Board creates Ethics 2000
review committee, votes on multijurisdictional practice petition, among
other actions
At its final 2005 - 06 meeting in May,
the Board of Governors created a committee that will provide feedback to
the Wisconsin Supreme Court on the proposed changes to SCR Chapter 20,
Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys, and failed to get the
supermajority vote needed to support a multijurisdictional practice
petition to revise the rules for out-of-state lawyers practicing pro hac
vice in Wisconsin, among other actions.
Rules of Professional Conduct for
Attorneys. The board approved creating an Ethics 2000 Review
Committee to respond to the Wisconsin Supreme Court's draft
revisions to SCR Chapter 20. The court anticipates its revisions will be
available by June 1, at which time interested parties will be invited to
submit written comments by Aug. 1.
President D. Michael Guerin appointed
the review committee, which will solicit member feedback and make
recommendations to the board at its July 21 meeting. The Bar will share
that feedback with the court by the Aug. 1 deadline.
The court will reconvene in September to
consider final language changes, issue its final order, and determine
whether the new rules will become effective on Jan. 1 or July 1 of
2007.
Review committee members include Dean
Dietrich, Wausau, chair; Joseph Cardamone III, Salem; Grant Langley,
Milwaukee; Dan Shneidman, Milwaukee; Bob Swain, Appleton; and State Bar
Ethics Counsel Tim Pierce, Madison.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court created the
Ethics 2000 Committee, in February 2003, to study the ABA's
proposed changes to the model rules. The committee's report and
petition, filed July 29, 2004, is the most comprehensive proposal for
changes to SCR Chapter 20 since the mid-1980s. For more information,
visit www.wisbar.org/ethics2000.
Multijurisdictional practice. The
board voted 24 - 18 but failed by one vote to get the supermajority vote
necessary to pass the Multijurisdictional Practice Working Group's
petition to revise SCR 20:5.5 and SCR 20:8.5 of the Rules of
Professional Conduct for Attorneys.
The proposed rules provide that when
out-of-state lawyers practice permissibly in Wisconsin they are subject
to the authority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the OLR and as such
can be disciplined by Wisconsin. Some governors expressed concern that
the proposed rules will make it too difficult for out-of-state lawyers
to practice in Wisconsin.
Keller dues
reduction. The board set the fiscal year (FY) 07, July 1, 2006
-
June 30, 2007, Keller dues at $5 per member, under the standard
set in SCR 10.03(5). Under Keller, the State Bar cannot use
compulsory dues of objecting members for political or ideological
activities that are not reasonably related to regulating the legal
profession or improving the quality of legal service.
Other actions. The board approved
the Nomination Committee's recommendation to appoint
Margaret Wrenn Hickey, Milwaukee, to
serve as FY 07 board chair. The chair, serves as an executive committee
ex officio member, presides at board meetings, and is a board
member-at-large. The chair's term begins July 1.
Eleven board members
submitted their names to serve on the FY 07 Executive Committee. Those
elected by the board include: Grant Birtch, Neenah;
Joe Cardamone III, Salem; Gwendolyn
Connolly, Milwaukee;
Bill Domina, Milwaukee; Ken Knudson,
Superior; and
Gretchen Viney, Baraboo. Other members serving on the
committee will include:
President Steve Levine, Madison, President-elect Thomas Basting,
Madison, immediate Past President Guerin, Milwaukee, and one
representative each from the Nonresident, Government, Young, and Senior
lawyers divisions. Their terms begin July 1.
The Executive Committee has all the
powers and is authorized to perform all the Board of Governors'
duties between board meetings, except the Executive Committee may not
amend the bylaws, make rules or regulations governing nominations or
elections, prescribe regulations for proceedings before grievance
committees, or initiate the taking of any referendum or poll of
association members.
Robert Dean, Milwaukee, John
P. Macy, Waukesha, and Michael Rosenberg,
Milwaukee were
elected to the ABA House of Delegates. Their terms begin at the close of
the 2006 ABA Annual Meeting in August.
The board discussed appointees to the
Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation (WisTAF) board. The Wisconsin Supreme
Court created WisTAF in 1986 to receive and make grants of IOLTA funds
to provide legal aid to the poor. The board agreed that it would like to
meet the candidates for appointment at its July 21 meeting, which will
give the board the opportunity to talk with them about funding issues,
and gain a better understanding of how and which organizations receive
funding.
In his
final president's report Guerin told the board that in
April he appointed a task force to study issues related to the
Wisconsin Supreme Court's order, effective March 18, 2005, to
collect $50 annually from all active-licensed attorneys to provide
funding for civil legal services for people who cannot afford an
attorney. The State Bar collects the $50-supreme court assessment on its
dues statement and pays it to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation
(WisTAF) via the Public Interest Legal Services Fund. Find out more
about the task
force.
The board unanimously supported
cosponsoring a resolution
from
the ABA Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession.
The resolution encourages the ABA to work with other legal groups to
improve diversity in the legal profession through increased educational
opportunities and awareness.
The board unanimously approved the FY 07
annual State Bar budget.
The minutes will be posted on WisBar
after approval at the July 21 board meeting.
