State Bar of Wisconsin

Retired U. S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to speak at 2010 State Bar Convention

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Photo Credit: Dane Penland, Smithsonian Institution, courtesy of the Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sept. 11, 2009 – Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be the State Bar of Wisconsin’s featured speaker at its 2010 Annual Convention in Madison on Thursday, May 6, 2010.

The first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice O’Connor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and served until her retirement from the court in 2006. Since then, O’Connor has focused much of her time promoting the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary.

“We are honored to welcome Justice O’Connor to the 2010 State Bar of Wisconsin Annual Convention,” notes State Bar Executive Director George Brown. “In addition to giving our members an opportunity to explore some important justice system issues with one of our nation’s most respected jurists, we are anxious to share Justice O’Connor’s insights and advice with other Wisconsin residents by opening her appearance to the media and public.”

A 1952 graduate of Stanford Law School, O’Connor served from 1965 to 1969 as an Arizona assistant attorney general before her appointment to the Arizona State Senate in 1969 (where she was subsequently reelected to two two-year terms). In 1975, she was elected Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. President Reagan nominated her as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat in September 1981. Justice O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court on Jan. 31, 2006.

The State Bar’s Annual Convention combines legal education, networking and business meetings. The 2010 event will be at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in downtown Madison from May 5 through 7.