“The entire philosophy of our legal system is remarkable,” says Bill Gleisner, a 50-year member of the State Bar and longtime member of the Wisconsin Judicial Council.

Aug. 21, 2024 – A decision sparked by the civil unrest of the early 1970s worked out well for State Bar of Wisconsin 50-year member Bill Gleisner.

Gleisner decided to go to law school after anti-war radicals bombed Sterling Hall on the U.W.-Madison campus, killing a postdoctoral researcher. The bombing had a profound effect on Gleisner.

“I was very distressed about the way the country was going and how I could make a difference,” Gleisner said.

“I hit on law, and don’t regret it. It’s been an opportunity to be of service.”

Stamped by the Sixties

Gleisner grew up in Sussex, a small city just west of Milwaukee. His father worked as a patent attorney.

Despite his father’s profession, Gleisner said it wasn’t until his undergraduate days at Marquette University that he seriously considered going to law school.

“I was in college in 1968, the last time when all hell broke loose in our political system,” Gleisner said.

He was referring to a five-month period in which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were cut down by assassins’ bullets and demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago were clubbed by police.

“I went from being a fairly conservative fellow to someone who became very interested in civil rights,” Gleisner said.

Leap into Litigation

Gleisner obtained his law degree from Marquette University Law School.

His first job after law school, working for Milwaukee attorney Bud Puls, immersed him in litigation. One of Puls’s largest clients was the village of Menominee Falls.

“I represented the police department. I represented the village in actions involving police officer discipline and also the enforcement of ordinances,” Gleisner said.

Gleisner also drafted ordinances, including one aimed at a drive-in theatre screening X-rated movies next to a neighborhood of single-family homes.

“I heard from an unbelievable number of lawyers in Hollywood and New York about how unconstitutional the ordinance was,” Gleisner said.

Lawyer for People with Visual Impairments​

In 1984, Gleisner represented a legally blind teacher in Washington County. The case was a turning point in his career.

“A representative of the National Federation of the Blind was in court for part of that, and they liked what I did, so they hired me,” Gleisner said.

“I ended up doing a number of cases for the federation around the country,” Gleisner said. “I got one of the first injunctions against the federal government under the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act.”

The Randolph-Sheppard Act was enacted in 1936. It allows blind individuals to work as vendors in federal buildings and other government properties.

“The action was in front of a federal judge here in Milwaukee who was very conservative, but he agreed with me, and he entered an injunction against the post office in Green Bay for discriminating against a blind vendor up there,” Gleisner said. “I was off to the races after that.”

Throughout his career, Gleisner has been active in the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers (WATL) (later renamed the Wisconsin Association of Justice).

Gleisner served as an officer and member of the board of directors with WATL and served as the first editor of The Verdict, the organization’s quarterly publication.

The Lure of Litigation

In 1993, Gleisner played a significant role in convincing the Wisconsin Supreme Court to adopt Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. That decision set a new standard for frivolous pleadings in Wisconsin courts.

In 2005, the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers recognized Gleisner for his trial work by naming him the Robert L. Habush Trial Lawyer of the Year.

For Gleisner, the appeal of ligation is centered on justice.

“Whether you’re representing the plaintiff or the defendant, you have an opportunity to fine-tune rules of law and fine-tune the application of our legal system to actual facts,” Gleisner said.

“Good lawyers are good lawyers, and they tend to be people who are dedicated, and they tend to be people who are honorable, in my view,” Gleisner said.

“Most litigators are highly motivated and highly disciplined people who seek to bend the legal system to the benefit of their client.”

Gleisner has also practiced his fair share of appellate law. He’s served as the chair of the WATL amicus committee and written more than 100 amicus briefs.

Gleisner said he enjoys the change of pace that appellate law provides.

“Appellate law is more of a scholarly approach to law,” Gleisner said.

Wisconsin Judicial Council

Gleisner’s long courtroom experience has served him well as a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Council (Council).

The Council, which was created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1951, makes recommendations regarding court pleading, practice, and procedure, as well as the administration of the state’s courts.

The Council is made up of 21 members, including a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, a Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge, four circuit court judges, the Wisconsin attorney general, and citizen members.

Gleisner has served on the Council since 2008.

“The Judicial Council is set up as a neutral place where representatives of the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch can discuss problems and work out solutions that are fair, in the general administration of the court system and the rules of civil and criminal procedure and the rules of evidence,” Gleisner said.

In 2017, the legislature stripped the Council’s funding from the biennial budget bill.

“I have worked very hard for the last seven years to keep the council afloat,” Gleisner said. “I think the Judicial Council is a very worthwhile institution and should continue.”

Gleisner said he’s hopeful the legislature will soon restore the Council’s funding.

“The importance of the council is obvious to me and, I think, a lot of lawyers,” Gleisner said.

Busy Author

Gleisner has been a prolific author throughout his career.

In addition to many articles for The Verdict, Gleisner has written “eDiscovery and Digital Evidence,” a two-volume book published by Thompson West.

In 1999, the State Bar awarded Gleisner and Michael Kuborn and Michael McChrystal the Hon. Charles Dunn Author Award, for their series of legal technology articles in Wisconsin Lawyer.

At age 77, Gleisner shows no signs of slowing down. He’s currently working on two new chapters, both focusing on artificial intelligence, for “eDiscovery and Digital Evidence.”

When he’s not working, Gleisner and his wife, Doris, spend time traveling to see their children and grandchildren. Earlier this year, they visited Italy and toured Rome.

“We manage to find ways to keep ourselves busy,” Gleisner said.

Gleisner, who still has the copy of “The Federalist Papers” he read as a young man, remains sanguine about the role lawyers play in America’s system of government.

“The entire philosophy of our legal system is remarkable,” Gleisner said. “In terms of actually acting upon a philosophy of government, I don’t think there’s anything like our constitution in history.”