Note: A petition for review of any change in the bylaws will be
entertained by the court if signed by 25 or more active State Bar
members and filed with the clerk of the court within 60 days after
publication of notice of change. Hearings upon such a petition will be
pursuant to notice in such manner as the court directs.
I, George C. Brown, the Executive Director of the State Bar of
Wisconsin, do hereby certify that the following bylaw amendment
resolution was duly voted by the Board of Governors on Jan. 25,
2000.
Business on a Consent Agenda
State Bar Bylaw Article III is amended to read as
follows:
Article III Board of Governors
Section 9. Meetings of Board of Governors.
(b) Notice of the time and place of regular and special meetings of
the Board shall be given to each member by the Executive Director by
mail or telephone at least five days before the meeting. At any regular
meeting of the Board any business may be transacted which is within the
power of the Board, whether or not specified in the call or notice of
the meeting. At any special meeting of the Board, any business may be
transacted which is within the power of the Board if specified in the
call or notice of the meeting. Members of the Board may participate and
vote by telephone at any special meeting, but not at a regular meeting.
Members appearing by telephone at a special meeting shall be deemed
present for the purpose of determining a quorum. Action by the Board may
be taken by a majority of members present at a meeting at which a quorum
is present, except action upon legislative proposals, proposed supreme
court rule changes and proposed executive agency rule changes shall
require approval by a 60% majority of members present at a meeting at
which a quorum is present. At any regular or special meeting, any
business placed on a consent agenda that is part of the notice or call
will be acted upon without debate. Business listed on the consent agenda
may be removed by any one governor within a 72-hour notice to the
Secretary of the State Bar.
I, George C. Brown, the Executive Director of the State Bar of
Wisconsin, do hereby certify that the following bylaw amendment
resolutions were duly voted by the Board of Governors on January 25,
2000.
Nomination and Election Dates for Officers,
Governors
State Bar Bylaw Articles II and III are amended as
follows:
Article II
Officers Section 1. Nominations.
The President-Elect, the Secretary and the Treasurer of the State Bar
shall be elected from a list of candidates nominated in the manner
herein prescribed. A committee of five members to nominate candidates
for said offices to be voted on at the next annual election shall be
appointed by the President of the Association with the approval of the
Board of Governors at the first regularly scheduled Board meeting
following the annual convention. Such report shall name two or more
candidates nominated by the committee for the Office of President-Elect,
two or more candidates nominated for the Office of Secretary and two or
more candidates nominated for the Office of Treasurer. Before making its
report, the committee shall solicit from the membership the names of
members interested in seeking nomination to any office scheduled for
election. The committee shall make its report no later than the
first business day in November December 15 in each year.
Other persons may be nominated for any of said offices by petition
signed in the case of each candidate by not less than one hundred active
members of the Association, and filed in the Office of the Executive
Director on or before the first business day of December
February of the year preceding of the election,
provided that before the filing of such petition a statement shall be
endorsed thereon by the nominee to the effect that the member consents
to nomination for the office designated in the petition.
Article III Board of Governors
Section 3. Nomination Petitions.
Nominations for the Office of Governor shall be by petition signed in
respect of each nominee by not less than ten persons entitled to vote
for such candidate. Blank forms for that purpose shall be supplied by
the Executive Director of the Association on request. Nomination
petitions for candidates to be voted on at the annual election in any
year shall be filed in the office of the Executive Director not later
than the first business day of January March of such year,
provided that before the filing of such petition a statement shall be
endorsed thereon by the nominee to the effect that the nominee consents
to nomination for the office designated in the petition. No nominating
petition for governor shall be filed on behalf of any member practicing
in the same county in which another member is a governor whose term does
not expire at the next annual meeting.
Section 4. Voting List. On the third Friday of January
March in each year the voting list shall close for the election
in that year. Every active member of the Association in good standing on
that date shall be entitled to vote in the State Bar District in which
the member's principal office for the practice of law is located, for
officers of the State Bar and for the governor or governors for such
district to be elected that year.
Section 5. Mailing of Ballots. On or before the first
second Friday of February April in each year the
Executive Director shall prepare and mail required ballots to each
active member of the State Bar entitled to vote at the annual election.
One form of ballot sent to persons entitled to vote in each State Bar
District shall contain the names of the nominees for the several offices
of the State Bar to be filled at the annual election, and a separate
form of ballot shall contain the names of the nominees for the Office of
Governor from such district. If any such person entitled to vote in such
election fails to receive his or her ballots, or if it appears that any
such ballot has been lost or destroyed, a new ballot shall be furnished
to the person by the Executive Director. The third fourth
Friday of February April in each year shall be the last
day for voting in such election and no ballots received after that date
shall be counted.
I, George C. Brown, the Executive Director of the State Bar of
Wisconsin, do hereby certify that the following bylaw amendment
resolution was duly voted by the Board of Governors on April 14,
2000.
Confidentiality of Ethics Opinions Requestor or
Subject
State Bar Bylaw Article IV is amended as follows:
Article IV Standing Committees
Section 3. Committee on Professional Ethics.
This committee shall formulate and recommend standards and methods
for the effective enforcement of high standards of ethics and conduct in
the practice of law; shall consider the "Rules of Professional Conduct
for Attorneys" as adopted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the
observance thereof, and shall make recommendations for appropriate
amendments thereto. The committee shall have authority to express
opinions regarding proper professional conduct, upon written request of
any member or officer of the State Bar. However, the committee shall not
issue opinions as to the propriety of past or present conduct of
specific member attorneys unless requested to do so by a grievance
committee of the State Bar or by the Board of Governors of the State
Bar. In those latter instances of requests relating to a specific
member, they shall be treated as confidential and shall not be open to
public inspection. In such cases, the opinion of the committee shall not
disclose the names of any parties, but such opinion shall be open for
inspection in the same manner as other opinions of the committee.
Unless waived by the requestor or subject, the identities of all
requestors of past and current opinions or advice shall be confidential
and information relating thereto shall also remain confidential. Members
of the committee or designees who provide ethics advice to member
attorneys shall be subject to this requirement of
confidentiality.