A New Diel

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A call for the State Bar of Wisconsin to become a voluntary organization appears to have been received, if not yet answered.

Moments after being sworn in as the new State Bar president on May 8, attorney Diane S. Diel announced that she will seriously address the issue of whether or not the bar should abandon its mandatory nature.

“It is clear that it’s an issue of some passion for many of our members,” said Diel in a separate interview with the Wisconsin Law Journal. “We don’t elect candidates who run on a single issue unless that’s an important issue.”

Diel referred to President-Elect Douglas W. Kammer, who campaigned solely on the platform of a voluntary bar. He won the spring election with 34 percent of the vote and defeated two opponents who favored a mandatory bar.

The public comments came as a surprise to Kammer, who said he had spoken to Diel about the subject, but not in great detail.

“It’s nice to hear that the position is not set in stone,” said Kammer. “There’s some flexibility, and whether or not it’s sincere and serious and whether the Board of Governors will go along with it, or the Supreme Court will join them, I don’t know.”

Diel said she intends to appoint a committee of the Board of Governors to study the issue, but she did not immediately anticipate polling bar members on the matter.

“I’m imagining a debate at the Board of Governors, and a referendum could be a possible outcome of that conversation,” said Diel. “At the moment, I think we just need to be sure that everyone is educated about what that entails.”

Outside of Kammer and one other attendee, who applauded the promise, there was little reaction to the announcement. Outgoing President Thomas J. Basting, Sr., has publicly supported a mandatory bar and Past-President Steven A. Levine’s attempts to generate discussion among board members have failed in the past.

Diel said that the bar membership issue will not dominate her term and that advancement of the Access to Justice initiative is a priority. The Board of Governors will vote on a petition to form a permanent Access to Justice Committee at the June 27 meeting.

“It is my hope that early in my term I will be able to present that petition to the Supreme Court,” said Diel.

Basting pledged to advance the Access to Justice study during his swearing-in ceremony last year, along with two other goals.

A petition to define the unauthorized practice of law is still pending before the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee received criticism and commendation in its first year.

“Tom you made a promise a year ago, and I listened carefully,” said Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson of Basting’s plan to form the committee. “I wondered if you could come through, and you did. Thank you.”

Diel will begin her one-year term as president on July 1.