Full List of Winners

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Best Rainmaker
Robert L. Habush
Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., Milwaukee
2nd: Franklyn M. Gimbel
Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, Milwaukee
3rd: David G. Walsh
Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison

Best Mediator
William A. Jennaro
Cook & Franke S.C., Milwaukee
2nd: Joseph D. McDevitt
McDevitt Mediation Services, Wauwatosa
3rd: Hon. Patrick L. Snyder
Waukesha County Circuit Court

Best Supreme Court Justice
Hon. Shirley S. Abrahamson, Chief Justice
2nd: Hon. Ann Walsh Bradley
3rd: Hon. N. Patrick Crooks

Best Court of Appeals Judge
Hon. Richard S. Brown, Chief Judge, District II
2nd: Hon. Ralph Adam Fine, District I
3rd: Hon. Patricia S. Curley, District I

Best Circuit Court Judge
Hon. John J. DiMotto
Milwaukee County Circuit Court
2nd: Hon. Richard J. Sankovitz
Milwaukee County Circuit Court
3rd: Hon. Donald R. Zuidmulder
Brown County Circuit Court

Best U.S. District Court Judge
Hon. Barbara B. Crabb
Western District of Wisconsin
2nd: Hon. Lynn S. Adelman,
Eastern District of Wisconsin
3rd: Hon. William C. Griesbach
Eastern District of Wisconsin

Best Courtroom Clerk
Carol Boettger, Branch 5, Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Linda Kokemueller, Branch 42, Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Elizabeth McDonough, Branch 1, Walworth County Circuit Court
Heidi Schneider, Deputy Clerk, Waukesha County Circuit Court
We had a four-way tie for first place!

Best Bailiff
Addison “Butch” Steady
Butch Steady was a bailiff in Waukesha for 18 years until he retired last
December. Steady was originally hired as a correctional officer in 1981 and then became a deputy in 1990.
2nd: Frank Micale, Court Attendant, Jefferson County

Best Courthouse
Brown County Circuit Court
2nd: Dane County Circuit Court
3rd: Federal Courthouse, Milwaukee

Best Legal Organization
State Bar of Wisconsin
With about 15,845 members in Wisconsin, it is the largest legal
organization in the state. The group was organized as the Wisconsin Bar
Association in 1878. In 1956 the Supreme Court made membership mandatory for attorneys practicing in the state and renamed it the State Bar of Wisconsin.
During a brief period in the early 1990s when membership was voluntary, 87 percent of the state’s lawyers maintained their membership.
Today the group has 26 sections based on the law practice interests
of its members. It also maintains more than two dozen committees dedicated to everything from Lawyer Dispute Resolution to the Unauthorized Practice of Law.
2nd: Wisconsin Association for Justice
3rd: Milwaukee Bar Association

Best Law Professor
Daniel D. Blinka
Marquette University Law School
2nd: Ralph M. Cagle
University of Wisconsin Law School
3rd: Larry Church
University of Wisconsin Law School
Thomas J. Hammer
Marquette University Law School
Peter K. Rofes
Marquette University Law School

Best Law Event
Judges Night
Milwaukee Bar Association
Every February, the Milwaukee Bar Association provides attorneys with the opportunity to mingle with members of the judiciary serving Milwaukee, in the historic Grain Exchange room at the Mackie Building. About 450 legal professionals typically gather to talk with their colleagues, judges and state Supreme Court justices, while sampling a wide variety of hors d’oeuvres.
2nd: Annual Convention, State Bar of Wisconsin
3rd: Solo and Small Firm Conference, Milwaukee Bar Association
State Bar of Wisconsin

Best Dressed Male Lawyer
Steven R. Kohn
Kohn & Smith Law Offices, Milwaukee
2nd: Stephan J. Nickels
Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison
3rd: Randall D. Crocker
von Briesen & Roper S.C., Milwaukee

Best Dressed Female Lawyer
Alexa P. Wautier
Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison
2nd: Patricia Kling Ballman
Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee
3rd: Beth J. Kushner
von Briesen & Roper S.C., Milwaukee
Billie J. Smith
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee

Best Pro Bono Effort
Volunteer Lawyer Project
Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc.,
2nd: Wisconsin Innocence Project
University of Wisconsin Law School
3rd: Volunteer Lawyer Project
Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee Inc.

Best Law Office View
Foley & Lardner LLP, Milwaukee
2nd: Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., Milwaukee
3rd: Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Milwaukee
Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee

Best In-State Off-Site Retreat Spot
American Club, Kohler
If you are looking for a place to hold that off-site retreat, readers say the American Club in Kohler is the place to be. It was originally built in 1918 as a boarding house for immigrants working in the Kohler Co. factory. In 1981 it was renovated by the Kohler Co. and today it is a luxury resort hotel.
2nd: The Osthoff Resort, Elkhart Lake
3rd: Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells
Red Crown Lodge, Trout Lake

Best Law-Related Web Site
Wisbar
State Bar of Wisconsin
The State Bar of Wisconsin first launched Wisbar in 1996 and in 2004 the site underwent a major revision. Since then the site, which has more than 95,000 content pages, has had numerous updates and enhancements.
In 2008 more than 2.47 million visitors went to the site and viewed more than 13 million pages. The five most popular sections or services are related to CLE seminars, legal research, the lawyer directory, My State Bar member-specific pages, and classified advertisements.
2nd: CCAP
3rd: Wisconsin Law Journal

Best Legal Blog
Deliberations
Anne Reed
Looking for an engaging and insightful blog about jury issues? Set your Web browser for Anne Reed’s Deliberations. Reed, a shareholder at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., brings her extraordinary judgment and experience as a trial lawyer and a jury consultant to her blog.
During the past two years, the ABA Journal recognized Reed’s blog as one of the top 100 Web sites in the country developed by lawyers for lawyers. They observed, “Those who are looking for insights into what makes a jury tick will find answers at Deliberations, a smart, captivating blog…”
2nd: Althouse
3rd: Marquette University Law School Faculty,
Proof and Hearsay,
Ross Ipsa Loquitor

Best Annual CLE Program
Annual Convention State Bar of Wisconsin
Each May, the State Bar of Wisconsin holds its annual convention attracting about 1,000 attorneys for three days of continuing legal education programs and events. Last year, the group held 29 CLE sessions; the most heavily attended was the Professional Ethics program, which drew 135 attendees. The event also features the swearing in of the new State Bar president each year.
2nd: Annual Criminal Defense Conference
State Public Defender
3rd: Summer Seminar, Egg Harbor
Wisconsin Association for Justice

Best Lawyer-Turned-Politician
Gov. Jim Doyle
Sen. Russ Feingold
3rd: Mayor Tom Barrett
City of Milwaukee

Best Lawyer to Fill Out a Foursome in Golf
Brian W. Bauman
Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison
2nd: Richard J. “Jeff” Carpenter
State Public Defender, Milwaukee
Sarah DeKraay
Eustice, Laffey, Sebranek & Auby S.C., Sun Prairie

Best Lawyer to Sit Next to at a Law Event
Carl R. Kugler
Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison
2nd: Kelly L. Centofanti
Centofanti Phillips S.C., Mequon
3rd: Multiple Tying Entries

Best Place for Lunch with a Client
Wisconsin Club, Milwaukee
Readers said the best place for lunch with a client is the Wisconsin Club, an elegant French Second Empire-style mansion across the street from the Milwaukee County Courthouse. The 133-year-old mansion was originally the home of Alexander Mitchell, a powerful figure in Milwaukee’s banking and insurance industries. The Wisconsin Club offers a choice of formal dining in the first-floor Mitchell Room or casual dining at Alexander’s sports bar and grill downstairs.
2nd: Mason Street Grill, Milwaukee
3rd: Lake Park Bistro, Milwaukee

Best Place for a High-Powered Dinner
Bacchus, Milwaukee
Bartolotta’s Bacchus is a sleek and stylish restaurant, located in the historic Cudahy Tower on East Wells in Milwaukee. Bacchus offers fine dining with an emphasis on fresh seafood, handmade pastas, and grilled meats.
2nd: Eddie Martini’s, Wauwatosa
3rd: Carnevor Steakhouse Moderne, Milwaukee
Mason Street Grill, Milwaukee

Best Lawyer Hangout
Wisconsin Club, Milwaukee
Once again, lawyers turned to Alexander Mitchell’s historic mansion located across the street from the Milwaukee Courthouse as the place to be.
2nd: Mo’s Irish Pub, Milwaukee
Flannery’s Bar and Restaurant, Milwaukee

Best Place to Get a Power Suit
Brooks Brothers
Harleys: The Store For Men, Shorewood
We wound up with a tie between hometown clothier Harleys and New York-based clothier Brooks Brothers. Shorewood-based Harleys has been outfitting men in fine clothes for 60 years. Brooks Brothers, founded in 1818, has stores across the country including three in Wisconsin.
3rd: Macy’s
Roger Stevens, Milwaukee