Early Experiences Make for Lasting Impressions
Through his Life Planning Week initiative, State Bar President
Leonard Loeb hopes to inspire the general public to view attorneys in a
positive way - as he himself was inspired as a young child. Early
impressions of lawyers and the law influenced Loeb's career
choice.
By Dianne Molvig
Leonard Loeb's first impressions of
the law profession date back more than six decades, when he was about
six years old. His father, an immigrant who eventually started a scrap
yard business in Columbus, Wis., regularly sought legal help in running
his business. "I remember my dad had a tremendous respect for his
lawyer, a guy by the name of Cal Callahan," Loeb recalls. "I always
thought lawyers were 10 feet tall from the way my dad talked about
them."
That image stuck with Loeb all through his youth, plus he was
enchanted by stories he read about Abraham Lincoln's prowess as a
lawyer. By the time Loeb reached high school, he was certain he wanted
to pursue a law career. He graduated from the U.W. Law School and served
a stint of active duty with the Judge Advocates General Division of the
U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Then he returned to his home state
to take his first private practice job in the firm of Milwaukee attorney
Ray McCann, whom Loeb describes as "my foster father in the practice of
law." McCann also happened to be an old friend of Callahan, Loeb's
father's lawyer.
Life Planning Week
Now that he's State Bar president, one of Loeb's top priorities is to
inspire the general public to view attorneys in a positive way - not as
the superhumans they were in the eyes of a 6-year-old boy, but as
professionals garnering respect.
"Lawyers today don't have the greatest public image," he notes, "as a
result of newspaper articles, some sensational trials, some terrible
jokes, and maybe a little envy. Yet survey after survey shows that
although the public views lawyers as a group as a little less than
admirable, people will say, 'But my lawyer is a good lawyer and a good
individual.' But the vast majority of people do not have lawyers. They
only come across lawyers in the media. So I thought, in what way could
people meet and get to know an individual lawyer?"
Pondering that question led Loeb to develop one of the key
initiatives he'll enact during his tenure as president - an idea that
has evolved, through consultation with other attorneys and the State Bar
staff, into an event called Life Planning Week, to be publicized and
held in conjunction with Law Day in May 2000.
Why should we have the reputation of being
'hired guns,' as compared to being hired to be problem solvers? Our best
function is to solve problems. That's what we're best suited and
equipped to do." |
"I thought, what is it that every human being in Wisconsin over the
age of 18 should have that a lawyer can provide? The idea struck me:
Everyone over 18 should have a living will and a medical power of
attorney. And these should be done when it's not a crisis," Loeb
explains. Thus, during Life Planning Week, the State Bar, with help from
the State Medical Society, will educate citizens across the state about
preparing necessary documents. As Loeb sees it, this activity will serve
dual purposes. "It's a public service," he notes. "And it's a massive
effort to show lawyers in their best light."
Rules of Negotiation
Not only can the public's image of lawyers stand some polishing, but
relations among lawyers themselves could improve, Loeb says. Another of
his presidential initiatives will address one aspect of that issue, by
developing rules for negotiation. "Everybody has his or her own style of
negotiation," Loeb points out, "but there are no rules." He feels there
should be, just as there are rules of evidence, for instance, that apply
to trying a case. Rules for negotiation could help avert the games
lawyers sometimes play with each other, he contends.
"Unfortunately, a lot of lawyers don't want to negotiate," Loeb says.
"Some give ultimatums. They'll say they have to have an answer by 5 p.m.
on Friday or an offer will be withdrawn. Well, my nature doesn't do well
with ultimatums. So I'll say, 'Gee, can I have till 5:30?' An ultimatum
is the first sign of insecurity. Giving good lawyers ultimatums is
counterproductive."
Drawing up rules for negotiation could be a first step in eliminating
such counterproductive behaviors, Loeb believes. The rules would spell
out certain expectations. For example, "You don't sandbag," he says. "If
you present an offer, it has to be a solid offer. When you make a
recommendation, you have something to back it up; it isn't just an
exercise. Other rules could call for fair disclosures. That doesn't mean
you educate the opposition, but it means you're fair."
Not only could rules of negotiation enhance lawyers' relations with
one another, but they could help clients, too. "Why should we have the
reputation of being 'hired guns,'" Loeb asks, "as compared to being
hired to be problem solvers? Our best function is to solve problems.
That's what we're best suited and equipped to do."
Bar Leadership Education
Leonard Loeb enjoys spending time on his four
farm properties. "I have a tremendous fondness for the land," he says,
"and for the feeling of accomplishment of putting in a crop, or
harvesting, or baling hay. I can't do it all as well as I used to, and I
hire people to do the hard work. But I'm there supervising, lifting a
bale here and there. It's an important part of my
relaxation."
|
Yet another of Loeb's presidential initiatives stems from his many
years' experience in leadership positions in local, state, and national
bar organizations. Just a few of those out of a long list include
serving on the American Bar Association's Board of Governors, as a
member of the ABA House of Delegates, as chair of the ABA Legal
Assistance to Military Personnel Committee (after active duty with JAG,
he was in the reserves until 1976, when he retired as a colonel), and as
a founding president of two state chapters of the American Inns of
Court.
He remembers his early days on the ABA Board of Governors and House
of Delegates as being on-the-job training. "I didn't know where the
bones were buried for about three years," Loeb says. "It was well into
my second term before I understood the modus operandi." And while his
various prior experiences allowed him to hit the road running when he
became State Bar president-elect, he realizes not all Bar officers and
committee chairs have such advantages. "We have to educate our
leadership on how things can be accomplished," he says, which is why
leadership education will be the prime focus of his "leadership
orientation/training" presidential initiative.
"It's been my experience," Loeb adds, "all throughout my career, in
all the organizations I've worked with, that lawyers - if you can get
them to think positively and away from their turf - will find the best
solutions to the toughest problems. They're remarkably good people with
good solutions to problems. The challenge is to get them to think
positively and away from their turf." He's had a modicum of success in
doing that in the past in the national organizations he's been involved
in. Now he hopes to do the same close to home, in the State Bar of
Wisconsin.
Senior Lawyers Forum
Loeb also plans to call for creation of a new group for older Bar
members, in the form of a Bar division, section, or forum aimed
specifically at senior lawyers. The idea is to "provide them the means
to give back" to the profession, Loeb explains. "Most all of them want
to give back. They need a vehicle to do that." He envisions senior
lawyers involved in such activities as assisting in dispute resolution,
handling pro bono work, and mentoring younger lawyers.
As for Loeb himself, the desire to give back was a chief motivation
behind seeking the State Bar presidency. He feels professionals have an
obligation to "pass back whatever talent we have," he says. "And the
truth of the matter is, there is a great deal of psychic income in doing
that."
Looking at Loeb's long list of involvement in professional activities
in his 47-year law career, some might suggest he's already done his
share. In fact, some may even wonder why, after years of leadership
positions at the national level, he'd even want to serve as State Bar
president, especially at a stage of his life when many lawyers want only
to kick back, scale down, and bask in the memories of a well-spent
career.
Not so for Loeb. Besides his desire to give back, another factor that
led him to run for president-elect last year was to be able to follow in
the footsteps of Susan Steingass. "Knowing her capabilities, I was
encouraged to run to succeed her, because I knew she would set a good
pace," Loeb says. Earlier this year he looked toward his two possible
successors, Gary Bakke (who was later elected) and Kathleen Grant. "I
knew who would be the winner of that election," he says, "and that would
be the State Bar of Wisconsin, because either candidate would have been
great. So I feel I'm in a good 'sandwich' position: a good person ahead
of me, and a good person behind me."
He also was inspired to run, he says, because of his high regard for
the State Bar staff. In his ABA activities, he's had dealings with
nearly all 50 state bars, "and Wisconsin has, as far as I'm concerned,
the best professional staff in the country," Loeb says. "There may be
others as good, but nobody is better. If we didn't have that talent, I
don't know that I would have run."
When he's not wrapped up in presidential duties or his family law
practice, Loeb hopes to continue to do what he's done for years: spend a
lot of time on his four farm properties, one each near Lodi, Sullivan,
Juneau, and Oconomowoc. "I have a tremendous fondness for the land," he
says, "and for the feeling of accomplishment of putting in a crop, or
harvesting, or baling hay. I can't do it all as well as I used to, and I
hire people to do the hard work. But I'm there supervising, lifting a
bale here and there. It's an important part of my relaxation."
Other sources of relaxation include travel and something else he's
sure to get plenty of during his year as president. "I like being with
people," Loeb says. "People are my best form of relaxation."
Dianne Molvig operates Access
Information Service, a Madison research, writing, and editing service.
She is a frequent contributor to area publications.
Wisconsin
Lawyer