These tables are derived from information contained in 356 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1935, and August 31, 1936.  The total of 356 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and the like. 

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: (1) Cherney v. Simonis (220 Wis. 339) and Cherney v. Simonis (220 Wis. 346); (2) Hanley v. Milwaukee E. R. & L. Co. (220 Wis. 281) and Hanley v. Milwaukee E. R. & L. Co. (220 Wis. 288); (3) Schaefer & Co. v. Industrial Comm’n (220 Wis. 289) and Schaefer & Co. v. Industrial Comm’n (220 Wis. 384); (4) State v. Kitzerow (221 Wis. 436), State v. Kitzerow (221 Wis. 443), State v. Fons (221 Wis. 439), State v. Warnimont (221 Wis. 442), State v. Wilkinson (221 Wis. 440), and State v. Johnson (221 Wis. 441); (5) O’Connell v. New York Life Ins. Co. and Hruzek v. Old Line Life Ins. Co.; (6) Motor Castings Co. v. Industrial Comm. (219 Wis. 204) and Sivyer Steel Casting Co. v. Industrial Comm. (220 Wis. 252).

This appears to have been done as well with Hautenen (Syma) v. Dewey; Hautenen (Larry) v. Dewey; and Hautenen (Henry) v. Dewey—judgment affirmed in all three, without any explanation, in unanimous 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

As debate swirls around the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to review maps of election districts, the issue of stare decisis has attracted attention.  A Latin term usually translated as “to stand by things decided,” stare decisis means that courts should respect the precedent set by previous rulings in similar cases.  Regarding the present case, Rebecca Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and others who endorse the existing maps—approved by the Supreme Court in 2022—argue that revisiting the issue now would offend stare decisis.  “I’m not a lawyer,” Vos declared, “but the most important thing in our legal system is the ability to have stare decisis where when a court makes a decision, every time a new person enters the court, you don’t upset everything just because you have new people on the court.”^[1][Continue Reading…]

Four years have passed since our last update on the success rates in Public Defender cases, so it’s time to see if the interim has witnessed any change—which it certainly has. 

Following the lead of the first two posts in this series,^[1] we’ll weigh the performance of public defenders against that of other defense lawyers in a set of 86 decisions filed from 2019-20 through 2022-23—and also compare these findings with those from the previous decade.^[2][Continue Reading…]

These tables are derived from information contained in 322 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1936, and August 31, 1937.  The total of 322 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and the like.  In particular, cases are not included if they were decided during the previous term but appeared in the search results because motions for reconsideration were not rejected until 1936-37.

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: (1) Marwalt Realty Co. v. Greene (224 Wis. 1, 224 Wis. 7, 224 Wis. 8, 224 Wis. 9, 224 Wis. 10, and 224 Wis. 11); (2) Gardner Baking Co. v. Public Service Commission and Colvin Baking Co. v. Public Service Commission; (3) Anderson v. Seelow and Neyers v. Seelow; (4) In re Le Feber’s Will and In re Will of Akin; (5) State ex rel. Attorney General v. Fasekas and State ex rel. Attorney General v. Noyes; (6) Swanson  v. Schultz and Hale v. Schultz; (7) Canzoneri v. Heckert and Canale v. Heckert.

In Estate of George v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company the court filed its original decision on December 8, 1936.  After a motion for rehearing was granted, the court ruled on June 21, 1937, that its December 8 decision was in error and replaced its previous mandate with a new ruling.  Both decisions are included in our tables.

In McCaffrey v. Minneapolis S. P. & S. S. M. R. Co. the court filed its original decision on June 2, 1936.  Then, on September 15, 1936, following motions by the appellants, the court modified its June 2, 1936, mandate.  The September decision is included in these tables, and the June decision will be included in tables for 1935-36.

In Newbern v. State the court filed its original decision on April 2, 1935.  Then, on September 15, 1936, following a motion for rehearing, the court replaced its original mandate with a new one.  The September decision is included in these tables, and the April decision will be included in tables for 1934-35.

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

Which law schools groomed the oral advocates who appear at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and where are these law schools most conspicuously represented among the state’s private firms and state agencies?  Since our last post on the topic,^[1] four terms have passed, leaving abundant data to explore in today’s update.[Continue Reading…]

These tables are derived from information contained in 303 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1937, and August 31, 1938.  The total of 303 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and the like.  In particular, cases are not included if they were decided during the previous term but appeared in the search results because motions for reconsideration were not rejected until 1937-38.  Also excluded are lawyer disciplinary rulings and Bender v. Bain, a deadlocked (3-3) per curiam decision.

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: (1) Kalb v. Luce and Kalb v. Feuerstein; and (2) Liberty v. Liberty (226 Wis. 136) and Liberty v. Liberty (226 Wis. 141).

In Bechthold v. Wauwatosa the court filed its original decision on February 15, 1938.  After a motion for rehearing was granted, and the case was reargued, the court ruled on June 21, 1938, that its February 15 decision was in error and replaced its previous mandate with a new ruling.  Both decisions are included in our tables.  So, too, with State ex rel. Wisconsin Development Authority v. Dammann (January 11, 1938, and June 21, 1938). 

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

Today we’ll extend the focus on law firms that prevailed during the fantasy league season by providing an update on the most visible firms over the past five years.^[1]  Our gaze covers private firms and non-profit organizations,^[2] seeking those whose attorneys delivered at least four oral arguments in cases decided between September 2018 and August 2023.^[3] [Continue Reading…]

For information on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the 2023-24 term, take a look at a new blog by Dustin Brown, a legal-writing professor at the University of Wisconsin’s law school.  It’s called SCOWblog and contains, along with posts on the current court, brief summaries of cases scheduled for oral argument in September and October.

These tables are derived from information contained in 337 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1938, and August 31, 1939.  The total of 337 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and the like.  In particular, cases are not included if they were decided during the previous term but appeared in the search results because motions for reconsideration were not rejected until 1938-39.  Also excluded are lawyer disciplinary rulings.   

When two or more cases were, in effect, consolidated—one was simply said to be ruled by the decision in the other—as happened with State v. Sinclair Refining Co. and Campbell’s Dollar Stores v. Levitan, the cases are counted as only one.

The total of 337 cases includes Ehrlich v. Frank Holton & Company in which, on a motion for rehearing, the court vacated and set aside its previous (June 21, 1938) mandate.

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

This season did not lack surprises.  Last year’s runaway champion, the Waivers, tumbled to third place, while the Writs—45 points off the pace a year ago—held off a late charge from the Gavels of the State Public Defender’s Office to claim the 2022-23 title.

The awards banquet last week honored not only the Writs but also several law firms that contributed at least 20 points to their teams’ performances.  Each team had one such star, though none could match the luster of von Briesen & Roper, which delivered 34 points to the Waivers.  Next came Habush, Habush & Rottier, leading the Writs with 21 points, part of an impressively balanced array of scoring that enabled the Writs to triumph this year.  Axley Brynelson delivered 20 points to the Affirmed but received little help from the remainder of the roster, thus consigning the Affirmed to the bottom of the standings.

The following table provides totals for each team and every individual law firm.