Hon. Richard J. Sankovitz

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How can someone tell if a judge is doing their job?

Nobody talks about them, said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Richard J. Sankovitz.

However, Sankovitz did too much in 2007 to stay completely out of conversations among members of the legal community. In addition to presiding over a historic lead paint trial, Sankovitz continued to advocate for improved legal services for the poor.

“I think people think of a judge as being the center of the show, kind of like the ringmaster of a circus,” said Sankovitz. “We get to sit in the seat that’s highest in the courtroom and people’s eyes seem to be on us from time to time.”

That was certainly the case last November, when the first of dozens of individual cases against the lead paint industry was resolved. After a highly-contested five-week trial, a jury unanimously ruled that plaintiff Steven Thomas was not brain-damaged because of ingesting lead paint.

Attorneys for Thomas had sought $2.2 million in damages from several lead paint manufacturers.

Sankovitz said the complexity of the case brought out the best in the attorneys involved as they advocated for their clients.

In an attempt to relieve some of the stress from those efforts, the judge provided another, more straightforward, competitive outlet for attorneys in the case — picking winners in the weekend football games.

“It was a way of lightening things up,” said Sankovitz, noting that was particularly important given the high stakes in a case.

Sankovitz is also hoping to up the ante for providing better legal services for the poor.

Last year he co-authored the “Access to Justice” report which sparked a $1 million allotment in the state budget. But Sankovitz says the initiative still has a long way to go to match the commitments of neighboring states.

“The critical thing is Wisconsin is trying to duplicate what’s been done in other states,” said Sankovitz.

He also hopes a permanent coalition will be established to sustain the initial momentum of the budget provision.

“I would have thought, now a year after the report, that the coalition would be in place, we would have a permanent access to justice commission and we would be sitting down with a detailed strategy for how we find a place in these woeful budget times for the $32 million package that we recommended,” said Sankovitz. “And we haven’t gotten that far, but I’m optimistic, because it’s the right thing to do.”