As detailed below, three teams gained points from a trio of these week’s decisions, thereby tightening up the standings considerably.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Inc. v. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
The Writs (5 points for a brief and oral argument from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty).
The Affirmed (3 points for a brief from the WMC Litigation Center and 1 point for an amicus brief from Stafford Rosenbaum).

Wisconsin State Legislature v. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
The Affirmed (1 point for an amicus brief from the WMC Litigation Center).

Service Employees International Union Healthcare Wisconsin v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission
The Waivers (10 points from Quarles & Brady for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome).
The Writs (5 points for a brief and oral argument from Pines Bach).

Several years ago, a pair of posts examined two important trends in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals: (1) the sharp decline in the total number of decisions issued, and (2) the decreasing percentage of those decisions that were published.  Both trends matter because they affect the volume of precedential authority available to the legal community and the number of cases eligible for supreme court review.  With six more years of data now in hand, this update takes another look at what has—and hasn’t—changed.[Continue Reading…]

This week’s decision in Josh Kaul v. Wisconsin State Legislature bestowed five points on the Waivers for a brief and oral argument by Troutman Pepper Locke—bringing them back into a tie with the Gavels in their see-saw battle for third place.

Click here for the complete standings.

This week’s decision in State v. Kordell L. Grady provided five points to the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office for a brief and oral argument, moving them into sole possession of third place.  Click here for the current standings.

These tables are derived from information contained in 295 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1922, and August 31, 1923.  The total of 295 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and disciplinary matters involving lawyers and judges. 

Cases are omitted if they were decided during the previous term but appeared in the search results because motions for reconsideration were not decided until 1922-23.  Such cases will be included in the tables for 1921-22.  Also omitted is Seaman v. McNamara—an odd case where the identity of the majority opinion’s author is unclear.  Justice Jones is the apparent author, but in his conclusion he dissents from the court’s decision.  Justice Crownhart also dissents, and Justice Eschweiler dissented “in part” (without authoring an opinion to explain his views).

When two or more cases were, in effect, consolidated—one was simply said to be ruled by the decision in the other—the cases are counted as only one.  For instance: (1) West Allis v. Milwaukee and Shorewood v. Milwaukee; (2) State ex rel. Union Free High School Dist. v. Chaney and State ex rel. Union Free High School v. Robbins; and (3) Milwaukee Electric R. & Light Co. v. Shorewood and Wisconsin General Ry. v. Shorewood.

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic in the subsets listed below.

Four-to-Three Decisions
Decisions Arranged by Vote Split
Frequency of Justices in the Majority
Distribution of Opinion Authorship
Frequency of Agreement Between Pairs of Justices

With this week’s decision in State v. H. C., the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office picked up five points for a brief and oral argument, joining the Waivers in third place.  Click here for the current standings.

No decisions were filed this week–hence, no change in the standings.

It’s time again for the biannual survey of attorneys who deliver frequent oral arguments at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Our tables differ considerably from those of earlier posts,^[1] reflecting the dramatic change in the court’s output.[Continue Reading…]

This week’s decision in Melissa A. Hubbard v. Carol J. Neuman, MD did not bring any points to fantasy league teams–hence, no change in the standings.

No decisions were filed this week–hence, no change in the standings.