By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//June 16, 2016//
By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//June 16, 2016//
A group of lawyers and bar representatives is starting its search for candidates to replace the State Bar of Wisconsin’s top staff member.
Executive Director George Brown recently announced that he will be retiring in June of next year, prompting the bar to move forward with succession procedures the board had approved last year.
The Board of Governors took the first necessary step at Wednesday’s meeting, approving President Ralph Cagle’s 12 nominations to a committee charged with searching for candidates.
Michelle Behnke, a lawyer in Madison and a past State Bar president, will lead the search. Also on the committee are next year’s top-ranking bar officers: President Fran Deisinger, President-elect Paul Swanson and Cagle.
Other appointees include:
Cagle said Wednesday that the bar will hire a private recruiting company to aid in the search and that the bar is evaluating proposals from four firms, one of which is based in Wisconsin.
The board will have the final say on which candidate replaces Brown. Candidates cannot be brought before the board without having the backing of at least eight members of the search committee, Cagle said.
Deisinger, who will replace Cagle in July, said the committee should present candidates to the board at its February meeting. Follow @erikastrebel