the program.

The Commission on the Judiciary as a Co-Equal Branch of Government, and the State Bar Videotape and Law-related Education Committees produced a video for middle school students titled "Can Anyone Name the Three Branches of Government?" The video will be distributed to all Wisconsin middle schools in the fall of 1998.

Consumer publications

Published by the Law-related Education Committee with support from the Wisconsin Law Foundation , the 16-page booklet, " Opportunities in the Law," answers questions frequently asked by high school students contemplating legal careers. The booklet also paints a realistic picture of law school, attorney incomes, career choices, and life as a lawyer.

" Understanding Guardianships: A Handbook for Guardians ," developed by the State Bar's Consumer Protection Committee, defines a guardian's role and duties; outlines the court procedure for choosing and appointing guardians; discusses special problems guardians face; and describes methods of tracking guardians' activities. The book includes sample forms guardians can use to take inventory, track receipts and disbursements, and provide an annual accounting.

Sponsored by the Communications Committee and written by attorneys expert on the issues discussed, the State Bar's series of consumer information pamphletsgives lawyers and firms an ideal, low-cost way to disseminate basic legal information that clients and the public need and want. Comprising 16 titles, the series covers legal issues that many people face sometime in their lives - such as marriage, divorce, probate, starting a business, and so forth. More than 258,000 pamphlets were delivered to law firms and other organizations for distribution to clients and the public this year.

State Fair Mock Trial

Cosponsored by the State Bar and the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers, the State Fair Mock Trial is in its 10th year. Each weekend during the fair, a 90-minute fictional criminal or civil trial is presented to fairgoers. Judges preside over the trials, which are argued by attorneys. Audience members serve as jurors. The program educates the public about the jury system by providing an in-person glimpse of a criminal or civil trial.

Business assistance program

This Business Law Section program  provides businesses with the help they need to start up or expand. Participating attorneys donate two hours oflegal counseling to businesses, or eight hours of counseling to nonprofit organizations. The program helps new and emerging businesses avoid legal problems that could result in failure or bankruptcy. More than 2,500 businesses have been assisted since the program's inception in 1992.

Local bar grants

Each year the Local Bar Grant Competition funds grants of up to $2,000 for local and specialty bar public service projects.

During FY '98 the Local Bar Grant Competition Committee awarded more than $7,600 in grants for these projects:

• production and distribution of lesson plans introducing the law (crimes) to children and adolescents - Dane County Bar Association;
• training of attorneys to staff the Richland County Circuit Court's Courthouse Resource Center to assist pro se litigants in limited matters - Richland County Bar Association;
• updating a booklet dealing with the rights of incarcerated parents - Dane County Bar Association; and
• development of a pro bono directory for Milwaukee County - Milwaukee Bar Association.

LawTalk and Wisconsin Forum

LawTalk, a 30-minute cable access television show, continued this past year with topics such as real estate law, child support, and youth violence. The program continues to run on public access systems in Madison, Milwaukee, Watertown, Sheboygan and elsewhere, with expansion expected in the next year.

The Cable and Broadcast Outreach Committee created LawTalk to educate the public about law-related issues and to help the public understand how to use the legal system and how it can best serve Wisconsin citizens.

An off-shoot of LawTalk, Wisconsin Forum aired on the Fox Network affiliate in Madison on Sunday mornings, addressing current legal and social issues.

Lawyer Referral and Information Service

Experienced LRIS legal assistants field more than 50,000 calls from the public each year - referring on average one in six callers to LRIS panel attorneys. The legal assistants carefully screen each call to be sure an attorney is needed and that the caller can pay an attorney's fees. For those callers who don't meet strict referral criteria, LRIS assistants can provide information or referrals to other resources.

The Lawyer Hotline  program, which coordinates volunteer lawyers to answer consumers' simple legal questions, responded to 2,200 information requests.

Legal assistance

The State Bar and its Legal Assistance Committee focused on efforts to more effectively provide Wisconsin lawyers with programming opportunities to assist Wisconsin's low-income citizens with their civil legal needs. Special emphasis was given to:

• the impact ofPhillips on Wisconsin's IOLTA program and the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation;
• increased outreach to local bars, specialty bars and law schools;
• increased public awareness efforts of pro bono and legal services delivery issues;
• support of the Equal Justice Coalition's efforts to develop funding sources to provide direct legal services to Wisconsin's poor; and
• recognition of lawyers' outstanding pro bono efforts through annual awards programs.

The Future

The State Bar of Wisconsin is embarking on a new era of membership and public service. It pledges to listen to members, address their concerns, and meet their ever-changing needs.

One thing is certain. Members expect the State Bar to be ahead of the curve, to be in a position as the 21st century approaches to offer education and technical support for their law practices - whether solo or small-firm practi-tioners, government lawyers, public interest attorneys, large-firm practitioners, or corporate lawyers.

The initiatives undertaken in this year as Partners in Practice - from long-range strategic planning to breaking ground on a new Bar Center, from reaching out to members to bringing lawyers together at regional conferences - have helped pave the Bar's way into the 21st century.

Wisconsin Lawyer