Board Actions
The following State Bar Board of Governors' actions were taken at the
Jan. 21 meeting in Milwaukee.
The board agreed to prepare and file its own amicus brief in the U.S.
Supreme Court in support of Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA)
programs. The board declined to sign the amicus brief in Washington
Legal Foundation v. Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, the Texas
case supporting the constitutionality of IOLTA programs, because it
neither fit the Wisconsin experience nor reflected Wisconsin facts. That
amicus brief has been signed by at least 72 other organizations,
including bar associations and IOLTA groups, and will be filed in the
Fifth Circuit. The board may reconsider joining the Texas amicus brief
at some later point.
FUNDED Project Vision, the Bar's vehicle for
strategic and long-range planning of Bar programs and operations.
CREATED the Public Interest Law Committee to be in
effect until June 30, 1998, while section status is explored. The
committee will study issues on representation of the poor and the
underrepresented, and will establish links to other sections but will
not duplicate their efforts. The open-enrollment committee is funded
with $2,000 from the general fund.
VOTED to petition the supreme court to amend the
trust account rule that prohibits commingling of attorney and client
funds in a trust account, except for enough funds from the attorney to
pay bank fees. The petition seeks to permit lawyers to put enough of
their own money in trust accounts to avoid service charges. The
Professional Ethics Committee will have an opportunity to comment on the
amendment.
SET the Keller membership dues reduction for
nonchargeable legislative expenses, based upon historical activity, at
$8.40 per member for FY 1998.
APPOINTED Robert Hagness of Mondovi to serve the
remainder of District 5 governor Bill Dyke's term on the Board of
Governors. Dyke resigned from the board due to his appointment as Iowa
County circuit judge.
ACCEPTED and placed on file the report of the
Program Committee, which annually reviews the operation of one-third of
the Bar's entities. The Board agreed to sunset the Joint Bar and
Realtorsr Committee. If there is an issue in the future, a special
committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section can
respond.
Note: To have a matter placed on the advance
agenda for the April 4-5 board meeting in Eau Claire, please notify
Stephen L. Smay at the State Bar Center and submit appropriate materials
at least two weeks before the meeting.
Wisconsin Lawyer
