What's New In Wisconsin

April 3, 2007 — Washington County Circuit Court Judge Annette Ziegler handily beat liberal immigration attorney Linda Clifford for a key seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday night by a 58-42 percent margin.  With 98 percent of the vote counted Ziegler tallied 472,284 votes to Clifford’s 337,661 votes.

Ziegler will take office on August 1st for a 10 year term, and will become one of seven members on the Court.  She will become one of three "rule of law" justices and maintain the current balance on the Court which is often characterized as having three conservative Justices, three liberal Justices and one swing vote.

CFA congratulates our Partner in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, for the leading role it took in supporting Judge Ziegler's election.  Another key Supreme Court seat will be contested in 2008 and the pro-reform coalition has already begun working on this next election.

Read 2006 Report on Wisconsin's Legal Climate

Wisconsin Trial Bar Attacks WMC Efforts

In response to their recent open letter and petition to Gov. Jim Doyle, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, found themselves in the midst of an attack from the Wisconsin Trial Bar.

In their recently released quarterly newsletter, the Wisconsin Trial Bar openly chastised WMC's recent legal reform campaign as part of a "highly contrived" issue. The piece goes on to say that "WMC  is thoroughly committed to undermining the judiciary as an independent pillar of democracy".

Jim Pugh, Public Relations Director at WMC, said simply "This may be an intimidation tactic that will be tried in other states. But we won't be intimidated".  

To read the piece from the Wisconsin Trial Bar, Click Here (pdf)

Nov. 18, 2005 - In an open letter to Gov. Jim Doyle, leaders of Wisconsin's business community urged the Gov. to sign several liability reform bills. The signers of the letter urged "[Gov. Doyle] to work with the Republican Legislature, and sign liability reform legislation to restore fairness to our legal system". The open letter ran as a full-page ad in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, business section and  in the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison as well.

 The letter, presented by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, is part of an advertising campaign to bolster support for  AB 778 -The Job Preservation Act; SB 58 -Product Liability Reform and AB 766- Medical Malpractice Caps.

As stated in the letter to Gov. Doyle, "In 2004, the US Chamber of Commerce ranked Wisconsin's legal climate as 10th best in the nation. By 2005, we had slipped to 17th, due to inaction." WMC has created several other print media pieces to further explain the importance of these and other bills. To view the letter, click below.

Letter to Gov. Doyle 

 Available Media

 Opinion-Editorials

In the Courts

Bad Ruling Out of Wisconsin Could Jeopardize Patients Access to Healthcare

American Tort Reform Association

State Legislative Update

Upcoming Events in Wisconsin