Best U.S. District Court Judge

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Hon. Barbara B. Crabb
Western District of Wisconsin

Don’t let the last name fool you.

U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb is a very nice person.

That is unless an attorney fails to meet her deadline in the Western District court.

Since first being appointed a part-time U.S. magistrate judge in 1971, and then being appointed to the newly created district court judgeship in 1979, the types of cases that have come to her court have changed, but her philosophy has not.

“I’m still pretty rigid and that experience comes from my own,” said Crabb, who is chief judge in the district. “Knowing that people work for deadlines, if I say, this is when it’s due, people get it done.”

But she is also realistic.

“I do try and accommodate lawyers to a small degree and give some consideration to their schedules,” Crabb said. “You have to be willing to listen to both sides.”

That is especially true now given that some of the cases coming to court differ greatly from those of the 1970s.

When she first joined the bench, the majority of cases that came to her court dealt with draft dodging or bank robberies. Now the district is seeing numerous patent cases regarding technology that did not exist in 1971.

“I always say people go to law school because they don’t know how to do anything practical,” Crabb joked. “I’m not an engineer and some of these patent cases are extremely complex.”