Sept. 16, 2009 – As Wisconsin’s Judicial Council looks back on a recent string of successes over the last two years, it looks forward to another year of hard work ahead of it.
The state Legislature created the Judicial Council in 1951 to advise the state Supreme Court and the Legislature on issues affecting the administration of justice. The council recommends legislation to change the procedure, jurisdiction or organization of the courts. The council also studies the rules of pleading, practice and procedure and advises the Supreme Court on how to simplify procedures to promote the speedy resolution of litigation. Four seats on the 21-member council are delegated to the State Bar of Wisconsin.
The Legislature restored staff support to the Judicial Council two years ago when it passed the 2007-2009 biennial budget, more than 12 years after abolishing such support in 1995. The council subsequently hired April Southwick, a 1998 graduate of Hamline University School of Law, as its staff attorney in May 2008. The 2009-11 biennial budget signed into law this summer by Gov. Jim Doyle continued the funding for the Judicial Council staff attorney, which the State Bar supports.
Closing out a recent string of Judicial Council successes, in June Gov. Doyle signed into law 2009 Wisconsin Acts 25, 26 and 27, making various changes to the rules of appellate procedure. All three acts originated as bills introduced at the request of the Judicial Council and drafted with its assistance. The enactment of these new rules caps a process that began 12 years ago when the council’s appellate procedure committee first began studying the issue in 1997. All three acts will take effect on November 1, 2009.
In January 2009, the Supreme Court approved another Judicial Council petition, one to permit the citation of unpublished appellate decisions for their persuasive value. The new rule, which took effect July 1, 2009, applies only to decisions issued on or after the effective date and does not include per curiam decisions, summary dispositions or memorandum decisions. The Supreme Court has ordered a review in 2011 of how the rule is being implemented.
In April 2008, the Wisconsin Supreme Court gave final approval to the Judicial Council’s 2005 petition to conform the rules for conducting depositions outside of Wisconsin with the rules for conducting them in Wisconsin. The new rules were effective July 1, 2008.
In addition to these recent successes, the Judicial Council has plenty of other projects in the works.
In April 2009, the Judicial Council filed rules petition 09-01 with the Supreme Court to modify the Wisconsin rules of discovery to take into account the discovery of electronically stored information. The petition proposes rules similar to the Uniform Rules on the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information and the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Discovery regarding the discovery of electronically stored information. A Supreme Court hearing on the petition is anticipated during the first half of 2010.
Several Judicial Council committees are also working on projects in various stages of development. The council’s appellate procedure committee is studying proposals to improve the procedures and rules governing the use of presentence investigation reports before and after sentencing. The council’s criminal procedure committee has been working for several years on a proposed comprehensive revision of the rules of criminal procedure. A draft proposal is currently undergoing final editing by the Legislative Reference Bureau, in preparation for final approval by the full council. Finally, both the full council and its evidence and civil procedure committee are in the early stages of working on a comprehensive review of the Wisconsin rules of evidence, with the goal of recommending amendments that reflect current case law and keep the rules cohesive and consistent with modern practice. The committee is also considering a review of time computation in small claims cases.
Under Wis. Stat. section 758.13, Stats, the 21-member Judicial Council is comprised of a supreme court justice; a court of appeals judge; four circuit court judges; one district attorney; three members of the board of governors of the state bar; two citizen members; and all of the following individuals (or their designees): the Director of State Courts, the chairs of the Senate and Assembly standing committees with jurisdiction over judicial affairs, the Attorney General, the chief of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the deans of the law schools of the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University, the State Public Defender, and the president-elect of the State Bar. The council is currently chaired by attorney Marla J. Stephens, director of the appellate division of the State Public Defender.
Several council members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authorities. The four circuit judges selected by the Judicial Conference serve four-year terms. The three members selected by the State Bar and the two citizen members appointed by the governor serve three-year terms.
Current Judicial Council members designated by the State Bar are: President-elect Jim Boll; Attorney Catherine A. LaFleur; Attorney Beth E. Hanan, current Council vice-chair; and Attorney Tom W. Bertz.
Adam Korbitz is the Government Relations Coordinator for the State Bar of Wisconsin.
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