SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN		FILED OCT 28, 1999 Marilyn L. Graves Clerk of Supreme Court Madison, WI
In the Matter of the Appointment of Committee to Review SCR Chapter 20: Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys	ORDER No. 99-06

On September 9, 1999, the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Wisconsin filed a petition asking the court to appoint a special committee to review the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys, SCR chapter 20, and report its findings and recommendations for modification of those rules to the court. The petition stated, among other things, that since the adoption, effective January 1, 1988, of those Rules, which are based in large part on the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the American Bar Association has directed its Commission on the Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct to examine and evaluate the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the rules governing professional conduct in state and federal jurisdictions, conduct research, surveys, and hearings, and formulate recommendations for action. The petition also stated that the work of the American Bar Association's Ethics 2000 project is significantly underway and that the American Law Institute's development of the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers has been completed and soon will be published.

The court has considered the petition and determines that it is premature to appoint the proposed committee at this time. The court invites the State Bar to keep apprised of the work of the American Bar Association's Commission on the Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct and its Ethics 2000 project and, if it considers it advisable, resubmit a petition addressing specific Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys after the American Bar Association's work in this area has been completed and modifications of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct have been adopted.

IT IS ORDERED that the petition is denied.

Dated at Madison, Wisconsin, this 28th day of October, 1999.

BY THE COURT:

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Marilyn L. Graves,

Clerk of Court