From this week’s sole decision (Cree, Inc. v. LIRC), the Waivers picked up 10 points from Quarles & Brady’s brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome, while the Writs gained a point from Legal Action of Wisconsin’s amicus brief.  As a result, the Waivers and Writs strengthened their grips on first and second place respectively.

Click here for the complete, updated standings.

These tables are derived from information contained in 198 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1950, and August 31, 1951.  The total of 198 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to disciplinary matters involving lawyers, nor to petitions, motions, applications, and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions). 

Also excluded is Lake Geneva v. Walworth County, which yielded a 3-3 split. 

After deciding In re Robbins’ Estate, the justices granted a motion for rehearing and revoked their previous mandate.  I have counted this case only once, though one could argue that it should be counted twice. 

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
Average Time Between Oral Argument and Opinions Authored by Each Justice

This week’s decisions furnished an unusually large number of points, primarily because so many firms participated in Billie Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.  When the dust settled, the Waivers and the Writs remained in their positions at the top of the standings, while the Affirmed slipped past the idle Gavels into third place.  As detailed below, Stafford Rosenbaum led all scorers with 15 points, and three other firms—Pines Bach, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, and von Briesen & Roper—each contributed ten.

The Writs, 21 points.
Pines Bach, 10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Billie Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, 5 points for a brief and oral argument in Brown County v. Brown County Taxpayers Association
and 5 points for a brief and oral argument in Billie Johnson.
Michael Best & Friedrich, 1 point for an amicus brief in Brown County.

The Waivers, 21 points.
von Briesen & Roper, 10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Brown County.
Troutman Pepper, 5 points for a brief and oral argument in Billie Johnson.
Boardman & Clark, 5 points for a brief and oral argument in Billie Johnson.
Hawks Quindel, 1 point for an amicus brief in Billie Johnson.

The Affirmed, 15 points.
Stafford Rosenbaum, 10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Billie Johnson
and 5 points for a brief and oral argument in Loren Imhoff Homebuilder, Inc. v. Lisa Taylor and Luis Cuevas.

The sole decision filed this week brought no points to any of the league’s teams–hence, no change in the standings.

A post at the end of the 2019-20 term noted the soaring number of original-action petitions accepted by the court and suggested that this could be regarded as a measure of judicial activism.  Today we’ll revisit the topic to see how data for 2020-21 compare to that of previous terms—and explore the possible impact on these figures produced by changes in the court’s membership.[Continue Reading…]

Every team except the Affirmed gained points from this week’s pair of decisions, with the Waivers leading the way.  Going into the week only one point ahead of the Writs at the top of the standings, they stretched their lead with 10 points from Boardman & Clark’s brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Elliot Brey v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.  The Writs managed a point from Godfrey & Kahn for an amicus brief in Brey v. State Farm, but this left them only three points clear of the third-place Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office who collected five points for a brief and oral argument in State v. Christopher W. Yakich.   

Click here for the complete, updated standings.

The court did not file any decisions this week–hence, no change in the standings.

These tables are derived from information contained in 218 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1951, and August 31, 1952.  The total of 218 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to disciplinary matters involving lawyers, nor to petitions, motions, applications, and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions).  I have also omitted Hughes v. Fetter, in which a per curiam filing set aside the court’s original mandate after it had been overruled by the US Supreme Court.

When two 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.  This occurred with (1) Chernin v. International Oil Company (261 Wis. 543) and Chernin v. International Oil Company (261 Wis. 547); (2) Quady v. Sickl (260 Wis. 348) and Quady v. Sickl (260 Wis. 355); (3) State v. Harrison (260 Wis. 89) and State v. Harrison (260 Wis. 96); (4) Wuesthoff v. Wisconsin Dep’t of Taxation (261 Wis. 98) and Wuesthoff v. Wisconsin Dep’t of Taxation (261 Wis. 105); and (5) Wagner v. Peiffer (259 Wis. 566) and Peiffer v. Wagner (259 Wis. 583).

After deciding In re Baldwin’s Will, the justices responded to a motion for clarification by amending their mandate slightly.  I have counted this case only once, though one could argue that it should be counted twice. 

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
Average Time Between Oral Argument and Opinions Authored by Each Justice

The court did not file any decisions this week–hence, no change in the standings.

This week’s decisions showered points on all four teams, with the Waivers—powered by Troutman Pepper—leading the way.  Their 10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Andrew Waity v. Devin Lemahieu nudged the Waivers into first place, one point ahead of the Writs, who picked up five points from Pines Bach for a brief and oral argument in the same case.  Meanwhile, the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office continued their strong early showing with five points for a brief and oral argument in State v. Octavia W. Dodson, which kept them solidly in third place.  Stafford Rosenbaum rounded out the scoring by delivering a point to the Affirmed with an amicus brief in Waity v. Lemahieu.

Click here for the complete, updated standings.