|
|
|
|
| MSBA President
2002-2003 Jon Duckstad believes in the inherent power - and responsibility - of lawyers to do good in the community. In his roles as public defender, adjunct professor, reading tutor, and Bar Association volunteer, he has witnessed countless acts of generosity and civic participation from fellow attorneys. And yet the legal profession continues to struggle with its public image. Duckstad’s solution? Do even more good things. He shared that perspective and others with writer Amy Lindgren in a conversation this past April, in anticipation of his term as MSBA president. Q. In the MSBA, the incoming president first serves as secretary, treasurer and president-elect. That gives you three years to anticipate your leadership role. What have you been doing to prepare for the position of president? A. The advantage of serving on the Executive Committee for three years before you become president is that you have the opportunity to observe and learn from the three officers serving ahead of you on the MSBA leadership track. In addition to observing and learning from predecessors, I have benefited from contributions provided by other Executive Committee members in the normal course and scope of our Bar Association work. Tim Groshens, our experienced executive director, also provides a great deal of helpful information and support on the day-to-day activities and mission of the Bar Association. One also acquires helpful information regarding the functioning of the Bar from many other Bar activities that are ongoing from year to year. For three successive years, officers of the MSBA attend the ABA mid-year and annual conventions that provide valuable leadership courses and a chance to interact with Bar leaders from the around the country. In the past few months, I have traveled across the state and attended approximately 15 outstate District Bar meetings. By attending these meetings, I have had an opportunity to become familiar with many Bar members who are valuable contributors to our MSBA Board of Governors, sections and committees. Q. What about initiatives that are unique to your presidency? What do you have planned for this year? A. Our Bar Association has several goals for the coming year. One goal we have in mind is to attempt to create more unity in our State Bar Association. One way we hope to accomplish this unity is to spend more time in greater Minnesota with our valuable outstate members. Another is to review the structure of the Board of Governors with a view towards working together more effectively. We have a second goal in mind, really a goal continued from last year, that being technology. We believe technology is extremely important and necessary to enable the MSBA to provide valuable services to our members. Our latest online practice tool, practicelaw.org, is a free service for members that includes official court forms and rules; templates for legal documents; sample pleadings and discovery; checklists and reminders; as well as articles, practice tips, and advice from experienced practitioners. At the present time, resources are available in the areas of family law, appellate practice, employment law, and law firm marketing. Members can also download many of the state’s official Uniform Conveyancing Blanks from this site. More forms will be added later. Another goal that we are committed to is maintaining an effective voice for our members at the Legislature. Q. That’s a full agenda. We’d better take those one at a time. Tell me what you mean by bringing about more unity in the Bar Association? A. We know that our outstate members drive a considerable distance to attend meetings, but we don’t normally spend much time going out to their towns. Therefore, Tim Groshens and I are going to spend more time around the state of Minnesota, with the goal of focusing on the experiences of small town lawyers. We are interested in talking with lawyers throughout the state about the uniqueness and various aspects of their practices. Starting with this issue of Bench & Bar, the MSBA will feature some of these towns and lawyers in the president’s column, in the hope that this increased contact will foster the spirit of a unified Bar Association. Q. You said there were two parts to the initiative to unify the Bar Association? A. Yes. The other thing we may do this year, as time permits, is to have Executive Committee members spend additional time attending designated section meetings. In that way, the Executive Committee will have a better understanding and appreciation of the various sections. Most of the sections, having anywhere from 90 to 1,900 members, serve a specialty of law, such as real estate, litigation, etc. These sections are considered to be the engines that drive our Bar Association. They do the heavy lifting and play a major role in helping maintain our membership. I am going to make an effort to attend as many sections meetings as I am able to throughout this coming year. Q. What about the Legislature? What do you have planned? A. From time to time, issues come up that the Bar Association feels compelled to weigh in on. We plan to continue to maintain an effective voice at the Legislature to protect the interests of lawyers and our legal profession. Q. Do you have any particular legislative concerns for the coming year? A. Yes, we do. One of the foremost legislative issues we anticipate will be a proposed sales tax on legal services to consumers. Most lawyers oppose this sales tax. We consider it to be a “tax on misery.” By that I mean, this additional tax burden would be imposed on individual clients only. Corporate clients would be exempt from this tax. And these individual clients are the people who can least afford to pay this proposed tax burden. Another issue is funding for our court system. The Bar Association considers itself to be a traditional partner with our court system to aid in the administration of justice. We are, therefore, committed to assisting our courts on an ongoing basis to obtain adequate funding to enable them to carry out their judicial duties. In addition to supporting the Court’s budget needs, we continue to strive for adequate funding to provide legal services for the disadvantaged. In assuming this obligation we espouse the ethical code of lawyers to represent all members of our society. We have many dedicated “poverty lawyers” in Minnesota, and we need the funding to enable services to the poor to continue. Q. And the initiative to review the structure of the Board of Governors? A. We want to look at our Board of Governors to see if there are ways to serve our membership better, or to better utilize our members who volunteer. We have an unusually large Board of Governors: whereas a large corporation might use only 15 to 25 directors, we have at least 80. While the numbers present an advantage, they can also be unwieldy when you are trying to make decisions that will affect the day-to-day operations or policies of our Bar Association. There are a number of other changes we are contemplating. A recent focus group inquiry revealed that some members of the Board of Governors are interested in increasing their involvement in the day-to-day steering of the MSBA. The Governance and Finance Committee plays a major role in the allocation of funds and resources to various projects, operations, and initiatives of the MSBA. One contemplated change is to increase the responsibilities of the committee and make the committee a standing committee of the Board. Another change we are considering is the creation of a new committee of the Board of Governors to assume responsibility for coordinating the legislative responsibilities of the Board. Also, we are considering the creation of a Strategic Change Committee. The committee would be responsible for identifying new areas the MSBA needs to become involved in and to develop programming in these areas. This process will be kept separate from the day-to-day operations of the MSBA. Once these processes have been developed and integrated, our inclination is to involve additional members of the Board of Governance in the committee. Q. Fill me in on a couple of points about your own background. What has been your involvement with various bar associations? A. My prior bar association involvement is that I have been a member of the Ramsey County Bar Association since 1962 and served as president in 1995-96. In 1996, the chief judge of Ramsey County District Court asked the Ramsey County Bar Association for legal assistance to implement a Family Court Pro Se Clinic. To fulfill our obligation to assist the Court, approximately 29 lawyers provide low-cost or pro bono services for people who can’t afford a lawyer. Also I have had the privilege of being a Ramsey County ABA Delegate from 1996 to 2000. I have also had the opportunity to serve as chairman of the Law Library Board of Trustees for a six-year period from 1972 to 1979. I have been an MSBA member for 40 years and have recently served on the Pro Se Litigant Task Force, the Ad Hoc Committee to Examine Registration Fees, and the Governance and Finance Committee. I cochaired the MSBA Governance and Finance Committee from 1999-2001. Q. Your “day job” is assistant public defender for Ramsey County. Tell me about that work. A. I have been a part-time public defender for 30 years. It is supposed to be half-time, but if you saw the caseload we have, you’d wonder if it was a little more than that. For the last six or seven years I have been in Juvenile Court, whereas the first 24 years I did adult felonies. So I have been involved in cases that have ranged from petty theft to first-degree murder. Q. Do you see any difference in your approach to your work since you switched to juveniles? A. No. But I do enjoy the juvenile defense work because most juveniles can be salvaged from a life of crime. Most kids seem to straighten out when given a probationary disposition. You sense that most other kids placed in a correctional facility and given a chance to change can turn out to be good kids. The greatest frustration is when kids are released from a juvenile correctional facility and they return to the same family setting that may have been somewhat dysfunctional, they revert back to the their old ways and the cycle of in-and-out of Juvenile Court continues. From my own personal experience I can tell you, the court makes a dedicated effort in providing the services available to enable these kids to get back on the right track. Unfortunately, the system does not succeed in helping all of these kids. Q. If you had the power, would there be one or two changes that would make a difference? A. You know, I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing that kids would stay out of trouble, that those who get in trouble would all be corrected and go back to school or into treatment, whatever they particularly need. But failing that, I make a point to tell all my juvenile clients, as we get ready to go to court, “there are two very important things I want you to think about: 1) what happens to you in court, and 2) what happens to you for the rest of your life.” I’ll fight for them in court but I want them to focus on what’s important for their future and take responsibility for making it happen. If I could make that happen I’d be a happy man. Q. You mentioned that this work is part-time, more or less. What other work do you do? A. In addition, for about 30 years, I have been on the Civil Commitment Defense Panel in Ramsey County. This nine-member panel handles the defense for the mentally ill, chemically dependent, and psychopathic personality cases. These cases can result in commitment to one of the regional treatment centers, or a less restrictive placement to a community-based health facility, or in some cases the person responds so quickly to medication, they are able to go home on a discharge contract agreement with the hospital. Q. That kind of work sounds like it can be heartbreaking? A. You know, it is. I have clients that I have represented for over 30 years who keep coming back into the court system. The work can also be gratifying, knowing you are helping people who are vulnerable in that they may not have the ability to take care of themselves. By advocating for the least restrictive alternative to hospitalization, you are representing their liberty interests subject to the court determining their likelihood to harm themselves or others. However, your obligation to advocate for a mentally ill client’s liberty interest must be tempered with some measure of common sense, commensurate with the severity of the illness. Q. Between the two areas, the public defender work and the work we’ve just been discussing, your entire caseload comes from the public process? A. Well, as time allows, I do some private cases on the side. Q. When you talk about advocating for liberty issues or helping to streamline a family court system, it really highlights the important role lawyers play in our society. I don’t think the public is always aware of that. A. The reason it is not thought of is because I don’t think it is ever reported. We don’t keep track of all the pro bono work we do. Lawyers do many good things for the legal profession and in the communities. For instance, in Ramsey County we have lawyers who have participated in Humboldt High School’s designated reader-writer program, helping students improve their writing skills. We have lawyers who show up at Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s literacy program to help elementary-age inner-city kids with reading skills and homework assignments. We have many lawyers who help out at Ramsey County Bar Association’s Families First Day, where they spend a day with inner-city kids and their families participating in family-oriented festivities. Our State Bar in conjunction with the Hennepin and Ramsey Bars also sponsors an urban youth program, placing inner-city high schoolers in a variety of summer employment positions. In the last ten years, from 50 to 110 kids have participated in this program every summer. We also have members who help out nonprofit entities such as Catholic Charities and the Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul. This is only a sampling of the many good things lawyers do. Q. Do you think there’s an image problem for attorneys? A. According to the news media and the polls, you would have to say there may be an image problem to a certain extent. To suggest that there isn’t would be sticking your head in the sand. But I think the way to counteract this is to keep donating our time to worthy causes and providing legal services to all persons, rather than only to those who can pay a legal fee. Q. I can tell you feel strongly about this. How do you feel about being an attorney? A. It is a privilege to be a lawyer. It is a unique profession because you have an opportunity to represent people with their important daily affairs. And you can do things for others without charging a fee, and that makes many lawyers feel it is a profession rather than an exclusively “money-driven business.” There are so many decent, hard-working lawyers who get up every morning, put in an honest day’s work, and collectively are an effective army helping people. A Memorable Case After 30-plus years in the courtroom and thousands of cases, you might expect Jon Duckstad to have difficulty picking a favorite. Not at all. The case comes to mind easily. After more than two years of escalating court action, it was resolved in 1969, at the Supreme Court level. The United States Supreme Court, that is. Duckstad, just five years out of law school when the case started, was an assistant city attorney for St. Paul - just a “boy lawyer” as he says now. The case involved zoning rights and the city’s legal ability to use aesthetics as one of the criteria for disallowing new construction - a concept that is readily accepted today, thanks in large part to Duckstad’s case. In a nutshell, the St. Paul City Council passed an ordinance restricting the height of buildings along the Mississippi riverfront in 1966. The Chicago & North Western Railway Co. wished to develop its riverfront property into high-rise apartment buildings and so challenged the ordinance in U.S. District Court. Judge Miles Lord found for the railway, prompting an appeal by the city to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Duckstad, who had prepared the case through all its stages, argued the appeal and won. The case - City of St. Paul v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. Ry.Co., 413 F.2d 762 (8th Ct. 1969) - was finally put to rest, in the city’s favor, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to issue a writ of certiorari. (396 U.S. 985). The victory was sweet then for obvious reasons. But Duckstad has an added reason to appreciate it since he was elected president of the Minnesota State Bar Association. It seems that’s the office that was held by his opposing counsel, R. Paul Sharood, at the time the case was being decided (1968-69). Who’s the New MSBA President? Brief facts about Jon Duckstad A Leader in the Legal Community: In addition to four consecutive years as an executive officer of MSBA, culminating in the presidency, Duckstad has held more than a dozen positions with the Ramsey County Bar Association since 1969; he served as RCBA president in 1995-96. A Teacher and Volunteer: Duckstad has taught trial skills as an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law since 1983, and has volunteered in community reading and writing programs for children since 1996. A Public Defender: Duckstad has served as assistant Ramsey County public defender since 1975, handling felony cases for the first 20 years, and switching to juvenile court in 1996. He has also advocated for mentally ill and chemically dependent clients in commitment proceedings since 1971, and has served on the Minnesota Supreme Court Judicial Appeal Panel for the same period of time. A Private Practioner: A private practitioner since 1969, Duckstad has handled cases in family court, personal injury, and product liability. A Small-Town Person: Raised by schoolteacher parents, Duckstad grew up in four small Minnesota towns: Beaver Creek, Belgrade, Renville, and Princeton. AMY LINDGREN is a freelance writer based in St. Paul. She writes a weekly employment column for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and operates the career counseling firm, Prototype Career Services.
{ArticleText} |
