This past week the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office added 16 points to their league-leading total (with a brief, oral argument and a 3-3 decision in Portage County v. E. R. R. and a brief, oral argument, and favorable decision in State v. Anthony James Jendusa).  Meanwhile, Reinhart Boerner Van Duren delivered a point to the Waivers with an amicus brief in Portage County v. E. R. R.

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

These tables are derived from information contained in 238 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1961, and August 31, 1962.  The total of 238 decisions does not include rulings arising from various petitions, motions, applications and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions).^[1]

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic in the subsets listed below.  Justice Gordon replaced Justice Martin in January of 1962, and Justice Wilkie replaced Justice Broadfoot in May—which is why nine justices appear in the following tables.

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

[1] Among the omitted items is In re Estate of Todd, a brief deadlocked per curiam decision.

This week Godfrey & Kahn delivered 10 points to the Citations for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Ted Ritter v. Tony Farrow—thereby propelling the Citations into a tie with the Affirmed for second place.

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

This week’s decisions enabled the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office to pad their lead slightly, with five points for a brief and oral argument in Waupaca County v. K.E.K.

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With seven points from Godfrey & Kahn (for a brief and a partially-favorable outcome in Mohns Inc. v. BMO Harris Bank National Association), the Citations leaped out of the cellar and past the Writs into fourth place—the only scoring generated by the sole decision filed this week.

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This week’s decisions nudged the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office into first place, with five points for a brief and oral argument in State v. Brian L. Halverson.  Meanwhile, the Writs broke into the scoring with a point from Pines Bach for an amicus brief in Michael Anderson v. Town of Newbold.

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I received an appeal from a reader regarding the Fantasy-League scoring in Mark Jefferson v. Dane County, Wisconsin.  In a nutshell, his protest contended that Husch Blackwell and Stafford Rosenbaum each won an issue and lost an issue—and that, on the “more important issue,” Husch Blackwell lost.   

So, I asked two appellate lawyers (with no connection to the case) to have a look at the decision with a focus on the question of whether it favored Husch or Stafford.  They agreed that the available information made it difficult to respond confidently—with one preferring not to name a “victor” and the other leaning toward Husch.  Thus, Husch will receive 8 points and Stafford 7—with the standings adjusted accordingly.

The Law Firm Fantasy League’s sixth season has begun in spirited fashion, with three teams tightly bunched at the top of the standings after impressive opening performances.

Kasdorf Lewis & Swietlik (10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Gail Moreschi v. Village of Williams Bay and Town of Linn ETZ Zoning Board of Appeals) and Stafford Rosenbaum (5 points for a brief and oral argument in Mark Jefferson v. Dane County, Wisconsin) delivered 15 points to the Affirmed, which matched the total posted by the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office (5 points each for briefs and oral arguments in State v. Kevin L. Nash, State v. Jamie Lane Stephenson, and State v. Leevan Roundtree).

Hot on their heels are the Waivers, powered by Husch Blackwell (10 points for a brief, oral argument, and favorable outcome in Mark Jefferson v. Dane County, Wisconsin) and Henak Law Office (two points for amicus briefs in State v. George E. Savage and State v. Angel Mercado).

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