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.
Click here for the complete, updated standings.
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.
Click here for the complete, updated standings.
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).
Click here for the complete, updated standings.
These tables are derived from information contained in 219 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1962, and August 31, 1963. The total of 219 decisions does not include rulings arising from (1) disciplinary matters involving lawyers, and (2) 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.
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 are State v. Roggensack, a brief 3-3 per curiam decision and a longer-than-normal per curiam ruling on a motion for rehearing in Wojciuk v. United States Rubber Co.
Nearly all the attention at this year’s winter meeting of the Competition Committee focused on strengthening the lineups of the three teams at the bottom of last season’s standings—the Citations, Affirmed, and Writs. To this end, six law firms that did not appear before the Supreme Court over the last two terms have been relegated to the developmental league and replaced by firms whose recent activity bodes well for the teams that selected them. The most coveted acquisition of last year’s off-season, Husch Blackwell, exceeded all expectations on the way to amassing 25 points for the Waivers during the 2019-20 campaign. If any of the six new firms delivers something approaching this dazzling total, its team might dare to imagine challenging the league’s perennial champion, the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s office.
As in the past, scoring summaries will be posted here weekly, beginning in mid-January. Meanwhile, fans can click on the appropriate link to view team rosters updated with the new law firms signed this offseason.
These tables are derived from information contained in 293 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1963, and August 31, 1964. The total of 293 decisions does not include rulings arising from (1) disciplinary matters involving lawyers, and (2) various petitions, motions, applications and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions).[1]
The decision filed on October 29, 1963 in State v. Hoyt (21 Wis. 2d 310) was withdrawn and replaced by a decision filed on June 5, 1964 (21 Wis. 2d 284). Only the latter decision is included in these tables.
If identical decisions were listed twice under two different case numbers (e.g., Peterson v. Sinclair Refining Co.) or under the same case number (e.g., Racine v. Povkovich), I counted them only once.
State ex rel. Reynolds v. Zimmerman (23 Wis. 2d 606), a per curiam ruling on legislative apportionment, is omitted.
Eight justices appear in several of the following tables, because Justice Beilfuss replaced Justice Brown on January 6, 1964.
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
[1] Drake v. Farmers Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (22 Wis. 2d 66A), which yielded a per curiam decision on a motion for rehearing (with no oral argument), is among the omitted decisions. It is somewhat unusual in that three justices dissented.
These tables are derived from information contained in 256 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1964, and August 31, 1965. The total of 256 decisions does not include rulings arising from (1) disciplinary matters involving lawyers, and (2) various petitions, motions, applications and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions). Nor does it include Coffee-Rich, Inc. v. McDowell and Graebner v. Wisconsin Industrial Com., both of which were one-paragraph, 3-3 per curiam decisions.
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
These tables are derived from information contained in 275 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1965, and August 31, 1966. The total of 275 decisions does not include rulings arising from (1) disciplinary matters involving lawyers, and (2) various petitions, motions, applications and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions). Nor does it include Foregger v. Foregger, a one-paragraph, 3-3 per curiam decision.
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
These tables are derived from information contained in 278 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1966, and August 31, 1967. The total of 278 decisions does not include rulings arising from (1) disciplinary matters involving lawyers, and (2) various petitions, motions, applications and the like (generally disposed of without oral argument and in short per curiam decisions).
Eight justices appear in several of the following tables, because Justice Connor Hansen replaced Justice Myron Gordon in mid-March of 1967.
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
alan.ball@marquette.edu
SCOWstats offers numerical analysis of the voting by Wisconsin Supreme Court justices on diverse issues over the past 94 years.
