April 2004
Judges Haase and Perlich receive Lifetime Jurist and Judge of the
Year awards at Annual Convention
Judge Robert A. Haase, Winnebago County Circuit
Court, will receive the Bench and Bar Committee's 2003 Lifetime Jurist
Achievement Award. Judge John J. Perlich, La Crosse
County Circuit Court, will receive the Bench and Bar Committee's 2003
Judge of the Year Award.
The Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award recognizes
individuals who have "made a difference" during their tenure on the
bench.
"One of Judge Haase's more impressive accomplishments was his
vanguard approach to mediation," says Phillip M. Kirk, Waupaca County
Circuit Court judge. "If not the first, he was one of the first circuit
judges in Wisconsin to become a certified mediator. He volunteered his
time and talent to help develop the Osh-kosh Conflict Resolution
Center."
Haase received the Distinguished Service Award from the Wisconsin
Association of Mediators in November 2002. He also uses his mediation
expertise to serve members of the state's trial bench by presenting
judicial education programs.
Haase was elected to the Winne-bago County circuit court in 1981 and
is a long-time member of the court's Records Management Committee.
The Judge of the Year Award recognizes a jurist who
has improved the judicial system during the past year by providing
leadership in advancing the quality of justice, judicial education, or
innovative programs.
"Judge Perlich's high standards, personal character, and reasoned
approach to judging make him an ideal award recipient," says Raymond
Taffora, Bench and Bar Committee chair.
Perlich, a La Crosse County Circuit Court judge since 1982, created
the Drug Treatment Court in La Crosse County. Only the second system of
its kind in Wisconsin, the drug court has been a model for other such
programs throughout the Midwest.
"It is remarkable to see Judge Perlich preside over the drug court,"
says La Crosse attorney Keith Belzer. "To hear formerly drug-addicted
individuals take responsibility for their lives and thank the judge and
the drug court team for saving their lives is about the highest goal
that a criminal court could hope to attain."
The awards will be presented at the Members' Recognition Luncheon,
12:30 - 2 p.m. on May 7, during the Annual Convention at the Monona
Terrace Convention Center, Madison. Reservations are $25. Call
the State Bar at (800) 728-7788 or (608) 257-3838.
Inside the Bar
