Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Little Miss Hubbard or was it Old Mother Muffet

I have been out of town someplace warm for the last week. And like McBride with Jasmine Owens and Eugene Kane, I won’t apologize for that. In fact when I saw the weather report for the next few days, I tried to get back on the plane but the departing flight was cancelled. And then, there were some practical considerations like eating, paying bills (especially my DSL) oh well.

I was hoping that when I returned, I would have found acceptance speeches from Wallah and McBride in my mailbox but alas the folder had not a reply from either of them.

So, I will slowly read what was in my mailbox and see what I missed while I was away. I did receive a few with new rumors about the future of Mrs. McBride. I’ll post a few comments now but dig in deeper to see if I can separate the wheat from the chaff as it were.

Every time a public office looks like it’s going to open up, it seems like Paul Bucher’s name is floated around by someone. People I talk to, or those that email me, think that the floating is usually started or at least motivated by Mr. or Mrs. Bucher, er Ms. McBride.

Someone that talks to Ms, McBride at least occasionally, thought there was going to be another trial balloon or even announcement around the first of the year. She wasn’t sure of the office but said there was speculation on Congressman Sensenbrenner retiring.

I was also told that the McBrides would have entered the Supreme Court race before the deadline if the public financing reform had gone forward. I find that somewhat unbelievable even for Bucher after announcing he would not run.

I laughed out loud at the prospect of Bucher applying for the job of Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation vacated by James Warren. How would you like to be the clerk to lay that resume on JB”s desk?

Although if you listened to Bucher himself, you’d think it was a perfect fit. This is from a column written by Laurel Walker regarding the transition from prosecutor to defense attorney. “Especially for Bucher, I'm guessing. He didn't return my phone call Monday, but he once made a public point of saying he'd spend the rest of his career "prosecuting bad guys."”

Another quote that I thought was interesting from the article was, “Gatzke & Ruppelt is handling several other civil cases that Bucher, as district attorney, decided against prosecuting.”

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Will you ever listen?" Van Hollen said. "That's why you suck, Paul, because you only listen to people who agree with you."

Bucher offered little reaction initially. (Translation - this took a while for Paul to understand) But after the on-air debate resumed, he told listeners about his opponent's verbal jab.

"I don't suck. I resent that," he said, telling Van Hollen: "If we're going to denigrate into that, you go first."

capper said...

I do apologize Seer. Please don't feel offended. But a King's work is never done and at the present, I must do battle with larger dragons that either of the McBuchers. Please leave the drawbridge open for my successful return. I do have insight on some other aspects. Here's a hint: Beware of the company you keep.

Anonymous said...

When he graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Paul headed west to work his way through Pepperdine University Law School in California.

After a year, he returned to Milwaukee to graduate from Marquette University's Law School.

Court reinstates suit challenging unique Wis. bar exam rule

By The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. — An appeals court reinstated a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s unique policy of allowing graduates from in-state law schools to become lawyers without taking the bar exam.
Out-of-state law school graduates who must pass the test to practice in Wisconsin claim the rule is unconstitutional. Wisconsin is the last state in the nation with the so-called diploma privilege policy, which dates to 1870.
U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed the lawsuit last year. The rule exempting University of Wisconsin and Marquette University law graduates from taking the exam does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, he said.
But the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled Tuesday that Shabaz erred when he did not rule first on whether to certify the case as a class-action lawsuit. The court sent the case back to Shabaz for additional proceedings.
Christopher Wiesmueller filed the suit last spring, shortly before he graduated from the Oklahoma City University School of Law, in an attempt to receive a Wisconsin license without taking the exam.
Wiesmueller said he grew up in Wisconsin and intended to return to practice here. But unlike in-state students, he would have to spend money to take the exam and then wait for the results before he could be admitted to practice, he said.
He claimed the policy violated the Commerce Clause by treating in-state and out-of-state law school graduates differently.
Lawyers representing the Board of Bar Examiners and the Wisconsin Supreme Court argued his appeal was moot because he has since taken and passed the bar exam.
But the appeals court rejected that argument, saying other out-of-state law school graduates could continue the suit if granted class-action status.
In fact, Wiesmueller’s wife has a law degree but has not taken the Wisconsin exam and has expressed interest in becoming the class representative, Judge Richard Posner noted.
Shabaz’s refusal to rule on the class-action status indicated he believed the suit “wasn’t going anywhere,” Posner wrote.
“But a district judge does not have the last word on the merits of a plaintiff’s claim,” Posner wrote. “The fact that he thinks it unsound doesn’t mean that a class action by the plaintiff is doomed to failure.”
Wiesmueller, who is now practicing in Waukesha, said the lawsuit should continue for his wife and the more than 200 out-of-state law school graduates who have to take the Wisconsin exam every year.
The 26-year-old said he was broke for about six months between when he graduated and finally landed a law job last fall. He said he even had to briefly work as a banquet server to pay the bills.
“It means the case isn’t dead,” he said, “and it means there’s an opportunity that other people will not have to go through the six month financial struggle that I just went through this past year.”
Supporters of diploma privilege note the state Supreme Court sets specific course requirements at Wisconsin and Marquette. Students must pass those courses with a certain average score to qualify, which the vast majority of graduates do.
The rule is one way the court makes sure competent individuals are granted licenses, they say, and it’s reasonable to make sure out-of-state graduates are well-versed in Wisconsin law by passing the exam.

Anonymous said...

Waukesha Freeman columnists Mark Belling and Jessica McBride write about New Berlin connections in their latest columns. I have some points to make about these connections. (Oh and sorry to mention your names in the headline with McCann and controversial former New Berlin Mayor James Gatzke.)

Belling writes about departing DAs E. Michael McCann and Paul Bucher (who represented Milwaukee and Waukesha counties respectively). While offering praise and criticism of both (OK - no praise for McCann), Belling's opinion can be summed up with this line: "...the final assessment of the two men is easy: Bucher has been an excellent district attorney and McCann has been awful."

He brings up New Berlin by mentioning that "Bucher is heading to a low-profile New Berlin law firm after losing a race for attorney general." That low-profile firm would be Gatzke and Ruppelt. Belling and I have both had our run-ins with Gatzke. I played a little part last year in Belling's wise decision to permanently remove Gatzke as a guest host for his radio program. Gatzke is a liberal who pretended on the radio to be a conservative.

Then Belling says:

Equally confusing is his decision to join a law firm headed by former New Berlin Mayor Jim Gatzke rather than go to a high profile Milwaukee firm with more prestige and credibility. Some believe Bucher intends to run for the next vacant Waukesha County judgeship and therefore wants to keep a visible presence in the county.

However, McBride has this to say in her excellent column about Bucher (her husband):

I like the New Berlin firm Paul chose to join, Gatzke and Ruppelt SC. It was important to my husband to stay rooted in Waukesha County, his home. He clicked with Jim Gatzke, a former mayor who also left politics. Contrary to the speculation, I’d be shocked if Paul ran for judge.
I guess she probably knows more about Bucher's future than Belling or I do, but I would be surprised if Bucher lasted more than a couple of years working with Gatzke. Bucher's star shines too bright. His commitment to public service and stopping crime are too strong to keep him as a defense attorney at that particular firm. I predict that in less than two or three years Bucher will be back in public service as a judge, a prosecutor, a law enforcement official, or some other elected or appointed government position. If I'm wrong about that, I think - at the very least - he won't be working for Gatzke's firm for more than a couple of years.

Anonymous said...

What makes you think AttorneyBucher has the moral, ethical or intellectual qualifications to be a defense attorney? I am waiting for some papers to review and post. This is probably not a good venue because you can not post docements. After I review the documents I will post them at Yahoo or some other site where you can view them an comment.

Anonymous said...

Bucher has been a lawyer for 39 years. If he were that bad how come there is no discipline actions at the office of lawyer regualtion?

Anonymous said...

Hang on to your socks. You ain’t seen nothing.

Anonymous said...

Former Police Chief Nannette Hegerty fired Zoe Jackson, an eight-year veteran, in July on a charge of untruthfulness, based on differing statements she gave about her actions and those of her partner, Officer James Langer, during the arrest of Danyall Simpson in May 2006.

Anonymous said...

I will post some interesting letters, emails and miscellaneous documents regarding Bucher in a few days.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how Paul Bucher is doing in his first year in private practice? Has he had any complaints or disciplinary actions?

Anonymous said...

Is there a site that reviews performance of defense attorneys where you can read and post comments. That would be helpful for people looking for attorneys rather than just reading the propaganda on their web sites.

They have reviews for everything else, you would think something as important as selecting a lawyer wouls to.

Anonymous said...

Bucher


The lawyer regulation system is established to carry out the supreme court's constitutional responsibility to supervise the practice of law and protect the public from misconduct by persons practicing law in Wisconsin.

OLR actions

misrepresenting to clients actions he had taken on their behalf,

SCR 20:3.1(a)(3) by filing a suit, asserting a position, conducting a defense, delaying a trial, or taking other action when the lawyer knew or when it is obvious that such an action would serve merely to harass or maliciously injure another; and violating SCR 20:3.2 by not making reasonable efforts to expedite litigation, but instead undertaking numerous efforts to unreasonably delay and impede the course of litigation and needlessly increase the related cost.

SCR 20:3.3(a)(1), which provides that a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal; violated SCR 20:3.4(b), which provides that a lawyer shall not falsify evidence, counsel or assist a witness to testify falsely, or offer an inducement to a witness that is prohibited by law; and violated SCR 20:8.4(c), which provides that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
---------------------
and made misrepresentations in correspondence with the OLR, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(c) and 22.03(6).


and also knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a third person in the course of representing a client


the lawyer violated SCR 20:1.6(a), which proscribes a lawyer from revealing information relating to representation of a client unless the client consents, except for disclosures that are impliedly authorized.

Bucher told the ADA about Ambien on 10/5 and the Court on 11/30


1. 4. Lawyer Independence.

You are not expected to advance your client’s interests at the expense of other considerations. If you disagree with your client, speak up!

· · SCR 20:2.1. In representing a client, a lawyer shall exercise independent professional judgment and render candid advice. In rendering advice, a lawyer may refer not only to law but to other considerations such as moral, economic, social and political factors, that may be relevant to the client's situation.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Bucher should hav run as Paul McBride


Snapshot of the poll:
600 random likely voters polled by telephone between August 14 and 16, 2006.

Let's look at a few suhtistics:

Paul Bucher has served in Wisconsin's largest media market for over twenty years, yet according to the WISC-TV poll, 76% of those polled don't know Paul Bucher from Adam.

To contrast that, J.B. Van Hollen was not known by 89% of those polled. That is to say that all of Bucher's earned media over the last 20+ years has translated into a 13 point difference between him and his opponent from outstate Wisconsin. It makes sense that Van Hollen has lower name ID, but what is Bucher's excuse? I can't say that 24% is something to be proud of.