BOG member concerned about president-elect

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A member of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors is questioning the conduct and motives of President-elect Douglas W. Kammer.

In an e-mail sent to Executive Director George S. Brown on Jan. 26, board member Thomas Heine suggested that Kammer’s active lobbying for a voluntary bar is a conflict of interest and inconsistent with the duties of an officer of the bar.

Heine specifically cited Kammer’s motivation to develop and mail a survey to members of the bar on the voluntary versus mandatory issue. Last year, the bar issued a survey to members concerning overall satisfaction with membership benefits.

He went on to note in the message that as an elected officer of the bar, Kammer is obligated to abide by laws of governance, which outline duties of care, loyalty and obedience for the organization.

“It seems to me that President-elect Kammer may be skirting one or more of these duties to the bar organization in his desire to change something he personally doesn’t like,” Heine wrote in the e-mail.

Heine, who is a non-lawyer representative on the Board of Governors, went on to state that it is a conflict of interest for Kammer to “actively lobby for the destruction of an organization” or use bar resources to pursue an agenda that is contrary to the best interests of the organization.

At the last Board of Governors meeting on Dec. 5, Heine had requested that Kammer and the Executive Committee sit down and discuss the president-elect’s agenda.

“I would not want the [p]resident-elect in his vehemence, to be embarrassed by a public conflict of interest dispute – that would not serve the bar’s mission well,” Heine stated in the e-mail.

In an e-mail response to Heine, Kammer stated that he viewed the letter as a request for the Executive Committee to “censure me for my lack of loyalty to the State Bar.”

The 14-member Executive Committee, of which Kammer is a member, was scheduled to meet for its regular meeting on Feb. 5. The State Bar had no immediate comment on the issue.

“Your views of what is good for the legal practice and the State Bar are different from mine,” Kammer said in his e-mail to Heine. “I don't question your expertise in both fields, but a difference in opinion is something, I hope, you will grow to accept.”

Kammer forwarded both e-mailed messages to the Wisconsin Law Journal. Neither Kammer, nor Heine could be reached for comment Thursday morning.