President's Perspective: Be All You Can Be

By Steven R. Sorenson

"Be all you can be, Steve." I found this message on my desk last month. I still do not know who put it there, but what a wonderful challenge. It is what I tried to do this past year.

In my inaugural address I asked you, the members of the State Bar, to turn inward. I challenged myself, the leadership of the Bar, and all its members to recognize the importance of helping lawyers maneuver through the maze that is now the legal profession. We needed to communicate both up and down the pathway between leadership and membership. We needed to prioritize the Bar's actions and activities. We needed to identify a mission and vision for the Bar and allocate our finite resources to meet them.

Throughout the year, I have used this column to challenge. My constant theme recognizes the unique role that a lawyer plays in society. To be all that we can be as lawyers, we must understand ourselves, our profession, and our communities. The course we have laid this past year was done by establishing benchmarks, not only for ourselves but for our profession and our communities.

First there was "Project Vision ­ A Step Into the Future," through which we identified the State Bar's mission and vision. Project Vision was a grassroots effort involving more than 2,000 volunteers from as far away as Washington, D.C., and Washington Island. Every lawyer, every legal constituent, every entity within the Bar added to the mix. Although the project is not yet complete, we have established the course, the benchmarks, and the process for the future.

Strategic planning also has taken place within the Board of Governors. My initial effort to bring the presidents of the Young Lawyers, Government Lawyers, and Nonresident Lawyers divisions into the Executive Committee started a new trend of openness in the administration of the State Bar governors. The board's Strategic Planning Committee will present its final recommendations to the governors this month. The result will clarify the duties of the executive director, president, officers, Executive and Finance committees, and the board itself. Clearer responsibilities and roles will be blended with a new level of participation and openness. The key to the entire process is communication to the membership and from the membership to the governing bodies. The new open communication strategies should help the board be more reflective of members' needs. The board's Strategic Planning Committee and chair Tom Hornig can be commended on their work.

Our second challenge was to reach out to the State Bar's sections to reinvigorate the role of the Section Leaders Advisory Council. This was done. The section leaders now meet regularly to discuss State Bar issues and share their perspectives with the Bar's Board of Governors and officers. The section leaders also completed a specific plan for the future development of sections. The group now has a mission and vision of their role in the State Bar.

Innovation and technology have become the watch words of the CLE departments. Under the leadership of Paul Swanson, the CLE Committee has taken an extremely active role this past year in developing programs that will improve access to the State Bar's educational materials. Soon they will bring live CLE seminars to lawyers' desktops. The first interactive video program was demonstrated successfully at the Midwinter Convention. Modifications are being made to the program and new dollars are being committed to technological advancement. The concept of CLE on demand, and the technologies it requires, is being incorporated into the new State Bar Center and the department's long-range strategic plan. This, combined with our expanding Web site, continues to keep the State Bar of Wisconsin at the cutting edge.

Technology and government can advance projects but also can bring them to a stop. The idea of a centralized Wisconsin Legal Information Network has become mired in the conflicting goals of various private and public agencies. The goal of consolidating all legal information into one centralized service is still an aspiration. Work needs to be done on the mechanics and more consideration has to be given to the intellectual property issues surrounding the final product. Still, it is a realistic goal, and it is an essential aspect of the partnering we need to develop between our law schools, court system, governmental units, and the State Bar. The day must come when every public and school library, courthouse resource center, and law office computer can access all legal resources within Wisconsin, no matter where they are located, at little or no cost.

Efficiency and openness also was the theme behind the year-long process of restructuring the State Bar budget. Under the excellent leadership of John Macy, a new strategic plan has been developed for finance within the State Bar. The fiscal year 1999 budgetary process brought with it a new spirit of openness and participation. The regular breakfast finance sessions, the lengthy budgetary document presentation, the advance date of introduction of budgets, the participation of committees and staff liaisons, and the personal involvement of every Finance Committee member have given the State Bar a truly representative budget. The process has a three-year impact, establishing financial policy for the years 1999-2001. The final implementation process for this rolling budget will not be completed until next year, but the ground work is done and success is imminent.

The other major theme of this past year was "outreach." As I told the staff during my first week as president, they needed to find new shoes and new tires because they were going out to meet the membership. Miles logged by the staff in outreach programs this past year is unparalleled. Two regional conferences were held taking the State Bar and its staff out of Madison to the more remote areas of the state.

The first regional conference last November in Hudson demonstrated that effective partnering can be done between a local bar association, the State Bar, and a Nonresident Lawyers Division chapter, which in this case was from Minneapolis-St. Paul. The combined efforts of these groups and the willingness of local attorney volunteers provided dynamic educational and informational programs. Using the theme of the political intrigue surrounding cranberry marshes, a repeat performance of the successful regional conference was held last February in Wisconsin Rapids. Again, through the efforts of outreach by the State Bar staff, the State Bar volunteer leadership, and the local bar association, a successful educational and informational program was held.

Perhaps the greatest outreach effort this past year was the Midwest Regional Small Firm Success Conference held in La Crosse in late April. They said it couldn't be done; they said the resources were insufficient; they said that Midwest state bar associations would never come together, and yet we did it in La Crosse. This program, which was spearheaded by Kris Karrmann, the Solo and Small Firm Committee chair from Platteville, and Laura Adell from the State Bar staff, was the most rewarding experience of my presidency. The ability to provide an educational and networking opportunity at a reasonable cost to lawyers throughout the Midwest, who otherwise never have the chance to participate, is something of which I am very proud. We, the State Bar of Wisconsin, can congratulate ourselves on this program. The State Bar Association of Iowa plans to repeat the program next year. Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ohio will soon follow.

I have been told by many people that the greatest accomplishment of my presidency will be the acquisition of a new facility. While I am proud of the work done by the Facilities Committee and look forward to seeing the completion of the project, it is not the principal legacy I wish to leave.

The legacy I am most proud of is found in the text of the President's Perspectives of the past year. It is the commitment by volunteers and staff to assist lawyers, the renewed desire by lawyers to improve their profession, the promise of lawyers to serve their communities, and the realization by lawyers of the need to balance their lives. This legacy not only is in the words on the printed page but also in the actions of lawyers. I have witnessed this commitment during the many Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP) meetings I've attended this year; I have heard the message voiced by the hundreds of lawyers I've met; I have participated in numerous national conferences on the status of the legal profession ­ and the one thing that remains constant is the realization that lawyers are real people and they do care.

As I move forward in my career, I leave with you a message of caring. As I said from the very first day of my campaign, this presidency is a presidency founded upon a "spirit of service." You, the individual lawyers of the State Bar of Wisconsin, your successes professionally, in your communities, and at home, are important to me. If your life has improved a bit, if you have found help through State Bar resources, if you have recognized the need to balance career and family, if you have recognized that you are not alone, then the year has been a success. It has been a success not because of what I have done but because of what we have done. It took the hard work of a loyal staff, the commitment of the Board of Governors, the dedication of committee chairs, the involvement of section leaders, the devotion of division presidents, and the unending efforts of all of the other entities of the Bar. Together we have and we can continue to make a difference for ourselves, our families, our profession, and our communities. So, "be all you can be," and thank you for giving me the opportunity to carry out my "spirit of service."

Wisconsin Lawyer