Three bar leaders dig in to fill a niche

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There are times when everything comes together; that’s what happened six years ago when a group of people set out to create the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association.

Ask U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller and attorneys Nathan A. Fishbach and William J. Mulligan about the successful development of a federal bar association and they will point to a number of factors that made the group the right idea at the right time.

Ask Milwaukee Bar Association President-elect Maria S. Lazar and she will emphasize the work of the people behind the project — Stadtmueller, who was chief judge at the time; Fishbach of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.; and Mullian of Davis & Kuelthau s.c.

“The efforts of these three attorneys in forming and developing the (EDWBA) has had a substantial impact on the federal judicial system in the Eastern District and Wisconsin’s legal community,” Lazar noted in her nomination of the three.

Although the idea started in the MBA’s Bench/Bar Committee, the goal was to create a separate bar association that could meet the needs of lawyers throughout the Eastern District. Despite the plan to operate as separate bar associations, Mulligan thought the group would benefit from sharing some of the MBA staff to handle administrative duties.

When the EDWBA was created in 2002, there were a number of factors that supported the effort. One change that established a much broader district was the creation of a federal bench in Green Bay. That helped drive the federal practice of attorneys outside of Milwaukee, and it also created a demand for educational programs to help lawyers unfamiliar with the federal system.

Changes in the federal system further drove the need for CLE programs, including the creation of Sarbanes-Oxley, a decision declaring the federal sentencing guidelines voluntary, the emergence of e-discovery and e-filing of documents, and the creation of a national federal defender program.

Lawyers seeking CLEs in these areas often had to travel to 7th Circuit Bar Association or American Bar Association programs, which added travel time and lodging to the cost of the programs.

“It certainly was not our intention to displace the 7th Circuit, Milwaukee Bar Association or State Bar, but to fill our own niche,” Stadtmueller said.

The three men also saw an important networking and communication role for the EDWBA, given the difference in climate from the state court where attorneys have more contact with the judges and their colleagues. The new group has provided that opportunity as well.

Stadtmueller, Fishbach and Mulligan were quick to note that there were many people involved in the group’s creation. They also emphasized how much they learned from leaders of the Western District Bar Association of Wisconsin, who shared what worked well and what had not.