Nov. 24, 2010 – The State Bar of Wisconsin is hosting a full-day, 6.5-credit Continuing Legal Education seminar on Legislative History and Intent: Fact or Fiction? on Dec. 10.
When an act of the Legislature is not drafted with the most precise language, or when seemingly clear language has unintended interpretations, courts look to other resources to determine intent. Unfortunately, the legislative process in Wisconsin is not geared toward documenting intent:
There is no verbatim record of floor debates
There are no formal reports of standing committees indicating the reasons why legislation should be enacted
There are no transcripts of committee proceedings
Tap the expertise of specialized sources
Without those resources, documentation of legislative intent must rely on other means. At this seminar, you’ll uncover the resources available to you from the following sources:
Understand how to argue intent
Experienced appellate attorneys and a judge will share their insights on how to effectively argue legislative intent when a statute could be interpreted in more than one fashion.
Watch for “creative” intent
You’ll also learn to discern whether evidence of legislative intent is being created by proponents of a bill, trying to persuade a court to accomplish what they failed to do in the Legislature when passing the bill.
Declare your intention
Become more adept at finding out how and why a law came to be, and how to argue legislative intent in your client’s favor.
Seminar speakers include:
G. Michael Halfenger, Foley & Lardner LLP
Terry C. Anderson, Wisconsin Legislative Council
Bob Lang, Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau
Stephen R. Miller, Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau
Janice L. Mueller, Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau
Atty. Jefren E. Olsen, State Public Defenders Office - Appellate
Hon. Gary E. Sherman, Wisconsin Court of Appeals District IV
- Connie Von Der Heide, State Law Library
Who should attend:
Sign up for this seminar and learn about legislative resources for lawyers, where to look for clues to legislative intent, and how to argue legislative intent.
Register for either the live seminar in Madison, the Dec. 10 live webcast or the Dec. 21 webcast replay.
Rotunda Report is the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Government Relations e-newsletter that highlights legislative, judicial, and administrative developments that impact the legal profession and the justice system. It is published twice a month and is distributed free to attorneys, public officials and others who help shape public policy in Wisconsin. We invite your suggestions to make the Rotunda Report more informative and useful and we encourage you to visit our Web site for the most current information about justice-related issues.
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