State Bar of Wisconsin

06/15/2009 : Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program

The Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program is seeking experienced attorney/mediators to volunteer to mediate foreclosure cases filed in Milwaukee County. At this time, mediation is voluntary; the homeowner or the lender need to request mediation, and both must agree to mediate. Each Mediation will last approximately 1 ½ hours, and will be held at the courthouse or another designated location in Milwaukee County.

Marquette University Law School is sponsoring a foreclosure mediation training program on July 8th from 8:30 am – 4:45 pm for volunteer mediators. To sign up as a mediator and register for the training, go to http://law.marquette.edu/foreclosure.

05/27/2009 : Marquette Law School to run Foreclosure Mediation Program with funding from Wisconsin Attorney General

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today, with Mayor Tom Barrett and Marquette University Law School Dean Joseph D. Kearney, $310,000 in funding for Marquette University Law School to implement the Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program, which will provide mediation between lenders and residential borrowers facing foreclosure. The funding results from the proceeds of the successful Countrywide Financial Corporation lawsuit. In addition, the City of Milwaukee recently approved $100,000 in funding for the same effort.

05/26/2009 : Smart Growth law ripe for mediation opportunities

Since the advent of ADR with sec. 802.12 approximately 15 years ago, its most popular process, mediation, has been widely employed in the family law and civil litigation contexts. But there now appears to be a groundswell, so to speak, for mediation in the property and municipal law realm as well.

Application for Inclusion on the DOA Roster of Dispute Resolution Providers for Local Governments

05/18/2009 : Year in Review – Comments from Outgoing ADR Section Chair

I am pleased and honored to have served as ADR Section Chair for the past year. From the outset our Board set lofty goals at our July Strategic Planning Meeting, which included improving communication with our section members via electronic formats and offering periodic 1-hour CLE webinars.

04/28/2009 : Dispute Resolution Surges Forward at Marquette

As reported by the university yesterday, I am delighted to announce that the Dispute Resolution Program at Marquette continues to receive national acclaim. With over ten years of dispute resolution programming and curricula at the Law School, we continue to grow by leaps and bounds. In any given year, we have close to 150 students in our various dispute resolution classes and clinics.

04/22/2009 : Wisconsin Court Affirms Arbitration Award of Reinstatement

In a very interesting decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals last week, the Court upheld an arbitration award against the large household goods store Menard’s for employment discrimination against, wait for it, its own in-house lawyer.

03/30/2009 : Milwaukee Attorney Receives Top Honor

Attorney William A. Jennaro, Circuit Court Judge (ret.), of Cook & Franke S.C. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been named “Best Mediator” in the State of Wisconsin in the Wisconsin Law Journal’s “Best of” poll. Award recipients were chosen by the ballot of lawyers and judges from around the state. The winners were announced in the publication’s March 16, 2009 issue.