Basic Administration
Staff liaisons
Each State Bar section is assigned a staff liaison to facilitate its activities. The staff liaison is Megan Kenney. Please call her whenever you have a question about your section or the State Bar. She is familiar with the activities of all sections.
At the request of the section chair, specific staff liaison duties may include:
- Schedule meeting rooms, including arrangements for catering
- Coordinate mailing of all meeting notices, minutes and other materials
- Work with section chair to prepare agendas
- Attend section board meetings
- Coordinate section reports to the Board of Governors
- Provide information to section from Board of Governors, other sections, committees or sources that may be relevant to the section's work
- Advise sections about relevant policies and administrative deadlines
- Assist section chair in preparing budgets
- Inform sections about finances
- Explain expense reimbursement rules and procedures
Administrative support
Administrative support provided by the State Bar staff includes:
- Board and committee meeting planning and coordination
- Tabulation of section election results
- Financial accounting for section activities, including dues processing
- Posting of materials (received electronically, on disk or by email) to section's homepage on WisBar
- Coordination of section mailings (although sections will be billed for all printing, postage and other out-of-pocket expenses)
- Newsletter printing and mailing coordination (although sections will be billed for all printing and postage expenses)
- Basic legislative information
- Other incidental assistance such as budget planning, reports on State Bar programs, membership development, etc.
State Bar staff are here to help sections in every reasonable way and sections should expect to pay for staff time for services defined as "non-discretionary". These include:
- Assist and coordinate non-convention CLE and workshops
- Special Projects
- Coordinate and administer section public service programs
- Marketing assistance
- Membership development and marketing planning
- Web page development and design
Additionally, the State Bar will not provide staff to write minutes, reports or section newsletters.
Section Leaders Council
The Section Leaders Council advises the Board of Governors about policies, procedures and programs that affect State Bar sections. See Section Leaders Calendar for meeting dates.
The chairperson of each section designates two representatives from the section board to serve on the Council. If one of the designated representatives cannot attend a Council meeting, another section board member may attend instead.
Law student liaisons
Each fall, the placement offices at the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University law schools provide names of law students who are interested in serving as liaisons to State Bar section boards. Law student liaisons serve one year terms as non-voting board members, and receive meeting notices and minutes. The purposes of the liaison program are to provide law students with practical experience in bar workings, to help sections stay in touch with the interests of new attorneys, and to help develop future bar and section leaders.
Newsletter Editor Resources
Information to help you with producing a newsletter for your section is available here.
Section mailings
State Bar staff will assist you in sending out mailings to members of your section. In order to make sure that your mailing gets out in a timely fashion, please provide copy two weeks before the mailing date.
The costs of section mailings are billed to the section.
For mass emailing, the same timeline will be used because a report will have to be generated if not using a listserv for dissemination. If a listserv is used, posting can be done immediately.
Section mailing labels and lists
Mailing lists and demographic information for members of your section are available from the Bar Center. Call your staff liaison to request these materials.
From time to time, you may wish to provide mailing labels for your sections to other groups, such as a student group putting on a symposium in a specific area of law. The State Bar charges all groups for mailing lists of members.
Publications, CLE Seminars and speaker referrals
Section chairs are sometimes asked to identify members who are willing to review substantive law articles submitted for publication in the Wisconsin Lawyer, review CLE Books or help select CLE Seminar speakers.
If your section anticipates developing a consumer publication, please refer to the Policy on Funding Non-CLE Publications in the section entitled "policies." The State Bar encourages you to discuss with Publications director Joyce Hastings and your staff liaison any publication projects early in the development process, so they can alert you to similar projects and provide you with budgeting, editing and production guidance.
Section chairpersons often work closely with the CLE Seminars Department in planning and producing CLE programs. The State Bar encourages you to discuss with CLE director Bill Connors and your staff liaison any potential CLE seminar programming early in the development process.
Address and phone number changes
Please notify State Bar customer service immediately of any changes in address, phone numbers or e-mail for section directors. This will eliminate misrouted mailings and phone calls.
Electronic mailing lists
An electronic mailing list, also commonly referred to as listserv or Internet mailing list, enables people with common interests to share information easily through email. Messages are sent just like email, except they go to all subscribers of the mail list instead of to just one recipient. List participants can respond to messages, creating two-way communication among members. Email lists are a cost-effective way to improve member communication and camaraderie. It's a great way for associations serving large geographic areas to quickly communicate a timely message to all members, remind people of upcoming meetings, distribute information traditionally done through print communication, and so on.
Section finances
Section dues and accounts
Section activities are financed by section dues. The dues amounts are set by the section boards in the spring of each year, and are collected with State Bar dues. The State Bar accounting department maintains accounts for each section, to which dues are credited and from which section expenses are paid. Sections are charged for all direct expenses incurred, including the cost of section letterhead, member mailings, newsletters, meetings and travel reimbursement for directors.
Administrative fees
All sections pay an administrative fee of $18 per member for administrative support provided by State Bar staff. (See Administrative Support for more detail.) So, if your section charges dues of $25, your section account will get $7 per member, and $18 per member will go to the State Bar general fund.
Lobbying fees
Sections may also elect to become "lobbying" sections by paying an additional fee of $8.50 per member. Lobbying sections are eligible to receive legislative support from the State Bar staff lobbyists. So, if your section charges dues of $30 and elects to be a lobbying section, $3.50 goes to your section account, and $26.50 goes to the general fund ($18 for administrative support, and $8.50 for legislative support).
Another option is "lobby lite" with reduced legislative support, by paying an additional fee of $2.75 per member.
Annual budgets
Each fall, the Board of Governors requires sections to develop an annual budget for the coming fiscal year, which must be approved as part of the State Bar budget. Sections are also encouraged to draft long-range budget plans for the next two years if they plan to carry forward funds from one fiscal year into the next. Sections may not budget for an end-of-year deficit.
Additionally, any end-of-year section fund balance (or carry forward into the next fiscal year) must be approved by the Board of Governors if the balance is greater than:
- $25,000,
- the amount of dues revenue collected in the current fiscal year, or
- the amount contained in the section's long-range plan, approved by the section and the Board of Governors.
Please note that section fund balances do not earn interest.
After the section budgets are approved by the Board of Governors as part of the State Bar budget, the section is free to make expenditures in accordance with the approved budget.
Financial reports
A monthly financial report is sent to the chairperson and treasurer of each section. If you would like the report sent to other members of your section board, please notify your staff liaison.
The monthly financial report includes an income statement which shows your section's revenues, expenses and funds remaining. The report also includes a detailed trial balance for the month which lists all transactions. You should check these transactions to make sure they have all been properly charged or credited to your account.
Section requests for general fund support
Generally speaking, section activities are funded by section dues, not by State Bar general funds. However, sections can request general fund support for special projects.
To make such a request, please contact your staff liaison.
Section meetings
Scheduling Meetings
To schedule a meeting, call, write, or email your staff liaison with the desired date, time, location and refreshment needs. State Bar staff will arrange for the meeting space and refreshments, distribute meeting notices, and tabulate attendance reply cards. The State Bar is required to pay the catering bills, if any, from the section's budget.
Meeting space is available at the State Bar Center at no charge during normal business hours. The State Bar will provide coffee and soft drinks; your section will have to pay for any other meals or refreshments.
Please note that meeting space at the State Bar Center is assigned on a first come, first served basis. However, in the event a State Bar entity requests meeting space, all efforts will be made to grant the request without any major inconveniences to others. Please plan your meetings early.
When scheduling meetings, please keep in mind the following holidays and other dates when members may not be available for meetings.
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Rosh Hashanah *
- Yom Kippur *
- Columbus Day
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Hanukkah *
- Christmas Eve
- Christmas Day
- New Years Eve
- New Years Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Ash Wednesday
- President's Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Sunday
- Passover *
- Memorial Day Observed
* All Jewish holidays start at sundown on the day before they are listed above.
Meeting minutes
Minutes should be taken of each meeting. The minutes should include:
- The name of the committee, subcommittee, etc
- Place, date and time of meeting
- Name of the presiding officer and attendees
- Statements regarding details of the meeting and the time of adjournment
- The name of the person submitting the minutes
Minutes should be brief. If discussion is lengthy, a summary of the key points is satisfactory. When motions are presented, the minutes should report the exact wording of the motions. Any action taken by the body - even when motions are defeated - should be recorded. If a ballot or hand vote is taken, the tally should be recorded.
Distributing minutes
As with any section mailing, your staff liaison will arrange to have your minutes distributed. The State Bar will send copies to every director on your board, the liaisons to the Board of Governors and the law schools, and a copy of the minutes will be placed in your section's permanent file.
Legislative activity
All issues pertaining to legislative activity are to be directed to your section's lobbyist or another State Bar government relations staff member.
Section elections
The bylaws of each section determine the timetable and process required for elections of directors and officers. Please refer to your section's bylaws on your section's webpage for the appropriate timetable for your section.
Recruiting section directors
You may choose to recruit candidates for section officers and directors by publishing a request for candidates in the Wisconsin Lawyer or the State Bar Newsletter. Make sure you submit such notices in plenty of time, usually a month in advance.
Section election process
After a slate has been developed, State Bar staff coordinate production, mailing and tabulating of section ballots. If you so choose, State Bar staff will also inform the candidates of election results.
If you wish to include brief biographical sketches of the candidates, please ask the candidates to use the fillable form. Sketches will be reproduced as submitted and mailed with the ballots.
Notifying the candidates
Please make sure that someone is given the responsibility of notifying director and/or officer candidates of election results. If you would like assistance with this task, please contact your section staff liaison.
Officer elections
Some sections elect officers by a ballot of the membership; some elect officers by a vote of the section directors. Please see your section bylaws for more information.
Section rules
Sections are governed by Article VI: Section Organization and Activities of the State Bar bylaws.
Each section has its own set of bylaws. Your liaison can provide you with a copy.
State Bar governance
The Board of Governors
The Board of Governors manages and directs the affairs of the State Bar of Wisconsin. There are 52 members on the Board of Governors, including the association's five officers and the immediate past president. Thirty-five members are elected from the l6 State Bar districts. Each is a single-member district except for Milwaukee County, which has 12 members, Dane County which has seven members, and Waukesha County which has three members. In addition, the Supreme Court appoints three nonlawyer members to the board, and the Government Lawyers Division, Young Lawyers Division, and Senior Lawyers Division each select one member, while the Nonresident Lawyers Division selects five members to sit on the board. There are also four Building Bridges Liaisons appointed to the Board of Governors. See SCR 10.05; Article III, State Bar Bylaws.
The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee consists of the president, president-elect, the immediate past president, the chairperson of the Board of Governors, one representative each from the Nonresident Lawyers Division, Government Lawyers Division, Young Lawyers Division, and Senior Lawyers Division selected from their Board of Governors representatives and six additional members elected annually by the Board of Governors. The Executive Committee has all the powers and is authorized to perform all the duties of the Board of Governors between the meetings of the board, except the Executive Committee may not amend the bylaws, make rules or regulations governing nominations or elections, prescribe regulations for proceedings before grievance committees, or initiate the taking of any referendum or poll of members of the association. See SCR 10.05.
The Finance Committee
The Finance Committee consists of the president, president-elect, the immediate past president, treasurer, CLE committee chairperson and four additional members appointed annually by the president. The Finance Committee advises the Board of Governors on financial matters and usually offers a report at each board meeting. The committee also reviews the annual budget proposed by the executive director. See Article V, State Bar Bylaws.
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