![Legal News & Trends](/wislawmag/grafix/lnandt.gif)
Expand Your Practice: Seminar offers federal appellate training
Would you like to expand your practice to handle criminal
appeals in the Seventh Circuit, but lack experience? On May
24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit will host
a day-long seminar designed for attorneys with limited or no
federal appellate experience who wish to handle criminal appeals
in the Seventh Circuit by appointment.
In the morning, experienced appellate practitioners and Seventh
Circuit judges will cover the basics of handling a criminal appeal.
In the afternoon, attendees will assemble in small groups.
Each group, led by an experienced criminal appellate attorney,
will review the record in a criminal case and learn how to construct
a brief. Hon. Prentice Marshall will conclude the program with
a talk on the legacy of attorneys representing indigent defendants
in criminal cases. A reception for attendees and presenters
will follow.
This free seminar will be held on Wednesday, May 24, at The
John Marshall Law School in Chicago. To register, or for more
information, contact Donald
J. Wall, counsel to the circuit executive, U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, at (312) 435-5805.
Exploring the need for - and role of - interpreters
in court
The challenges presented by an increasing need for courtroom
interpreters in Wisconsin has led Director of State Courts J.
Denis Moran to form the Committee to Improve Interpreting and
Translation in the Wisconsin Courts.
Figuratively Speaking
Lawyers are 3.6 more times likely to experience Major Depressive
Disorder compared to nonlawyers of the same socio-economic group,
according to a Johns Hopkins study of 104 occupations.
Source:
Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 4 |
According to Moran, the committee is charged with recommending
policies and practices that will promote equal court access to
people from all language backgrounds.
"The committee will discuss what law and language training
should be provided for court interpreters, whether interpreters
should be screened or tested before serving in court, and whether
interpreters should be subject to a code of ethics.
"It also will examine how to finance court interpreters'
services, what new technology might be cost effective, and how
courts in other states approach interpreting. The committee
also will investigate possible training for judges, court staff,
and attorneys," said Moran.
The committee's first report, which Moran will receive
by October, will recommend court priorities, suggest statute
and rule changes, and propose items for the next biennial budget.
Hon. Elsa Lamelas, Milwaukee County circuit court, chairs the
committee.
Anyone interested or involved in this issue is encouraged
to provide input.
For more information, please contact Marcia
Vandercook, 110 E. Main St. #410, Madison, WI 53703; phone
(608) 267-7335; fax (608) 267-0911.
Racine County Bar reinstates call of the calendar
Attorneys who have practiced in Wisconsin for more than 25
years may remember the traditional call of the calendar. Under
former section 270.12 (9), Wis. Stats., a presiding judge could
hold an annual call of the calendar, where lawyers who practiced
before that court would assemble and give the status of their
cases.
In Racine County, the call of the calendar was followed by
a memorial to all local attorneys who had passed away since the
previous call, with a friend or colleague paying tribute to each
one. The court reporter entered the memorials into the record,
retaining the tributes for posterity. Unfortunately, this practice
disappeared along with the call of the calendar in the early
'70s.
The Racine County Bar Association recently revived the tradition
- at least the memorial service. Each September association
members gather at the Racine County Courthouse to pay their respects
to those Racine attorneys who passed away in the previous year.
As before, friends and colleagues read tributes to the professional
and personal accomplishments of the deceased.
After the memorial service, any new members of the association
are then sworn in. They also sign the association's registration
book, which dates back approximately 150 years.
Conference focuses on Midwest women attorneys
At the 1995 annual meeting of the American Bar Association
(ABA), a group of women attorneys from the Midwest met and discussed
their practices and lives. That discussion led to the idea of
a Midwest Regional Conference for Women in the Law. The first
biennial conference was held in Milwaukee in 1996; the second,
in Kansas City in 1998.
This year's conference will be held April 27 and 28 in
Indianapolis. The conference will address challenges faced by
women attorneys over the past century and will identify leadership
roles available to women in the future. Three main conference
sessions will offer insights on the global status of women, views
from the bench, and women's health issues. Other breakout
sessions will focus on starting a firm, family and work conflicts,
courtroom ethics and civility, trial skills, technology, and
the media's effect on the image of women in the law.
Featured speakers include Louise Raggio, a Texas attorney
and family law pioneer; Leslye Obiora, a gender-and-the-law specialist
at the World Bank Africa Project; Laurel Bellows, former chair
of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession; George Edwards,
director of the International Human Rights Law Program at Indiana
University; Betty Barteau, mission chief for the Russian Judicial
Project; and Joan Williams, author of Unbending Gender -
Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It.
The cost of the conference is $250; nonlawyers pay $125. For
more information, or to register, call (800) 428-4337, ext. 2301.
Ethics Pointers: Charging a percentage fee is prohibited
in probate matters
In the last six months, the Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility (BAPR) has seen several violations of Wis. Stat.
section
851.40(2)(e), which prohibits the charging of percentage
fees in probate matters. SCR
20:8.4(f) provides that it is professional misconduct for
a lawyer to violate a statute, supreme court rule, supreme court
order, or supreme court decision regulating the conduct of lawyers.
Attorneys who charge a percentage of an estate's value
as their fee to probate that estate are in violation of the statute
and supreme court rule. Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Sylvan, 202 Wis. 2d 123, 548 N.W.2d
447 (1996).
![On the Web...](/wislawmag/grafix/ontheweb.gif)
Legal Action's Web site provides directory of services,
opportunities for involvement
Since 1967 Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. has provided legal
representation for Wisconsin's low-income residents. The
organization's Web
site explains the services Legal Action offices provide,
including public benefits/health, family, housing, education,
and elder law. The site also provides information on the income
requirements necessary to qualify for assistance through Legal
Action.
Volunteer opportunities through Legal Action's Volunteer
Lawyers Project (VLP) also are presented on the site. Each year,
VLP attorneys donate more than 3,000 hours of legal work on projects
like Pro Bono panels, the Domestic Violence Injunction Project,
Legal Services intake panels, the SeniorLAW Clinic, and the Consumer
Advocacy & Bankruptcy Assistance Project.
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