Mosley grants rival fans their day in court

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Municipal judges always are busy, but there are times when the traffic in Milwaukee County Judge Derek Mosley’s court especially is heavy.

In particular, the span of Summerfest and anytime the Chicago Cubs come to town tend to yield a high volume of underage drinking tickets and disorderly conduct violations, he said.

Mosley, a native of Chicago’s South Side, said he always had done his best to ensure that even rival fans get their day in court, although he acknowledged that most simply pay their fine and don’t bother showing up to contest the violation.

Still, after a decade on the bench, Mosley, 40, takes pride in being much more of a listener than a talker.

While municipal court often is an assembly line of cases, he tries to let everyone have their say, which is no small task given that Mosley handles about 165,000 cases a year.

Before becoming a judge, the 1995 Marquette Law School graduate cut his teeth as a prosecutor in Milwaukee.

With another visit from the Cubs coming up, Mosley is preparing for an influx of cases, but found time to take a swing at this week’s Asked & Answered.

Wisconsin Law Journal: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be about?
Derek Mosley: That is easy. I would have one called, “How the States Got Their Shape.” I think it is something lawyers would find interesting because each state has their own niche. Some have natural river borders, while others are carved out differently. I still can’t understand why Wisconsin doesn’t have the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

WLJ: What was your least favorite course in law school and why?
Mosley: Probably legal writing because I was an English major. I’m trying to write these briefs and all they want is facts and law. It violates every law of descriptive writing and trying to paint a picture.

WLJ: What do you consider your biggest achievement to date and why?
Mosley: When I was a Leader in the Law from the Wisconsin Law Journal last year. No one knew this, but my mom was battling stage four cancer and came to the event despite being weak and going through chemo. She passed away a short time after and it meant so much that she was there when I got the award.

WLJ: What is the one luxury item you cannot live without?
Mosley: My smart phone. Are you kidding me? If this goes down I’ve got dates for meetings, speeches and weddings that I wouldn’t remember.

WLJ: What is one thing attorneys should know that they won’t learn in law school?
Mosley: We are given two ears and one mouth for one reason, to listen more than we speak. Attorneys are so quick to talk all the time when listening makes things easier.

WLJ: What is the first concert you went to?
Mosley: Run DMC, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy all on one bill and it was hot. It was down at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago in the early ’80s. I was about 12 or 13 and was into break dancing. I had the parachute pants and was ready to throw down.

WLJ: If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be and why?
Mosley: Summerfest President and CEO Don Smiley. Music and Milwaukee are my two passions and to combine those two into one job, I would trade places with him in a minute.

WLJ: What is your motto?
Mosley: “To the world we are one person. But to one person we can be the world.” I use that all the time in court.

WLJ: What is your favorite movie about lawyers or the law and why?
Mosley: “A Few Good Men.” Because of that movie, while I was in law school I interned for the U.S. Army JAG Corps at Fort Carson in Colorado. I thought it would be pretty cool and then realized that bullet hurt. You are a soldier first and a lawyer second.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what career would you have chosen?
Mosley: I think I would be doing something publicity related for the City of Milwaukee, like public relations and selling the city to the state or the rest of the country as a place to come for restaurants, theater and the lake. I’m a big fan of Milwaukee.

Jack Zemlicka can be reached at [email protected].