BOG considers nonresident lawyer plan

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As of Dec. 6, 2006, nonresident attorneys accounted for more than 30 percent of total membership in the State Bar of Wisconsin, but far less than half of that percentage is reflected on the State Bar’s governing body.

Recent efforts to increase the number of nonresident lawyers participating on the Board of Governors gained the support of that board. However, additional efforts to open officer positions to nonresident lawyers failed to garner the same kind of support.

Gov. Daniel F. Rinzel, president of the State Bar’s Nonresident Lawyers Division (NLD), hoped to narrow the numerical gap between resident and nonresident board members. Rinzel proposed amendments to SCR 10.04 and 10.05 which concern nonresident lawyer representation on the Board of Governors.

“I think if you look at the large number of nonresident lawyers active in Wisconsin, it seems a modest improvement in representation is only fair,” said Rinzel, an attorney at Redmon, Peyton & Braswell, LLP, in Alexandria, VA.

Based on a resolution adopted by the NLD at its fall meeting in Minneapolis, Rinzel sought to increase BOG membership from three to five nonresident lawyers (10.05) and also allow for those members to be eligible for all officer positions including president and president-elect (10.04).

At its December meeting, the Board of Governors took action on both petitions and approved the addition of two more nonresident lawyers to the BOG, but did not gain the necessary support for the allowance of nonresident members to hold office on the BOG.

Two New Members

Of the 36 elected positions on the State Bar’s Board of Governors, only three, Joel Hirschhorn of Coral Gables, FL, Donna M. Jones of Atlanta and Rinzel are nonresident lawyers. The 8 percent representation is far below the 23 percent active membership nonresident lawyers maintain in the State Bar.

“If we had eight members on the BOG, it would be an accurate representation of the percentage of nonresident lawyers in the Wisconsin Bar,” said Rinzel.

“We think the addition of two is a legitimate increase at this point.”

The BOG largely agreed with the Rinzel’s proposal, but Gov. John P. Macy suggested that approval be subject to by-laws which require the positions to be elected.

“I wanted to ensure that approval would be contingent upon the two new members being elected rather than appointed, bec-ause that is consistent with our three current nonresident members,” said Macy. “I made a motion that the provision be added and it was accepted as a friendly amendment.”

A voice vote easily earned the necessary 60 percent majority needed for board approval and the petition will advance to the Supreme Court with State Bar support.

Had the proposal been defeated, Wisconsin still would have been a leader among neighboring states in its admission of nonresident lawyers to actively participate on the Board of Governors.

Neither Illinois, nor Minnesota, maintains a single permanent seat for nonresident lawyers. Illinois has a 25-member Board of Governors, while Minnesota has a 125-member Assembly. Both are voluntary bars.

The initial concern expressed by Wis-consin board members was that, should the state at some point revert back to a voluntary bar, whether nonresident lawyers would continue to actively participate, much less want to increase their representation.

Gov. Hirschhorn believed that regardless of participation regulations, nonresident lawyers will always want to be a part of the Wisconsin bar.

“I feel that people will always step up because the practice of law is national and international now,” said Hirschhorn. “Fresh perspectives are always a good idea in my opinion and if the Supreme Court approves two more members, they will be filled with no problem.”

While the commitment can be extensive with travel time and costs, the rising trend of practicing across state borders made the proposal practical for Gov. James M. Brennan.

“I think this goes a long way in eliminating discrimination, promoting multijurisdictional practices and increasing the voice of nonresident lawyers can only make our bar stronger,” said Brennan of Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee.

Withheld from Office

The second aspect of the proposal was met with considerably more opposition on the basis that nonresident lawyers would not meet the necessary qualifications to hold office on the Wisconsin Board of Governors.

Past-President D. Michael Guerin and Gov. Grant F. Langley of the Milwaukee City Attorneys Office both vocally opposed the measure because they believed out-of-state officers would likely be “out of touch” with Wisconsin practices.

“The positions are extremely demanding and time-consuming and I’m not sure it’s realistic to expect a nonresident lawyer to efficiently handle the role of president or president-elect or whatever,” said Guerin.

Gov. Hirschhorn conceded that the schedule for nonresident members is rigorous with BOG meetings, annual conferences, executive meetings, teleconferences and NRLD sessions around the country.

In response to the opposition, Macy suggested a compromise of allowing nonresident members to be eligible for only the less-intense offices of chair
man, treasurer or secretary. The amendment to the proposal failed 25-20.

The original revised version of 10.04 then failed to garner the necessary 60 percent majority for support, though the simple majority was in favor, including State Bar President Steven A. Levine.

“In my opinion, it was a slap in the face for nonresident members who pay full dues and should be entitled to full rights,” said Levine. “Whether or not a nonresident practitioner will ever become an officer is something that should be decided by the membership.”

Levine was optimistic that the petition will be revisited at the BOG next meeting in March, 2007 and that the votes needed for approval will be available.

“The petition failed to pass by only one or two votes and there were four members absent so it’s my feeling that the necessary support will be there in March,” said Levine.

Petition 10.05 is expected to advance to the Supreme Court for review, while 10.04 will likely get a second look at the March 9, 2007 Board of Governors meeting at the State Bar Center in Madison.