Sept. 7, 2016 – On Aug. 1, 2016, more than 20 new Wisconsin circuit court judges took the bench. Each one came prepared with a full set of the Wisconsin Judicial Benchbooks series – five essential volumes from State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE^® that serve as a judge’s resource from the first step in the courtroom until the last rap of the gavel.

But not only judges need the benchbooks in their library.

Know What the Judges Know

The Wisconsin Judicial Benchbooks were originally produced by the Wisconsin Office of Judicial Education to provide a practical courtroom reference for Wisconsin’s judges, especially new judges and those periodically rotated to new assignment areas. In 1983, they became available to the legal community at large, when the Office of Judicial Education began an ongoing collaboration with the State Bar of Wisconsin to maintain and update the series.

The series now consists of five volumes:

• Vol. I: Criminal and Traffic
• Vol. II: Civil
• Vol. III: Family
• Vol. IV: Juvenile
• Vol. V: Probate, Guardianship, and Mental Health

The Wisconsin Judicial Benchbooks series is the only legal resource all Wisconsin circuit court judges have in their libraries, and it’s one that you should have in yours.

Find Necessary Information at a Glance

The benchbooks provide judges and attorneys with quick and efficient courtroom access to critical legal information. The print books are in a condensed, easy-to-follow format – with citations in one column and the outlined discussion in a second column – while the online Books UnBound^® version presents the citations directly above the pertinent outline sections.

This means, for example, that if you’re working on a civil case and the jury returns an arguably inconsistent verdict, you’ll find your options discussed in the Civil Benchbook’s chapter on verdicts, along with citations to relevant case law, hyperlinked in Books UnBound to the underlying primary sources in the Fastcase database.

Newly Revised Editions in 2016

Members of five benchbook committees – experienced judges from various counties across Wisconsin – draft annual updates for each of the benchbooks in the series. All five benchbooks are now available in their revised fifth editions. The most recent revisions incorporate legislative developments on topics such as:

• The Wisconsin Digital Property Act (concerning access to and disclosure of a ward’s or decedent’s digital property) – Probate Benchbook (revised in summer 2016);

• Permanency plan requirements for children placed in out-of-home care – Juvenile Benchbook (revised in spring 2016); and

• John Doe proceedings – Criminal & Traffic Benchbook (revised in spring 2016).

Supplements to the family and civil volumes will be available in the fall.

How to Order

Each title in the Wisconsin Judicial Benchbook series is available in print for $149 per volume, with the entire set available for $499 (plus tax, shipping, and handling).

Annual subscriptions to Books UnBound^® start at $159 per title, $349 for the entire set of benchbooks online (single-user prices; call for firm pricing). Subscribers to the State Bar’s automatic supplementation service will receive future updates at a discount off the update price.

For more information, visit WisBar.org Marketplace or call the State Bar at (800) 728-7788 or (608) 257-3838.