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SCRIPTUS
P.O. Box 400
Pewaukee, WI 53072
http://waukeshabar.org
A
Publication of the Waukesha County Bar Association
April, 2008
Danni Caldwell-Editor
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| MARK
YOUR CALENDARS |
April
26th, 2008
May 12, 2008
Noon
|
Spring
Awards Dinner
5:30 p.m. Cash Bar
6:30 Dinner
Annual Meeting and CLE
Country Springs Hotel
CLE Speaker: Ross Kodner
Materials are available for printing on the WCBA website
|
A Word From
Your President
Dear Colleagues:
I am honored to announce the Waukesha County
Bar Association Spring Awards. The awards will be presented on
April 26th, 2008 at the Legend County Golf Club in Wales. The
event will honor Eugene Johnson for Lifetime Achievement, Joanne and
Bill Huelsman for Community Service and John Macy for Distinguished
Member. Please plan to come and honor these special
individuals. Following the dinner and the awards presentation
there will be a casino night for your entertainment.
Please mark your calendars for the upcoming annual
meeting on May 12, 2008. During the lunch hour meeting the Board
will present, for membership approval, a new slate of officer and
directors as well as a proposed budget for 2008-2009. Following
the meeting you will be offered another free CLE opportunity featuring
Ross Kodner of MicroLaw, Inc. Mark off the lunch and a few hours
after that.
Happy Spring.
Marjorie Wendt
President
WCBA Board
Minutes - February 21, 2008
Attendance:
Marjorie Wendt, President, Dan Habeck, President Elect, Doug Swanson,
Secretary/Treasurer, Judge Mac Davis, Past President, Victoria J.
Schroeder, C. Michael Hausman, Michael Morse, John Macy, Danni
Caldwell, and Sharron
Stolpa.
Minutes: The
Minutes of the January 17, 2008 meeting were approved.
Treasurer’s and Membership
Report: The Membership and Treasurer's Report were distributed
and reviewed. Doug Swanson presented the Waukesha County Bar
Association Summary that he had compiled from past membership
reports. In short, the 2007 Membership numbers are slightly lower
than those figures in the previous years. This is something that
we will continue to watch.
Old Business and Committee
Reports
State Board of Governors: John
Macy had previously provided The Actions Taken at the Executive
Committee Meeting of February 15, 2008. We discussed the 2007 surplus
of $775,000.00 and the Board of Governors Executive Committee's
discussions as to how to allocate that money. It seems to have
been determined that the surplus will be allocated pursuant to the
former policies which would provide more programs and more
activities. We also discussed the Judicial Integrity Committee
and John again asked that we contact him or have any members contact
him who voice any concerns regarding that Committee.
Scriptus/Website:
Danni Caldwell reported that the Scriptus did go out earlier that
week. She will place on the website information seeking
nominations for our upcoming Awards Dinner. She will also put
that information in the next Scriptus.
Administrative
Assistant Search: We hired Sharron Stolpa to act as the
Administrative Assistant and Danni will continue to meet with Sharron
to help in that transition.
Candidates Forum:
Judge Davis reported that Justice Butler and Judge Gableman were unable
to commit to a forum so it was determined, through previous e-mails
throughout the Board of Directors, that the forum will simply be for
the Court of Appeals candidates. Attorney Gleisner is available
on either Thursday, March 20 or Friday, March 21. Judge Davis is
still seeking confirmation from Judge Neubauer as to what date would be
best for her. We again confirmed that the location for the Court
of Appeals Forum will be in the Ceremonial Court Room at noon.
Judge Davis will follow up with getting pollsters and with
disseminating the information regarding the forum.
Awards Dinner:
The Awards Dinner will be held on April 26, 2008 at the Legends.
Nominations should be provided to Marjorie with a deadline of mid to
late March. She will then meet with Judge Davis and Dan Habeck
and the three of them will review any nominations. We agreed that
the entertainment will be the same it has been in the past few
years. Marjorie will make those reservations.
New Business
Law Day: We
reviewed brochures and other information regarding a Law Day. We
discussed distributing materials in the form of informational packets
to various schools. We may make this into some type of Career
Day.
Annual Meeting:
We will look to the week of May 12, 2008 to conduct the Annual Meeting
and we will seek a speaker so that we can obtain CLE credits.
Mike Morse will contact potential speakers and then report back to us
at the next Board of Directors Meeting.
Quicken: Danni
has updated our Quicken Software. A Motion was passed for her to
purchase some updated Quicken materials at the cost of $75.00.
Support Staff Luncheon:
We discussed that the turnout was down approximately 50 people from the
previous years. There was some concern that the invitations may
have gone out too late this year. We will address getting
invitations out earlier next year. We also discussed that the
weather was horrendous on that day and that may have had something to
with the turnout.
The Meeting was adjourned by unanimous consent at 1:10 p.m. The
next Meeting* was scheduled for Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 12:00 p.m.,
Room G55, Administration Building.
Respectfully submitted,
Douglas E. Swanson, Secretary/Treasurer
The next WCBA Board meeting is March
19, 2008 - Room
G-55
of the County Administration Building.
WCBA Board
Minutes - March 19, 2008
Attendance:
Marjorie Wendt, President, Dan Habeck, President Elect, Doug Swanson,
Secretary/Treasurer, Danni Caldwell, Christy D'Angelo, Judge Mac Davis,
Past President, Craig Kuhary, and Sharron Stolpa.
Minutes: The Minutes
of the February 21, 2008 meeting were approved with the corrections of
a few typographical errors.
Treasurer's and Membership Report:
The Treasurer's Report was distributed and reviewed. There
was no Membership Report.
Old Business and Committee Reports
State Board of Governors:
No Report.
Scriptus/Website:
Danni Caldwell reported that the Scriptus did go out on March 18,
2008. The Website was updated as well.
Court of Appeals Candidates
Forum: Judge Davis reported that the Forum is
scheduled for March 21, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. Wisconsin Eye is
attending the Forum. Attorney Gleisner will be videotaping the
Forum. Judge Gableman will be attending the Forum and it was
determined that he will be able to provide opening remarks but no
questions will be presented to him as Justice Butler would not be
attending.
Spring Awards Dinner:
Marjorie Wendt announced that Eugene Johnson will be the recipient of
the Life Time Achievement Award. John Macy will be the recipient
of the Distinguished Member Award. Joanne and Bill Huelsman will
be the recipients of the Community Services Award. The
entertainment and food will be the same as last year. The Spring
Awards Dinner will again take place at The Legends of
Brandybrook. We determined that the cost of the dinner will
be raised to $40.00 per person. Danni Caldwell and Sharron Stolpa
will send out the invitations. Marjorie will follow up with Eric
Love to obtain information regarding the plaques for the awards
recipients.
New Business
Compensation for Court Appointed
Attorneys: Pat Conklin raised this issue at the last Bench
Bar Committee Liaison Meeting. Pat will present figures and a
proposal for increased compensation for court appointed attorneys for
this Board's consideration at the next Board Meeting. We will
then discuss what action this Board may take to support the
request.
AODA Treatment Fair:
The Waukesha County Bar Association was approached by Sam Benedict to
co-sponsor the AODA Treatment Fair. The co-sponsorship would
involve no money but would help promote the fair in the Scriptus.
A Motion was raised and the resolution was approved unanimously to
co-sponsor the AODA Treatment Fair.
Membership List:
Doug Swanson reported that we are in the process of updating the
Membership List and addressing any duplicate mailings which have been
sent to the members of the judiciary.
Bench Bar Liaison Committee:
Marjorie Wendt announced that she will be leaving the committee. We
will start seeking names of individuals who may be interested in
replacing her on that committee.
Annual Meeting and CLE: The
Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. at the
Country Springs. Russ Kodner will be the CLE speaker.
Law Student Scholarship Program:
Doug Swanson reported that we have received responses from the UW
Madison Law School but absolutely no response from Marquette. A
scholarship winner will be chosen and announced at the annual Meeting.
2008-2009 Budget: Marjorie
Wendt announced that she will provide a draft of the budget by the next
Meeting.
Board of Governors:
Mike Morse has informed this Board that he will resign from the Board
of Governors at the end of his term. Marjorie will accept names
of anyone who might be interested in replacing Mike on the Board of
Governors.
Board of Directors: A
discussion was held regarding the addition of new members at large on
the Board of Directors to replace the outgoing Members. Any names
should be provided to Marjorie.
United Way: We received a
request from the United Way to allow them to present awards at our
Spring Awards Dinner. We determined that we would not allow them
to do so, however, would invite them to set up a table at the Annual
Meeting.
The Meeting was
adjourned by unanimous consent at 12:55 p.m. The next Meeting* is
scheduled for Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 12:00 p.m., Room G55,
Administration Building.
Respectfully
submitted,
Douglas E.
Swanson, Secretary/Treasurer
*The next WCBA
Board meeting is May 22, 2008
- Room G-55 of the County Administration Building.
From the
Clerk of Courts
Nothing this month.
Section News
Please
send section news and information to Michelle Martin at mmartin@murnlaw.com or Danni Caldwell at wcba1@waukeshabar.org.
Member News
Law Suit Drive
The WCBA
recently received an email regarding this worthwhile cause. I’ve
pasted the entire email below:
Hello!
I recently sent
many of you letters about the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Law Suit
Drive. The Law Suit Drive is the YLD's on-going service project,
wherein used professional clothing is collected and donated to those in
need of clothes for job interviews or other formal events.
This email is just a reminder to announce the upcoming Drive at your
bar meetings preceding the Convention and encourage your members to
bring their used professional clothing to the Convention and drop it
off at the Law Suit Drive booth.
The YLD had
tremendous support last year with donations of over 275 suits and other
pieces of professional clothing. The YLD then took these clothes
to various non-profits in the state who give out the clothing for free
to low-income people.
Thank you in
advance for helping make the Law Suit Drive a continued success.
Feel free to contact me for more information about the Drive or to
suggest a non-profit recipient.
Very truly yours,
Stacia Conneely
Board
Member, Young Lawyers Division
(608) 256-3304
Technology in the Courtroom
QUALITY PLUS PROJECTS: INNOVATIVE LEGAL SERVICES BY WAUKESHA COUNTY
by Attorney Debbie Price
In a recent Juvenile Court case, Waukesha County
showed that it is leading the way with teamwork and innovative,
cost-effective ways to provide legal services. Waukesha County is proud
to recognize Attorney Molly Jasmer of the Corporation Counsel Office,
Judge Robert Mawdsley, Juvenile Court Clerk Kelly Haag and her staff,
Margaret Johnson of the Department of Health and Human Services, and IT
staff members Zack Tremaine and Tina Panagis for their efforts in this
case.
Attorney Molly Jasmer represented the Department in
a case she prosecuted in juvenile court regarding two children. Their
father was deported to Mexico while the children remained here in
foster care. During the litigation, the father asked the judge to delay
or dismiss the case because he could not come to court. The U.S.
Government would not allow the father to return to this country for the
trial. All efforts by the father's attorney to work through the
Department of Homeland Security, the Mexican Consulate in Chicago, and
the U.S. Embassy in Mexico failed to get permission for the father to
travel to Waukesha for the trial. However, the court determined that it
was in the best interest of the children to proceed with the trial.
The court and the attorneys faced a dilemma. They
knew that constitutional due process rights require a parent's ability
to "meaningfully participate" in court proceedings involving their
children. In Wisconsin, courts have ruled that a simple telephone
connection does not always protect constitutional rights.
Everyone involved worked together to find other ways
for the father to participate in the trial. Video conferencing between
Waukesha and Mexico was one idea, but it proved to be too costly.
Although our Juvenile Court had video conferencing facilities
available, arrangements with Mexico were either unavailable or
prohibitively expensive. For example, videoconferencing with Mexico
would have cost approximately $350 per hour through a private agency.
The court trial was anticipated to last several days.
After further brainstorming, they decided that a
webcam system could allow the father to interact with the court in both
visual and audio means. With the help of our IT staff, the court and
attorneys set up two separate webcam connections between the courtroom
in Waukesha and a location in Mexico. Several lap top computers with
wireless capabilities were used. On one connection, the father could
see and hear witnesses and hear everything else that went on in the
courtroom. The court and the clerk could also see and hear the father
through this connection. On the second connection, the father could see
the whole courtroom and hear an interpreter. Communication between the
computers (web cam feed and quick conferencing) was done through
accounts with SKYPE, which were free of charge. The father could also
privately communicate with his attorney in the Waukesha courtroom via
an instant messaging system.
Attorney Jasmer and the father's attorney did
extra work to prepare for trial and avoid surprises. Attorney Jasmer
provided the father and his Waukeshabased attorney with deposition
transcripts of key witnesses and summaries of each witness's expected
testimony. Copies of all documents to be used at trial were provided
well in advance. During trial, the court monitored the webcam and
computer connections to make sure at all times that the father in
Mexico was seeing and hearing the proceedings. Judge Mawdsley also
checked to make sure the local participants could see and hear the
father. At the end of the trial, the court allowed the attorneys to
submit their closing arguments in writing, allowing the father and his
attorney extra time to consult each other. The cost savings for the
webcam system were significant. Rather than paying $350 per hour for
several days of trial, the County and the court-pooled resources,
contributing less than $200 each for the purchase of a microphone and
two webcams.
After trial, the father appealed. The Wisconsin
Court of Appeals recently ruled that the remote webcam system provided
the father with what it called the "functional equivalent of physical
presence." The webcam system and exchange of documents satisfied the
deported father's constitutional rights to due process by allowing him
to assess the witnesses, confer with his attorney, and hear everything
that was going on in the courtroom.
This innovative approach to legal services in
Waukesha County is the first of its kind for Wisconsin.
(Reprinted from The County
Beat, Waukesha County employee newsletter, with permission.)
New
on the WCBA Web Site
Photos Requested
For the first time in many years, I will not be able to attend the
Spring Awards Dinner, so I will be unable to take photos at the
event. If you have a digital camera and take some photos at this
event that you are willing to share, I would love to have copies sent
to me via email for posting on our website. Thanks!
Comments
or questions about the Scriptus should be directed to:
Danni Caldwell, Editor
548-7432
wcba1@waukeshabar.org
Remember the Annual Meeting and Free
CLE on May 12!
