U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin rejects dues rebate.

AuthorZemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has dismissed a request from several attorneys seeking a reduction in their mandatory State Bar dues.

Last December, an arbitrator ruled against attorney Steven A. Levine and two other lawyers who claimed the State Bar's 2008 public image campaign should qualify for a Keller dues rebate for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 because it served as a propaganda tool for the bar.

Under Keller v. State Bar of California, 496 U.S. 1 (1990), public image expenditures must have the intent of improving the quality of legal services. During the summer of 2008, the bar ran a television ad during the Olympics as part of a public image campaign designed to improve the public's perception of attorneys.

Bar members are generally eligible for a $5 to $7 Keller rebate annually.

On Nov. 23, Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker denied a motion to vacate and remand the arbitrator's decision.

In his ruling, Crocker stated that the case boiled down to a single, narrow question of law.

Do members of an integrated bar have a First Amendment right to be free from compulsory contributions to speech that is not ideological or political? wrote Crocker.

He noted that previous cases, specifically, Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc., 521 U.S. 457 (1997), and Thiel v. State Bar of Wisconsin, 94 F.3d 399 (7th Cir. 1996), have said this was not the case. And he rejected the plaintiff's argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. United Foods, 533 U.S. 405 (2001), changed that answer.

I am not persuaded, Crocker stated.

Possible appeal

Levine said he was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling.

I had hoped he might be brave enough to look at the situation and decide for himself, Levine said.

He did take issue with Crocker's position that dissecting each potentially non-germane contribution to a mandatory organization was not the way to build a valid constitutional...

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