Mandatory membership debate in Wisconsin heats up prior to committee meeting.

• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

State Bar of Wisconsin President-Elect, Douglas W. Kammer ran for office with the singular goal of a voluntary bar. But now he is questioning the motives of current President Diane S. Diel, who is actively seeking to end the debate during her term.

Kammer said he did not anticipate his predecessor would proactively tackle the topic to the point where it may be irrelevant by the time he takes office next July.

Diel recently appointed a 12-person Bar Membership Committee, which will meet on Aug. 26, to study the issue, solicit feedback from bar members and issue a report to the Board of Governors by Jan. 31, 2009.

In an e-mail to Diel on Aug. 13, Kammer alleges that she and the bar leadership is attempting to preempt his effort to reform the bar and make the issue moot one year from now.

I won't play, said Kammer, who is a member of the committee.

But Diel says she is not pursuing the issue to usurp Kammer's intentions. Rather, she hopes the 22,000 members of the State Bar can voice their opinion and the organization can move forward, one way or another.

Let's put it to rest and find out what members want and present the information in a professional and appropriate way and move on, said Diel in an interview.

Course of Action

Also in his correspondence with Diel, Kammer said he was asked to resign after the election with the assurance that the mandatory membership issue would be addressed prior to his presidency.

Diel declined to directly comment on whether she asked Kammer to resign other than to say, He's entitled to his own thoughts.

She did concede that she reconsidered her initial plan to have Kammer co-chair the Bar Membership Committee.

At end of the day when I was appointing the committee, I was looking for confirmation of his willingness to participate and his hesitation caused me to rethink whether or not that was good plan, said Diel.

In a draft of the committee's objectives, Diel targeted the Feb. 27 Board of Governors meeting for action on the issue.

You didn't tell me you intended to bypass the membership, rehash the issue, and then bury it with action by the BOG [before I assume office] who are, as you know, cheerleaders for the status quo, stated Kammer in the e-mail.

But Diel admitted that the discussion of a mandatory bar could continue well into her successor's tenure as president.

I would assume those who wanted the Bar to be voluntary would approve those dates, rather than resent them, said Diel, who...