Changing of the guard?

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The State Bar of Wisconsin officially welcomed 12 new district members to the Board of Governors in style at the Chula-Vista resort in Wisconsin Dells on September 11.

During a pre-meeting orientation, assistant executive director Lynda Tanner spoke about some of the goals and challenges facing the organization in the coming years, including evolving expectations of the bar for newer or younger attorneys.

While about one quarter of the faces changed on the board, the vast majority of new governors have more than two decades of experience in the legal profession.

Excluding incoming members of the Government Lawyers Division, Senior Lawyers Division, Young Lawyers Division and Nonresident Lawyers Division, the average practice experience for the dozen additions is approximately 24 years.

Half of the new governors have more than 30 years in practice and eight have at least 20 years.

Granted, with experience can come wisdom and a turn on the board can be a demanding task and perhaps a difficult commitment for attorneys still trying to establish themselves in the field.

There are no age or practice time minimums for an attorney who wants to run for the board.

But only two new governors have four or less years of experience.

Not exactly a youth movement for an organization which hopes to connect with the next generation of lawyers and provide better member services, especially with the mandatory versus voluntary bar question on the horizon.