Lawyers have favorite judges
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JANESVILLE — When attorneys in Rock County Court ask for a new judge, more than half the time it’s Judge James Welker they want to substitute out, according to a Gazette analysis of court data.
Attorneys asked for 693 judge substitutions from January 2005 though November 2009, and 356 of the requests were in Welker’s court.
Welker, a civil judge, said a few local lawyers often substitute in his court.
“It’s just a matter of personality. They’d rather be in another court,” he said. “When I was practicing, I had that feeling, too, about a certain judge.”
Although Welker had the most substitutions in the last six years, criminal Judge Michael Fitzpatrick had the most in 2009.
Fitzpatrick declined to comment.
Criminal Judge James Daley and civil Judge Daniel Dillon had the fewest substitutions in recent years, indicating attorneys prefer their courtroom.
Defense attorneys in criminal cases can request a new judge once per case under state statutes. In civil cases, lawyers on both sides each can request a new judge one time. The requests are allowed without explanation.
Courtroom strategy
Matt Roethe, an Edgerton attorney and president of the Rock County Bar Association, said lawyers request substitutions for many reasons.
Attorneys want the best judges for their client, he said, and they might request a new judge for strategic reasons, he said.
A judge’s ruling in a previous case could go against the attorney’s client, Roethe said. Attorneys also want judges with a record of consistency in rulings and sentences.
One disadvantage to substitutions, though, is that attorneys don’t know which judge they’ll get next, he said. Attorneys also don’t want judges to take substitutions personally because they’ll be in their court again.
Reputations and gossip
Michele LaVigne, a UW-Madison criminal law professor, said attorneys often know a judge’s opinion on certain issues.
Judges have reputations, courtroom gossip flows and attorneys might want a new judge to make sure their case is judged fairly, she said.
“It’s just the sense of, ‘Where does my argument have the best chance of succeeding?’” LaVigne said. “Attorneys don’t abuse it.”
Substituted cases don’t clog the court system because they occur in such a small percentage of cases, she said. They also are assigned to a new judge immediately.
Judges with a high number of substitutions also don’t have a reduced caseload because they will draw a replacement right away, LaVigne said.
Client’s choice
Tony Kraujalis, a Janesville attorney and vice president of the Rock County Bar Association, said clients might not like a certain judge and want a substitute.
Judges also might have the perception of moving cases too quickly or being too harsh at sentencing, he said.
Other attorneys or clients might think a judge moves cases too slowly, Kraujalis said.
“On my part, I substitute very seldom,” he said. “I don’t happen to do a lot of substitutions. Other attorneys are more aggressive in that way.”
‘I don’t mind’
In Welker’s court, he averages 40 to 65 substitutions a year out of about 2,000 cases.
That number isn’t high compared to the caseload, Welker said. Other judges in the region have more substitutions.
“I don’t think it says much about the particular judge,” he said.
Attorneys might have reasons for substituting in his court, but he isn’t aware of them, Welker said. Family law accounts for about half his substitutions.
“It’s OK,” he said. “I don’t mind.”
Substitutions of judges follow a different pattern in Walworth County
In Walworth County, judge substitutions follow no particular judge but rather the kinds of cases they handle, according to a Gazette analysis of court data.
The four circuit court judges are rotated every two years between four courts: felony, civil, probate and family, and misdemeanor and traffic.
Between 2004 and 2009, Walworth County judges were substituted 485 times. The five-year period’s peak was in 2008, when 115 substitutions were requested.
“I’m assuming it’s because for whatever reason, their client feels they would get a fairer treatment by a different judge,” District Attorney Phil Koss said about attorneys that request substitutions.
The felony court had the highest number of judge substitutions between 2004 and 2007. The misdemeanor and traffic court had the highest number of substitutions between 2007 and 2009.
Koss said the substitutions likely follow the criminal courts because stakes are higher.
Defense attorneys are allowed one judge substitution for which they don’t have to provide a reason, making it difficult to determine why an attorney requested a different judge.
Judge Robert Kennedy had the most substitutions between 2004 and 2009 with 168, followed by Judge John race with 155, Judge Michael Gibbs with 119 and Judge James Carlson with 43.
Carlson had four substitutions when he ran felony court in 2007, the lowest number of substitutions in a five-year period.
Mar 14, 2010 at 6:36 a.m.
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have money will win,oj
Mar 1, 2010 at 4:05 p.m.
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Plea bargains are a "win" for all parties. The client wins because he/she gets a break on sentencing in a case which would not be wise to take to trial, the attorneys win by lessening their caseloads by not having to prepare for a trial, and the public wins by not paying an entire courtroom full of people to hear a case that was a loser from the beginning. Better to take a plea bargain and get some consideration than to push a bad case to trial and have a bad outcome. If you're facing a felony charge and prison and the DA offers you a misdemeanor and probation, what are YOU going to do? If every case went to trial the criminal justice system would grind to a halt. Few trials = reasonable DAs and attorneys who are skilled enough to recognize when to settle the cases with bad facts. Win-win all around. Sounds to me like some of these folks have had one too many rounds with the criminal justice system as defendants and lack an objective perspective.
Feb 24, 2010 at 6:33 p.m.
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Welker is primarily a civil judge, so he doesn't hear criminal cases. People aren't substituting because of his sentencing rulings. bobb1951 yes, the public defender's have won trials. More importantly, the cases without proof aren't going to trial because the lawyers defending them show the district attorney they don't have all the facts. I hope you never have need of a public defender, in otherwords, hopefully you will never be accused of a crime. Notice I didn't say commit a crime, because people are accused and prosecuted for crimes they didn't actually commit. The number of innocent people convicted, and later exonorated numbers in the hundreds.
Feb 23, 2010 at 9:33 p.m.
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Ghostryder--Right on! Welker may be an adequate judge for civil cases but what I was trying to allude to was Welker's record in family law. I agree with ghostryder and challenge the gazette to take this article a step further. What is the percentage of divorce cases being substituted? Let's see the numbers.
Feb 23, 2010 at 9:06 p.m.
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work with the general public and Judge Welker, Judge Dillon, Court Commissioner Rentz, and former Judge Roethe have all been customers of mine. As well as numerous lawyers including some this articles lists. Even from a customer/clerk prospective I can tell you all of them have the personality of a sock puppet. If everyone could just stay out of legal trouble and be a contributing member to society we could put all the lawyers and judges out of a job. And wouldn't that be amusing!
Feb 23, 2010 at 9:04 p.m.
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I work with the general public and Judge Welker, Judge Daniels, Court Commissioner Rentz, and former Judge Roethe have all been customers of mine. As well as numerous lawyers including some this articles lists. Even from a customer/clerk prospective I can tell you all of them have the personality of a sock puppet. If everyone could just stay out of legal trouble and be a contributing member to society we could put all the lawyers and judges out of a job. And wouldn't that be amusing!
Feb 23, 2010 at 8:28 p.m.
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LOl.. this is just hitting the news.. rofl.
Out of all the quotes here, this was made me laugh the most.. "Welker, a civil judge, said a few local lawyers often substitute in his court. “It’s just a matter of personality. They’d rather be in another court,” he said. “When I was practicing, I had that feeling, too, about a certain judge.”
Dang right! If I were a Lawyer, & knew a certain Judge was hard on the crime my client committed, and that was the first Judge we drew... Who in his right mind wouldn't request a more lenient Judge.
Feb 23, 2010 at 2:56 p.m.
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Walworth county has a judge that was caught driving intoxicated 3 times but only one was publisized but I guess that's OK.It always seems that law enforcement, politicians, judges, and even presidents can do what they want without any repercutions. And don't even get started on all the Public Pretenders that are supposed to be working "for the people" as I don't believe that one of them has ever actually WON a case anywhere in Wisconsin. I'd like to know when "the people" are going to take this country back from the dictatorship rule that we've let it become. Nuff' said.
Feb 23, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.
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Maybe the Gazette could put some effort and talent into reporting a story and look into WHY people do not want Welker. Don't allow him to lie his way out of what is going on in OUR court rooms. He is a very biased, discriminating judge. Ask the thousands of women and children who have been ruled against him. I could give you facts, but I don't get paid to do the gazette's job. I bet if someone looked into welkers past they might find some interesting things....
Feb 23, 2010 at 11:24 a.m.
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Remember though, Welker was dead on in his civil lawsuit ruling of that burglar. You know, the one the elderly doctor shot after he broke into their house and headed for the grandchild's room? He tried to sue the doctor for injuries.
Welker said something like "i'll give you 5 minutes to get a head start before i allow the residents of this county to kick you down the stairs."
Feb 23, 2010 at 10:38 a.m.
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ssbucklin--It sounds like maybe your case could have used a man like Judge Welker. It sounds like he doesn't rule the way the atty's want that represent men in divorce cases. Or maybe he just comes down hard on domestic abuse cases. That's what a lot of women seem to charge when it comes to divorce time.
Feb 23, 2010 at 7:20 a.m.
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I can definitely see where some judges should be substituted. Some should just be gotten rid of as well. In 1995 my sister was murdered and while her husband received a life sentence for 1st degree homicide-the stupid judge set his parole at ONLY 15 years - guess what, in April my family has to go through this all again for a parole hearing. That judge did not care about my sister's family or friends and it was "a slap in the face to every domestic abuse victim" according to the YWCA' Director's Gazette comments. I can definitely see why lawyers or clients would not want to deal with certain judges.
Feb 22, 2010 at 9:21 p.m.
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I went through a divorce about 2 years ago. Judge Welker was assigned to my case. Upon meeting with 5 different attorneys I received one piece of advice from each of them. Ask for a substitution for Judge Welker. Coincidence? I don't believe it. I got the same story from each attorney despite the fact that I personally never brought up Welker's name with any of them. It was each attorney's parting advice at the end of our consultation. I was told if I wanted a fair and unbiased trial to make sure there was someone else presiding over the courtroom. Based on what I was told I would bet that a majority of the substitution requests were for divorce cases. I made a decision to be a part of the statistics listed in this article and have no regrets. I challenge the Gazette to take this a step further and investigate how many substitution requests were for divorce cases. I'll bet the results will say alot.
Feb 22, 2010 at 5:23 p.m.
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Judge James Welker,in my opinion is above reproach, He believes in the law, the constitution, and most importently the seperation and the equality of the 3 branches of our Govt. I mean look how he handled and ruled on the Larson farms vs Magnolia Township, you may not have agrred with him, I always did not, but his rulings were right on
Feb 22, 2010 at 9:59 a.m.
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How do you know that Judge Welker isn't a tough judge and that's why defense atty's want a sub when he's sitting. I'm not saying he is I don't even know the man but there could be any number of reasons he's substituted.
Feb 22, 2010 at 8:45 a.m.
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Judge Welker had the most request for substitions? Maybe if he wouldn't bring his own personal biases into the courtroom, this wouldn't happen. It's about time someone starts printing these things. Now if they could run this article around re-election time, along with the statistics on what he rules in favor of and against, especially when it comes to men vs. women, it would be a real eye opener for many and he wouldn't be holding that precious seat he's clinging to.
Feb 22, 2010 at 6:56 a.m.
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The main public defender who defended Koepp is a real horror story. Of course, he didn't have a case, but he still should have done a better job.
Feb 21, 2010 at 9:48 p.m.
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You never disappoint bobb...if you can't dazzle with brilliance...just call names.
Feb 21, 2010 at 8:04 p.m.
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Bravo Ted Sullivan and the Gazette! You investigated, wrote about, and published something meaningful, important, and even-handed. Please keep it up.
Feb 21, 2010 at 7:48 p.m.
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"Have Rock County public defenders besides gauranteeing clients rights,EVER won a case??"
You tell us bobb..you seem to be an authority on all things ...
Feb 21, 2010 at 2:10 p.m.
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bobb1951, somebody must be negotiating all those plea bargains everyone complains about.
Feb 21, 2010 at 1:02 p.m.
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So much for lady justice wearing a blindfold...
Feb 20, 2010 at 9:05 p.m.
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Judges have favorite lawyers too.
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