Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2011-2012

The following tables are derived from information contained in 60 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2011, and August 31, 2012.  This total of 60 decisions does not include one per curiam decision (Wis. Prosperity Network v. Myse) that yielded a 3-3 vote.  Nor does it include decisions pertaining to matters arising from the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility.  (The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov)

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2010-2011

The following tables are derived from information contained in 58 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2010, and August 31, 2011. This total of 58 decisions does not include three per curiam decisions (Polsky v. Virnich; Phillips v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n; and Metro. Milwaukee Ass’n of Commerce, Inc. v. City of Milwaukee), each of which yielded a 3-3 vote. Nor does it include decisions pertaining to matters arising from the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility. (The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website. http://wicourts.gov)

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2009-2010

The following tables are derived from information contained in 58 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2009, and August 31, 2010.  This total does not include rulings pertaining to recusal motions and matters arising from the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, the Office of Lawyer Regulation, and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility.  Nor does it include Ehlinger v. Hauser—in which Justice Crooks did not participate, and three other justices concurred in part and dissented in part.  The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2008-2009

The following tables are derived from information contained in 61 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2008, and August 31, 2009.  This total does not include one per curiam decision (Polsky v. Virnich) that yielded a 3-3 vote.  Nor does it include decisions pertaining to matters arising from the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility.  The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2007-2008

The following tables are derived from information contained in 68 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2007, and August 31, 2008.  This total of 68 decisions does not include (1) decisions arising from matters pertaining to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Office of Lawyer Regulation; (2) a per curiam denial of a motion to vacate a decision relating to the disqualification of a justice (Storms v. Action Wis. Inc.); (3) two per curiam denials of motions for reconsideration (Estate of Szleszinski v. Labor & Indus. Review Comm’n and State v. Grady); and (4) two 3-3 per curiam decisions (Heikkinen v. United Servs. Auto. Ass’n and Wis. Realtors Ass’n v. Town of West Point ).  The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2006-2007

 

The following tables are derived from information contained in 67 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2007. This total of 67 decisions does not include (1) decisions arising from matters pertaining to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, the Office of Lawyer Regulation, and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility; (2) Green v. State Elections Bd., in which the parties agreed that the case be dismissed, and the Court so ordered; and (3) rulings on motions for reconsideration. The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website. http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

 

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2005-2006

 

These tables are derived from information contained in 81 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2005, and August 31, 2006. The total of 81 decisions does not include the following items in the Supreme Court’s listing of opinions and dispositional orders for this period: (1) decisions arising from matters pertaining to the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility; (2) rulings on motions for reconsideration; and (3) orders regarding petitions for review. The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

 

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2004-2005

These tables are derived from information contained in 96 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2004, and August 31, 2005.  The total of 96 decisions does not include the following items in the Supreme Court’s listing of opinions and dispositional orders for this period: (1) decisions arising from lawyer-regulation matters; (2) rulings on motions for reconsideration and clarification; (3) orders requesting additional briefs; (4) review of a decision from the Board of Bar Examiners; and (5) two 3-3 decisions—Johnson v. Rogers Memorial Hospital., Inc. and Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. PSC of Wisconsin (per curiam).  The decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/ 

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

 

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2003-2004

These tables are derived from information contained in 83 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2003, and August 31, 2004.  The total of 83 decisions does not include the following items contained in the Supreme Court’s listing of opinions and dispositional orders for this period: (1) decisions arising from lawyer-regulation matters; and (2) orders arising from petitions for review.

In addition to the 83 decisions noted above, six deadlocked (3-3) per curiam decisions were filed: State v. Thornton; Lynch v. Carriage Ridge, LLC; St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Keltgen; Hoyme v. Brakken; GPS, Inc. v. Town of St. Germain; Dairyland Greyhound Park v. Doyle.  These are included only in the “Number of Oral Arguments Presented” table.

The year under consideration also witnessed an unusual outcome in DeWitt Ross & Stevens, S.C. v. Galaxy Gaming & Racing, Ltd. P’ship.  Here, neither Justice Wilcox nor Justice Prosser participated; Justice Abrahamson dissented on one issue, while Justices Crooks and Sykes dissented on a different issue.  As a result, only two justices (Bradley and Roggensack) endorsed the “majority” opinion on all issues, and three did not.  I will include this case only in the “Opinions Authored” table, the “Days Between Oral Argument and Opinion Filing” table, and the “Number of Oral Arguments Presented” table.  All of the decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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

Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies 

 

Wisconsin Supreme Court Statistics, 2002-2003

These tables are derived from information contained in 88 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions filed between September 1, 2002, and August 31, 2003.  The total of 88 decisions does not include the following items contained in the Supreme Court’s listing of opinions and dispositional orders for this period: (1) decisions arising from lawyer-regulation matters; and (2) orders arising from petitions for review and motions for reconsideration.

In addition to the 88 decisions noted above, three deadlocked (3-3) per curiam decisions were filed: State v. Agnello; State v. Greer; and Wenke v. Gehl Co.  These are included only in the “Number of Oral Arguments Presented” table.

The year under consideration also witnessed an unusual outcome in Digicorp, Inc. v. Ameritech Corp.  Here, Justices Abrahamson and Wilcox did not participate; Justices Bradley and Bablitch dissented; Justices Crooks and Prosser supported the “majority” opinion, and Justice Sykes concurred in part and dissented in part in an opinion that is difficult to categorize as either a concurrence or a dissent according to the guidelines that I follow in these circumstances.[1]  Consequently, I will include this case only in the “Days Between Oral Argument and Opinion Filing” table and the “Number of Oral Arguments Presented” table.  All of the decisions may be found on the Wisconsin Court System website.  http://wicourts.gov/

The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic according to 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
Number of Oral Arguments Presented by Individual Firms and Agencies

 


[1] When a justice concurs in part and dissent in part, the opinion is classified as a dissent if it dissents from the majority result on one or more issues.  If the opinion concurs with the majority result on all issues but disputes the majority’s reasoning in reaching some portion (or all) of this result, the opinion is classified as a concurrence.