Inside the Bar

The Importance of Being President

by George C. Brown,
State Bar executive director

DURING NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN THE CHICAGO of my youth, so the story goes, Mayor Richard Daley's political machinery kicked its get-out-the-vote campaign into gear with the enthusiastic (though possibly apocryphal) slogan, "Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Democrat." During the 1960 presidential campaign, that slogan was further refined to "Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Kennedy."

Mayor Daley, it is presumed, played a central role in moving Illinois into the win column for the young senator from Massachusetts, resulting in 1960 being the closest election in recent history. Until, of course, last year's presidential contest.

When all the dust settles, and all the books and Ph.D. dissertations are written, one thing will remain clear. If 537 Florida voters had not voted for President Bush, he would not be in the White House - this out of the millions of ballots in Florida and across the nation.

Close elections are not isolated to presidential races. Every election, recounts are held in Wisconsin for one seat or another. We've even experienced close races in State Bar elections. In a president-elect race some years ago, one candidate won by fewer than 20 votes out of more than 5,500 cast by members across the country.

All of this is simply saying that your vote counts in State Bar elections. The people you elect have extraordinary authority and responsibility for decisions that affect the development of the association and the profession. Think about some of the State Bar creations that have an impact on your professional life. The Equal Justice Coalition, which raises millions of dollars from citizens, businesses, and lawyers and law firms to help fund legal services to the poor, was created by a State Bar president and your Board of Governors. The Wisconsin Lawyer Mutual Insurance Corporation that provides certainty in a sometimes-uncertain professional liability insurance world, has the same heritage. So does the State Bar relationship with LOIS for computerized legal research and the existence of the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, which has distributed more than $10 million across Wisconsin for civil legal services and public education about the law. Today, the Resolution in Response to the Seize the Future Conference that is being discussed by the board and among lawyers throughout Wisconsin comes from the same roots.

The people you elect to office are making decisions that affect your professional life. This is important work that they take seriously. Soon, President-elect Gerry Mowris will begin to formulate the work of his year as president by making committee appointments for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

On April 13, the State Bar will mail the ballots for president-elect, treasurer, and judicial council, and for your governor if a seat is up for election in your district. You'll find information about the candidates in the March Inside the Bar, online at www.wisbar.org, and in a mailbox near you. When your ballot arrives, take the time to vote. After all, it's your profession and your association. Your vote counts.

Wisconsin Lawyer