WisBar News
September 16, 2004
Bar seeks feedback on WisTAF petition
On June 2, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation (WisTAF) filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court seeking mandatory payment of $50 per attorney to WisTAF to provide funding for civil legal services for people who cannot afford an attorney. The State Bar seeks member feedback on the petition.
Bar seeks feedback on WisTAF petition
September 16, 2004
On June 2, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation
(WisTAF) filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court seeking
mandatory payment of $50 per attorney to WisTAF to provide funding for
civil legal services for people who cannot afford an attorney. The State
Bar seeks member feedback on the petition. The court has scheduled a
hearing for Jan. 12 at 9:30 a.m.
The supreme court set up WisTAF in 1986 to manage and
grant the monies generated by the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts
(IOLTA), which is the only state mandated program to raise dollars to
meet the need for legal services for low-income persons.
State Bar President Michelle Behnke appointed a committee to study the
WisTAF petition earlier this month. The committee will consider the
effects of such an assessment on Bar membership, alternatives to funding
civil legal services, ways to seek public participation in funding for
civil legal services, and other issues raised by imposition of an
assessment that is exclusive to lawyers. The committee will present its
findings to the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors
Members should send their comments to the
State Bar.
