The Third Branch
Retirements
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Judge Margaret J. Vergeront |
Judge Margaret J. Vergeront
District IV Court of Appeals
District IV Court of Appeals Judge Margaret J. Vergeront has decided not to seek reelection, and will retire at the end of her current term in July. Vergeront was first elected to the appeals court in 1994.
Legal access for all citizens has been a prominent theme throughout Vergeront's legal career. Following a clerkship with the late Federal Judge James E. Doyle, she worked as a staff attorney and managing attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin from 1976-84. While working in private practice, she continued to provide pro bono legal services. As a member of the Dane County Bar Association's Delivery of Legal Services Committee, she helped establish a volunteer lawyer program with Legal Action of Wisconsin and a legal clinic at a drop-in shelter in Dane County, and encouraged private practice attorneys to advise non-profit organizations serving low-income people. She was a founder and member of the first board of directors for the Dane County Bar Association Pro Bono Trust Fund. In 1988, she received the State Bar Pro Bono Award for her work. She currently serves on the Access to Justice Commission.
Over the years, Vergeront said she has noticed an increase in the number of pro se litigants both at the trial and appellate level. In her retirement, she said she hopes to remain involved in some way with the effort for help low-income people receive assistance within the judicial system. She also plans to garden, travel, and spend time with her family and on her farm in Dane County.
Vergeront is also a member of the National Association of Women Judges and Legal Association of Women. She is a past member of the Federal-State Judicial Council, the Judicial Education Committee, and the Planning and Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC) Planning Subcommittee. As part of the judicial skills development seminar sponsored by the Shanghai People's High Court and UW East Asian Legal Studies program, Vergeront has given lectures on judicial ethics and the Wisconsin court system to judges from Shanghai, China. She is also a regular speaker on topics including the court system, the history of women on the bench, and brief writing to various bar associations, community organizations and student groups.
"One of the best things about being an appellate judge is you get to confer with your colleagues before writing an opinion" Vergeront said. Her advice to the judge who fills her vacancy is to take full advantage of this. She said tackling difficult legal issues and working them out with her fellow appellate judges is what she will miss most about the job. She said she will also miss all of the people she has worked with.
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Judge Sue E. Bischel |
Judge Sue E. Bischel
Brown County Circuit Court
"Everyone should be retired," former Brown County Circuit Court Judge Sue E. Bischel said.
After almost 20 years on the Branch 3 bench, Bischel retired in February.
Looking back on her career, Bischel said the drunk driving homicide cases really stand out for her because of the pain for the family and friends of the survivors. One case in particular she remembers involved the death of two girls who had just graduated from high school, one of whom was the daughter of a Green Bay police officer. Bischel recalls how it impacted the entire community.
In 2004, Bischel worked to retool an ineffective drunk driving treatment program in the county. The program, run through the Jackie Nitschke Center treatment facility where Bischel has served on the board of directors, offers treatment to inmates with drunk driving convictions. In her retirement, she said she hopes to get re-involved in the treatment center and the drunk driving program. She said she also plans to do custody and placement mediation work, as well as spend time on her boat and hanging out with her four grandchildren.
Bischel said she misses the opportunity her job gave her to say or do something that could make a difference and help someone turn their life around. But she said she feels it became increasingly difficult to get people to respect the judicial process and that people often didn't want to accept responsibility for their actions.
"I never swore on the bench," she said. "I waited until I got to chambers."
Two positive changes Bischel said she witnessed while on the bench were the increase in female lawyers in the courtroom and the work to deliver services to people who need interpreters in the courtroom.
"That is a wonderful thing," she said of the change.
Bischel had served as chief judge and deputy chief judge for the Eighth Judicial District. She is also a former member of the Court Reporter Committee, the Municipal Court Committee, and the Bail/Bond Committee. She has instructed seminars for new prosecutors and Wisconsin district attorney continuing education.
Bischel served as district attorney for Brown County prior to her election to the circuit court in 1992. She has also served as an attorney for the Brown County Child Support Agency and staff attorney for Legal Services of Northeastern Wisconsin, as well as working in private practice. She is a graduate of UW-Eau Claire and the University of Minnesota Law School.
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Judge Thomas R. Cooper |
Judge Thomas R. Cooper
Milwaukee County Circuit Court
In February, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Thomas R. Cooper wrapped up 34 years of service to Milwaukee County. Cooper began working as a court commissioner for the county in 1978. In 1993, he was appointed to the Branch 28 bench by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson.
"Every once in a while a big case comes along," Cooper said reflecting on his judicial career. "A judge's job is to take that case and do their best with it."
Cooper has had many big cases come before his bench over the years. One in particular that stands out for him was a first-degree intentional homicide case of a child who was 13 years old when he was involved in a drive-by shooting. Cooper made the decision to waive the child from adult to juvenile court, a decision that was not popular at the time.
"People were livid," Cooper said. "I was 'man of the week' for right-wing talk show hosts in Milwaukee."
The youth was sentenced to a juvenile corrections center until he was 21. During that time, he graduated high school and began earning college credits. He is now a college graduate. Cooper said his decision not to try him as an adult gave the boy his life back.
Cooper was in the news again recently when he presided over the Milwaukee paid sick day ordinance trial. The case spent three years in the courts, ultimately making its way to the Supreme Court in 2011, which deadlocked at a 3-3 vote. The state legislature passed a law taking away municipalities' ability to create such ordinances.
"You read a lot about judges in the press," Cooper said. "More negative than positive. As a judge you need to sit down and do justice. That's how I tried to operate."
Cooper received his bachelor's degree from UW-Oshkosh and his law degree from Marquette University Law School. While on the bench, he has served as a member of the Confidentiality Advisory Committee and the Uniform Bond Committee. In 1998, he worked with the Court Improvement Program to earn a half-million dollar grant from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for the Milwaukee Permanency Project. The project was developed to improve case processing in child abuse and neglect cases in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Cooper said he will miss the daily challenge and intellectual discipline his job required, as well as the camaraderie it provided.
"But not having stress is also nice," he said.
In his new-found free time, Cooper, who describes himself as an "avid do-it-yourselfer" plans to work around the house, remain active in the Scottish community, and continue to work one day a week with Habitat for Humanity, and he says his wife would like to travel.
"I've also discovered reading books for pleasure," he said.
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Judge J.D. McKay |
Judge J.D. McKay
Brown County Circuit Court
Relaxation is the main thing on former Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay's mind these days. After 15 years on the circuit court bench, McKay retired this past December and plans to often be found sitting on the end of a pier, sipping a beverage and enjoying the sunsets at his place in the Upper Peninsula.
McKay was first appointed in 1996. A graduate of UW-Madison, he had previously worked in private practice. While on the bench, he served on the Executive Committee of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference, Wisconsin Trial Judges Association, Planning and Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC), PPAC Planning Committee, and the Juvenile Jury Instruction Committee. He has also served as a presiding judge for Brown County.
"I had a great staff, and I'll miss the daily contact," McKay said of his time on the bench. "I've handled all types of cases and met all types of people, singling any of them out would be too difficult. I've enjoyed them all, the good, the bad, and the ugly."
McKay said he has noticed a change in the legislature's attitude toward the judicial system, which has caused him some concern, and said the changes involved with "Truth in Sentencing" were difficult to deal with.
"I believe that judges took an unfair and unnecessary hit on that one," he said.
When not enjoying his vacation place in the U.P., McKay said he plans to do some reserve and mediation work and play more golf.
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Darcy McManus |
Darcy McManus
Court Commissioner, Ozaukee County Circuit Court
Ozaukee County Court Commissioner Darcy McManus retired on Feb. 29 after almost 18 years with the county.
While with the county, McManus worked on numerous committees and programs to help provide legal services to all members of the community. In 2007, she worked with the Ozaukee County Bar Association to expand the county's self-help legal clinics. McManus has continued to work on training and scheduling attorneys and applying for grants to keep the Ozaukee County Family Law Assistance Center operational.
McManus, who has served on the Planning and Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC), co-chaired the Limited Scope Representation Subcommittee established by PPAC in 2010. She has also served as a member of the Pro Se Forms Subcommittee, Records Management Committee, Ozaukee County Court Security and Facilities Committee, and the PPAC Planning Subcommittee.
In 2008, she received a STOP Grant for attendance at National Judicial Institute Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence cases, and is a 2010 recipient of the Marc Dorfman Award presented by the Wisconsin Family Court Commissioners Association for outstanding public service.
Bev Olsen
Branch 1 Judicial Assistant, Waupaca County Circuit Court
After 35 years with the Waupaca County Circuit Court, Bev Olsen retired in December. Olsen served as a judicial assistant to Judge Philip M. Kirk for the past 16 years. Prior to that, she served as the deputy clerk of court for the county for 19 years.
Olsen said she would miss her coworkers most of all, including Kirk, who started working for the county, as assistant district attorney, the same year as Olsen.
Over the years, Olsen said she has enjoyed all of the challenges, including moving the courthouse (and all of the records) into a new building in 1990.
"There's always something new," Olsen said. "I learned something new every day."
Olsen said she plans to spend her retirement relaxing, spending time at her cottage up north, and helping out at her grandchildren's school.