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Judicial Council to tackle tort-reform bill, new rule-change proposals

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//February 14, 2018//

Judicial Council to tackle tort-reform bill, new rule-change proposals

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//February 14, 2018//

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The Wisconsin Judicial Council, despite its lack of an official budget, plans to discuss pending legislation involving changes to tort law and decide whether it should submit proposals to the Wisconsin Supreme Court calling for various rule changes.

The 21-member independent body studies and advises the high court and the state Legislature on matters that involve court system procedures and operations.

Gov. Scott Walker has twice proposed eliminating the council. Even so, the governor decided last year to accept lawmakers’ recommendation against eliminating the state statutes establishing the Judicial Council. Walker instead struck language from the state’s 2017-2019 budget that would have let the Supreme Court set up and pay for a similar body after the court had notified the state Department of Administration that it would not be paying for the current council’s operations. The court made the decision after the council had approved giving its staff attorney her first raise in years.

Since then, the council has been searching for an alternative source of money and has appointed one of its members to temporarily take on tasks previously performed by the staff attorney.

The council will meet 9:30 a.m. Friday in Room 328 North East in the state Capitol.

The council’s agenda calls for  recognizing Court of Appeals Judge Brian Blanchard’s work on the council. Blanchard, who was a member and vice chair of the council, resigned at the council’s last meeting. The council will also be discussing selecting a replacement for the vice chair position that Blanchard held.

The council will also discuss whether to go forward with proposals calling for various rule changes. One proposed change would amend the state’s default-judgement rules. Another calls for correcting Wis. Stat. 893.793 by adding back a provision that had been inadvertently deleted.

The council will also discuss two so-called tort reform bills that are pending in the state Legislature. The two bills, Assembly Bill 773 and Senate Bill 645, propose changing some of the state’s civil-litigation rules, including those involving discovery and class-action lawsuits.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has already adopted a council proposal meant to make those rules mirror their federal counterparts. The new rules go into effect July 1.

The changes proposed in the two bills would go beyond what the council had proposed by adding a fifth criteria that plaintiffs would have to meet to get class certification, and allowing immediate, mandatory appeals of class-certification orders. Filing for an appeal of that sort would stay all proceedings in a case.

Members of the council – both plaintiff and defense lawyers – have expressed misgivings about the bill.

Since the council’s last meeting, two lawmakers who are also personal-injury lawyers have proposed a substitute amendment for AB 773 that would, among other things, strip out the changes in the bill involving class-action lawsuits.

In other business, the council will also discuss what to do with its books and files, and how it should handle mail and emails sent to the council.

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