Wisconsin judges cap State Bar institute with insights and advice
May 6, 2011 – Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience D. Roggensack was among the many judges and lawyers presenting today at the State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE’s Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Appellate Practice Institute in Milwaukee.
Presenting at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Justice Roggensack, appeals court Judge Joan Kessler and other panelists spoke on issues related to petitions for review and petitions for leave to appeal non-final orders.
Justice Roggensack said the Wisconsin Supreme Court only accepts about 6-7 percent of petitions for review, bypass, and certifications that are filed with the court. She focused on what practitioners can do to increase their chances for review.
Lawyers might have a better chance, for instance, if they can show “there are two court of appeals cases that are in conflict or [two cases] that could provide different inferences for the trial judge” when attempting to rule on a point of law, she said.
Other judges – like Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Maxine Aldridge White and Dodge County Circuit Court Judge John Storck – spoke on issues related to modern technology and its impacts on trials and communications with jurors.
Madison attorney Claude Covelli joined Judge White and Judge Storck in the plenary session entitled “How Litigation is Really Done: Adapting Trials to Changing Times.” Covelli said some courts have implemented changes to how lawyers can use technology.
“We talked about how [those changes] impact the decisions lawyers must make on how they present their evidence, whether they use technology, how they use it, and whether technology is appropriate at all,” Covelli said.
Speaking of technology, Milwaukee attorneys Ronald Pezze and Barbara O’Brien dazzled attendees in their presentation entitled “Dazzling the Jury: Use of Technology at Trial.”
O’Brien and Pezze talked about use of animations, court reporting services, surveillance, and evidentiary issues in terms of what is required to get technology before the jury.
“Our job as lawyers is to persuade and educate the jury, and these are tools that help us accomplish that important task,” Pezze said. But O’Brien reminded lawyers that use of technology means lawyers must be aware of the evidentiary issues that may arise.
She said the technology must be relevant, accurate, and lawyers should know how the technology works before attempting to use it. O’Brien also said lawyers must judge whether using technology is justified in a given case, considering the costs involved.
Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Stark, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Donald Hassin, and the Hon. William Griesbach, judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, talked about “How to Impress or Annoy a Judge.” That topic was a featured in a Wisbar InsideTrack article. Other speakers focused on e-discovery, case management, ethics, and a host of other topics related to the Appellate, Dispute Resolution, and Litigation practice areas.
Milwaukee attorneys Lynn Laufenberg and Robert Habush headlined a plenary on legislative changes that will impact lawyers and their clients, such as changes to auto insurance laws and the Daubert standard, which requires that judges be much more vigilant on the qualifications of experts.
Those interested in attending the next State Bar PINNACLE institute should check out the schedule for the Real Estate and Business Law Institute, which will be held June 9-10 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
