2008 Year in Review

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January

• A three-judge Judicial Conduct Panel recommends that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette K. Ziegler receive a reprimand for sitting on 11 cases involving a bank where her husband was a director when she was a Washington Country Circuit Court judge. Ziegler's colleagues on the high court issue a per curiam decision in June accepting that recommendation.
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopts changes to SCR 20:5.5, including a provision for the limited licensing of in-house counsel for a single employer to practice in the state. As the year passes, the court makes additional rules changes with regard to multijurisdictional practice, including passing a measure to allow trial court judges discretion over pro hac vice admissions.

February

• Unusually heavy snow accumulations cause several courts to close their doors for all or part of the day on Feb. 6, causing the need to reschedule thousands of cases. The closed courts included the circuit courts of Dane, Jefferson, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Rock, Washington and Waukesha counties, as well as Districts I, II and IV of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Eastern District Bankruptcy Court.
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court votes to include members of the judiciary in the assessment of $50 fee paid annually to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation. The justices also vote to keep WisTAF as the only organization authorized to collect and disseminate the fees, reversing an earlier indication that the justices might be inclined to allow bar members the option of choosing a law-related civil legal services entity other than WisTAF.

March

• Gov. Jim Doyle formally clarifies the distinction between a public notary and an attorney for the benefit of members of the Hispanic community who do not understand the difference by signing into law AB 468, criminalizing the practice of law by notary publics in Wisconsin.
• Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge John Siefert expresses a desire to join the Democratic Party and files a federal lawsuit challenging a prohibition against judges joining political parties in the Wisconsin Judicial Code of Ethics. In June, Western District of Wisconsin Judge Barbara Crabb denies his request for an injunction of the code, but the case continues and is set for a bench trial on May 4, 2009.

April

• For the first time in more than four decades, a sitting State Supreme Court justice, Louis B. Butler Jr., loses in his bid for election to the state's highest court to Burnett County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Gableman. In addition, incumbent Judge Lisa Neubauer defeats William C. Gleisner III in the election for District II Court of Appeals.
• Douglas W. Kammer is elected by a narrow margin over two opponents as president-elect of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Kammer, who entered the race by petition rather than by the bar's Nominating Committee, made the question of whether the bar should remain a mandatory organization the centerpiece of his campaign.

May

• Dianne S. Diel is sworn in as president of the State Bar of Wisconsin at its annual meeting in May. Diel promises to have a serious discussion about whether the bar should remain a mandatory organization.
• Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor tells a group of about 700 that they have an important role in supporting judicial independence at the Milwaukee Bar Association's 150th Anniversary Luncheon. At that same meeting, attorney Maria S. Lazar is sworn as president of the state's largest local bar association.

June

• Judge Barbara B. Crabb dismisses Wiesmueller v. Kosobucki, in which attorney Christopher Wiesmueller sought to extend Wisconsin's diploma privilege to graduates of law schools outside the state's borders. He appeals the ruling to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Former State Bar of Wisconsin president Steven A. Levine files a complaint against the bar, arguing that the association must allow attorneys the opportunity to decline to pay for its public image campaign by opting for an additional $5.25 as part of the Keller dues rebate. In December, arbitrator Christopher Honeyman rules against Levine's claim, but does not decide the broader issue of whether the charges are constitutional, leaving the door open for Levine to raise that issue in a court challenge.

July

• The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reports that campaign finance reports filed with state regulators show that the candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Louis B. Butler Jr. and Michael Gableman, were outspent 4-1 by special interest groups. The two candidates spent a combined $1.2 million, while outside groups spent about $4.8 million. The $6 million total makes it the most expensive judicial race in the state's history.
• Attorney Theresa Kobelt becomes the 150th president of the Dane County Bar association.

August

• A Wisconsin Law Journal analysis of the decisions of the 2007-2008 Wisconsin Supreme Court term reveals that Justice N. Patrick Crooks had a perfect record of no dissents in any cases, making him the one justice who was in the majority 100 percent of the time.
• Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge Benjamin D. Proctor is unanimously elected “Chief of the Chiefs” by the Wisconsin Committee of Chief Judges.

September

• Gov. Jim Doyle fills the vacancy on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals with the appointment of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Kitty K. Brennan. Doyle* later appoints Deputy Chief Judge Jeffrey A. Kremers to the role of Dist. 1 chief. *(The Supreme Court appointed Kremers to the position of chief judge.)
• Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen files a lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board demanding that election officials verify the identities of thousands of voters registered since Jan. 1, 2006, pursuant to the 2002 Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, before the Nov. 4 election. Dane County Circuit Court Judge MaryAnn Sumi later dismisses his lawsuit before the election, but Van Hollen appeals for future elections.

October

• The Wisconsin Judicial Commission files an ethics complaint with the Wisconsin Supreme Court against newly sworn-in Justice Michael Gableman, alleging that a television ad run by his campaign contained “false statements” and a “misrepresentation of the facts.” In his responsive pleading, Gableman countersues, challenging SCR 60.06 on the grounds that it is overly broad, vague and does not satisfy strict scrutiny.
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court votes 6-1 to allow lawyers to cite unpublished Court of Appeals decisions for their persuasive value. The new rule takes effect July 1, 2009.

November

The Wisconsin Supreme Court takes another step toward e-filing by enacting a requirement that, as of July 1, 2009, attorneys will be required to file briefs and no-merit reports with the state appellate courts and petitions and subsequent responses with the high court, both in paper and electronic form.
• Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Randy R. Koschnick announces his candidacy against Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, characterizing himself as one who abides by the letter of the law. Abrahamson has been a Supreme Court justice since 1976.

December

• As the state faces a projected $5.4 billion budget shortfall, state Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, chair of the Senate Committee on Tax Fairness and Family Prosperity, observes that the among the alternatives to raising taxes might be implementing a tax on services, including legal services. State Bar President Diane Diel responds that a tax on legal services would put numerous clients at a disadvantage, including “the elderly addressing their personal and financial needs, young families buying their first home, and entrepreneurs incorporating a new business.”

  Less than a month after Barack Obama wins the presidential election, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Steven M. Biskupic, announces his resignation, to take effect Jan. 9. Biskupic, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including Milwaukee alderman Michael McGee, state Sen. Gary George and several Milwaukee police officers in the Frank Jude beating case.