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Dues boost would hit emeritus lawyers

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//December 5, 2011//

Dues boost would hit emeritus lawyers

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//December 5, 2011//

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Lawyers who want to practice past the age of 70 would have to pay to do so under a proposed change to the State Bar of Wisconsin’s dues structure.

Sue Collins, co-chairwoman of the State Bar’s Dues Evaluation Committee, has pitched a proposal to the Board of Governors that would modify the classification of emeritus lawyers to require attorneys between the ages of 70 and 75 pay half dues to remain active.

The board is expected to vote on the proposal at its February meeting. Any changes to the dues structure would require a rules change petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Currently, lawyers 70 and older can apply for emeritus status and pay no dues while practicing law.

Under the proposal, inactive bar members between 70 and 75 as well as active attorneys older than 75 would not be required to pay dues.

But Delavan emeritus attorney David MacDougall, 73, questioned the need for the change. Even paying half of the standard dues could be too much for some older lawyers with limited practices, he said.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for the bar,” said MacDougall, who doesn’t regularly practice law and generally limits his work to foreclosure mediation and pro bono work.

Still, he said, he would pay half of the current $224 in annual dues to remain active.

“Right now, I’m not excited about it or wouldn’t promote it,” MacDougall said. “Whether I oppose it? I haven’t made up my mind.”

Collins said the Dues Evaluation Committee is working with the Senior Lawyers Division and the Governance Committee to help allay any apprehension in the legal community.

“The question is: Will half dues be a deterrent, and do we lose the services of those lawyers for that reason?” she said.

The change in emeritus lawyer classification would balance a proposal to extend from three years to five the amount of time new lawyers pay half dues, Collins said. For the first six months of practice after being sworn in, new lawyers are not required to pay dues.

The tradeoff is designed to keep new lawyers engaged in the bar, but also to compensate for the trend of lawyers working later into their careers, said Art Harrington, a Board of Governors member. The dues exemption for emeritus lawyers has been in place for 30 years, he said, and there is merit in considering a change.

Harrington, 61, said that 30 years ago he wouldn’t have considered working past 65 because it was the traditional age for lawyers to retire.

“Now, I see myself continuing to practice as long as I can,” he said. “I don’t think that differs too much from other lawyers my age.”

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