More lawyers may seek bar dues reductions

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Every year, several hundred members of the State Bar of Wisconsin are penalized for not paying their bar dues on time, but typically only a handful of attorneys apply for “hardship” reductions.

Those numbers are expected to increase this year, given that numerous recent graduates of both Wisconsin law schools are struggling to find employment.

“We’ve all heard that half of new lawyers don’t have jobs,” said then president-elect Douglas W. Kammer during a discussion at the bar’s Board of Governors meeting the end of June.

“We’re getting applications for waiving dues altogether.”

So far the bar has received 27 applications for dues reductions. The deadline to apply for a waiver is Aug. 1

At the bar’s June 26 meeting, Madison Gov. Kevin J. Palmersheim led a discussion culminating in the ratification of an internal bar policy to impose late fees on attorneys who fail to pay their annual dues by Aug. 31.

Though the bar has charged late fees since 2003, Palmersheim said a handful of attorneys questioned the bar’s authority to assess the penalty without a formal policy. He noted that any late fees assessed are “discretionary” and intended to recoup collection costs incurred by the bar.

Mandatory membership dues for 2009 and 2010 are $224, although new members receive a two-year discounted rate of $112.

Palmersheim expects more reduction requests.

“My gut reaction would be that the bar is going to be sending out notices [to] people [who] have not paid their dues and that may drive people to ask about what the process is if I can’t pay them,” he said in an interview.

Past Waivers

Immediate past-president Diane S. Diel said that she granted 19 waiver deductions last year, mostly for attorneys with legal service corporations who had lost funding or who had not been paid for public defender services because of a lapse in the state reimbursement fund.

“I think the economic climate is such that it’s reasonable to anticipate it might be higher, but that’s just speculation,” she said.

Kammer, who assumed the presidency on July 1, said that he spoke with a woman who was seven years out of law school carrying $130,000 in student loan debt.

“She’s been unemployed since March and wanted to know if she could do something about it,” he said.

The bar typically imposes a $25 late fee on attorneys who fail to pay their dues by Sept. 1, two months after the deadline stated in the bylaws and almost four months after statements are mailed to members.

Gov. Jeffrey R. Zirgibel is recommending boosting the late fee to $100 for attorneys who chronically fail to pay their bar bills on time.

“I think $25 is a joke,” he said.

But Executive Director George Brown said the $25 fee serves as a sufficient deterrent and covers the bar’s collection costs.

“I don’t know that $100 would make much more of difference,” he said. “It certainly would create more ire.”

Blanket Waiver Request

Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. has applied for a suspension of bar dues for all its attorneys as a way to cut costs and dedicate more resources toward providing legal representation to the poor.

The request was denied, said Palmersheim, because bar policy requires that attorneys apply for hardship waivers individually.

Additionally, if an attorney is employed, it’s unlikely he or she are going to get granted hardship, Palmersheim said.

Legal Action executive director John F. Ebbott said he requested about $9,000 in reductions for 45 staff attorneys.

He questioned the difference between his request and that of a large firm which pays bar dues for its attorneys, though he said he didn’t plan to appeal the decision.

“I don’t know why there isn’t a policy for dealing with an organization’s request for a hardship waiver,” Ebbott said.