Former Court of Appeals Judges

William Eich

District IV (1985-2000); Chief Judge (1989-1998)

William Eich was appointed to District IV by Governor Anthony Earl in 1985 after serving for more than a decade as a circuit court judge in Madison.  He was elected in 1987 and re-elected in1993 and 1999.  He served as chief judge of the Court of Appeals for nine years.  

Born in Chicago in 1938, he earned a bachelor's degree from Beloit College in 1960 and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1963.  After a year of clerking at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a year in private practice and five years in the attorney general's office, he became chairman of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.  In 1975 he turned to the judiciary after appointment to the Dane County Circuit Court.  

Since retirement, he is active as a reserve judge, lecturer, instructor, mediator, arbitrator, faculty member and legal consultant.  He serves as chair on the Interdisciplinary Committee on Court-Related Needs of the Elderly and Persons With Disabilities, legal advisor to the Wisconsin State Journal /Wisconsin Public Television "We the People" Series, and member of  the Legislative Council Special Committee on Sexual Harassment and Women in the Law & Law-Media Relations Committees.  He is a member of the American Law Institute.  

Eich has written for law reviews and legal periodicals on a variety of law- and government-related topics, including--in a lighter vein--a historical series on the ups and downs of the Dane County Bar Association.  

Eich and his wife, Lynne, who is director of the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, enjoy exploring the arts and the countryside abroad on vacation trips.  They have four grown daughters.  

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