Cases and Budget: Based on the first quarter of FY 2003, the SPD projects they will appoint on between 140,000 to 155,000 cases. Appointments for FY 2002 were 138,800 cases. The current budget is based on FY 2001 appointments which were 132,000. An increase in OAR cases is part of the problem with the increase. The SPD is keeping the Joint Finance Committee and the Legislature apprised of the situation. The increased number of cases is driving up the deficit in the private bar appropriation. The deficit is currently projected to be about $11 million.

Eligibility Legislation: Rep. Terry McCormick's Proposal will update the financial eligibility standards for representation by the SPD. It's a stand alone proposal with an effective date of 1/1/04. It has been drafted but not formally introduced. No formal hearings have been held yet. Most counties are spending more and more each year for appointed counsel and are interested in the legislation.

Private Bar Payments - ACD has set a goal of processing electronic bills in 10 business days or less and paper bills in 20 business days or less. We are currently meeting those targets. Of the top 100 billers, 66% are online billers. Deb asked that the private bar continue promoting online billing to the other private bar members. ACD will be doing additional promotions for online billing. The committee asked what expense documentation needs to be submitted for online bills. ACD requires only the expert's itemized invoice and receipts for expenses over $50 are required.

EOPD: At the last meeting committee members reported problems being bumped off the system and losing data. Deb reported that the security time out in eOPD was increased to 30 minutes from 20 minutes. This should help avoid this problem.

Net Gain in Attorneys/Certifications - ACD has been taking a number of steps to recruit and retain private bar attorneys. Since March 95 new attorneys been added to the certification lists. With a few attorneys leaving the SPD has a net gain of 72 attorneys.

OLR Training - At an earlier meeting the committee raised the issue of representation of private bar attorneys in OLR grievance related to SPD cases. Although the SPD cannot provide representation, we can provide some assistance. OLR materials have already been posted on the web site. The committee agreed at the last meeting that a seminar on how to represent an attorney in an OLR grievance would be helpful. The SPD will be providing this training in March, 2004. One live presentation and several video replays will be scheduled. The program will be offered at little or no cost.

2005 - 07 Budget - The SPD will have to submit its budget requests for 2005-07 in September, 2004. The private bar rate increase is likely to be the SPD's #1 priority. To effectively pursue this we will need to document the increased costs associated with not having sufficient numbers of private bar attorneys in areas around the state. Green Bay is an acute area along with Wausau, Kenosha and northwestern Wisconsin. The Appellate Division has to postpone motion hearings to find appellate attorneys to take cases.

Other Discussion

The issue of waiting to get into the Milwaukee County Jail came up. There is often only one person at the jail to let you in. Attorneys report waiting for 15 minutes or longer to get in to see the client. Deb will check with the Milwaukee office about this issue.

Deb asked for suggestions about additional ways to recognize our private bar partners. We have recognized attorneys monthly in the ACD news online. The honor roll of attorneys who have taken cases from SPD for more than 20 years was printed in the conference materials. Conference attendees received an SPD pin.

Deb mentioned that there is a pending senate bill which will change the evidence code in regarding lay/expert opinion testimony. The bill would codify the Daubert Rule for Wisconsin. If it goes through, the SPD will provide training to staff and the private bar.

The committee said that ACD needed to do a better job or letting new private bar attorneys know about the materials available on the SPD web site and the case law updates. Deb will have ACD send a flyer out to new attorneys as they sign up.

The committee asked if the SPD could help the private bar get a better rate for online legal research. Deb will check with IT and the State Bar.

Future Agenda Item:

The committee requested that there be an explanation and discussion of the 2080 Hour Rule at the next meeting. Deb will prepare background materials for that discussion.

Meeting adjourned at 1:30. Next meeting will be scheduled for January, 2004.