Doyle appoints Congdon to Waukesha County bench

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It took a congratulatory lunch on a Friday afternoon for attorney Richard A. Congdon to realize how much he is going to miss practicing law.

After 34 years as a lawyer, including the last 27 at Congdon, Walden, Schuster & Vaklyes, S.C., he was appointed to succeed Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Mark S. Gempeler, who retired on Dec. 2.

“Professionally, I expect it is going to be a smooth transition, but it hit me emotionally at the lunch,” said Congdon, who beat out eight other applicants for the vacancy.

Congdon’s investiture is scheduled for Feb. 16 and his term runs until July 31, 2010. He will be assigned to criminal court.

Though he has never run for judge nor applied for a vacancy in the past, Congdon, 59, said he planned to pursue a position on the bench at some point, and the retirement of Gempeler provided an inexpensive opportunity.

“Sure, an appointment is more preferable than the expense of an election,” said Congdon, who will run for a full six-year term next year.

“There may or may not be competition, and if there is, I may or may not survive that challenge,” said Congdon, who is former chair of the Waukesha County Democratic Party. “Right now, I’m just pleased to be able to have the opportunity to serve on the bench and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

While he has done criminal defense in the past, Congdon said the bulk of his current practice deals with family law. But he anticipates his three-plus decades of broad experience have prepared him for life on the bench.

He also said that given his experience in Waukesha County, the majority of criminal matters coming to court will not be “glory cases.”

“It’s more than looking at cases that make headlines,” Congdon said. “There are hundreds of cases like drunk driving or operating after revocation that is going to be the bulk of my caseload.”

Though he was one of three candidates who interviewed with Doyle for the seat, Congdon said he began working in advance with the seven other attorneys at the firm to ensure his cases would be reassigned or resolved if chosen for the vacancy.

“We’ve made contingency plans all along,” Congdon said. “I had some degree of confidence that I would be the lucky one, so I wanted to make sure there was a game plan.”

Other candidates for the vacancy included Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Lloyd V. Carter, Court Commissioner Linda A. M. Georgeson, and attorneys Peter M. Wolff of Wolff & Sonderhouse LLP, Paul G. Bonneson of Law Offices of Paul G Bonneson, Ness Flores of Flores & Reyes, James E. Huismann of Vollmar & Huismann S.C., Dennis R. Krueger of Wisconsin Department of Justice, and Gerard F. Kuchler of Kuchler and Cotton Law Offices.

Aside from winding down his practice after almost 35 years, Congdon said he will no longer be a named partner at the firm he helped build.

“That’s not allowed, so they will have to buy new stationery,” Congdon said. “They’re not too happy about that part.”