Aug. 19, 2026 – New circuit court judges who began their term this month are getting used to wearing a robe, and they’re learning what it’s like on the other side of the bench.

They’ve completed New Judge Orientation by the Wisconsin Judicial College, which covers the basics of critical areas of law and electronic case management in three days.

In September, the Judicial College meets in a week-long event for new judges that all judges are expected to attend once every six years.

Judicial wisdom isn’t on the curriculum, but it fills the room.

“The best resource that a judge has are other judges,” said Waushara County Circuit Court Judge and Judicial College Co-Dean Guy D. Dutcher.

Identifying Wisdom

Professor Chad Oldfather, Marquette University Law School.

Performance measures govern management, but wisdom can’t be quantified, and according to Marquette University Law School Professor Chad Oldfather, one can’t find a recipe. Wisdom is “one of those kind of ‘I know it when I see it’ type of ideas.”

Oldfather, who has an “inherent fascination with human judgment and decision making,” wrote on the subject in Judges, Judging, and Judgment: Character, Wisdom, and Humility in a Polarized World.

Oldfather’s outline of judicial wisdom harmonizes with the experience of judges.

“Wisdom is a cumulative thing,” said Carl Ashley, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge and Chief Judge of the First Judicial District.

Angela B. Bartell, who served as a Dane County Circuit Court judge for 30 years, said, “you start to look at your own life experience differently because you are a decision maker with authority, with power from the power of government. You learn things from your own life.”

“You acquire [wisdom] in everything that you do and everything that you’ve done up until the moment that you are rendering that decision,” said Sauk County Circuit Court Judge and Judicial College Co-Dean Wendy J.N. Klicko.

“I don’t think it’s any one thing. It’s really being open to all of it,” Klicko said.

A judge needs to understand the effect his or her decision will have.

“If you have a criminal client who was sentenced more harshly than he probably deserved, … you see how that affects the defendant and his family,” said Randy R. Koschnick, who served as a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge and later as director of state courts.

“It’s experiencing injustice, which is due to a lack of due process.”

Properly weighing sentencing factors challenges Chief Judge Ashley. He reflects on his decisions to understand “what is the impact of our sentences, both on the victim and our community.”

Humility

“What I encourage judges to do is to acknowledge, don’t hide, when you don’t know something,” Ashley said. It’s a key to building respect.

Acknowledge it to the parties, promise to do the homework, and invite them to “let me know any thoughts that you have or things that you think I need to look at to support me making the best decision,” Ashley explained.

“I’m not going to be offended if you educate me on something,” Koschnick said. “I will admit I’m ignorant in certain areas.”

“You can’t and you aren’t going to know everything about a situation, whether it’s the facts or the issues or even the law, but wisdom is knowing that you are always going to seek to understand that which is known,” Klicko said.

“As a decision maker, you weren’t there, you didn’t see it, and people’s recollections you learned are remarkably elastic, which isn’t to say that I believe people aren’t telling the truth,” Bartell advised.

“Trying to discern the truth is very difficult and, in my opinion, has to be done with a lot of humility because … no one knows for certain.”

“The wisest people are those who recognize what they don’t know because it’s far more important to know what you don’t know than what you do,” Dutcher said, “and then taking the steps necessary to find out what the answer is.”

Dutcher: ‘Support to Each Other’

Judicial College Co-Dean Judge Guy D. Dutcher, Waushara County Circuit Court.

“The only person [a judge] can ask a question of is another judge,” Dutcher explained. Judicial College events help judges make those connections.

“That network is just as important when you are talking about the emotional stresses and difficulties that come with this job because it is difficult to describe how difficult this job is.”

Each judge brings his or her own experience and style. “Emotional management, starting with yourself, is essential to maintaining decorum in the courtroom,” Dutcher said.

“You go a long way, in my opinion, if you show people respect, you treat them with patience and with dignity, and you manage your own emotions as you feel yourself becoming frustrated or even angry,” Dutcher said.

Klicko: ‘Big Picture and the Minute Detail’

Judicial College Co-Dean Judge Wendy J.N. Klicko, Sauk County Circuit Court.

Collegiality among judges surprised Klicko when she began as a judge. Other judges want to help.

In Judicial College gatherings, about half of the members are new judges and half have been there before. Experienced and new judges are paired at tables, Klicko described.

Lessons from the podium come with a caveat: “This is what has worked for me,” but a new judge needs to discern what works for them.

“You figure out how that’s going to work for you so that if you have some of that wisdom, you can impart it to the parties that are in front of you,” Klicko said.

A judge should look at both the “big picture and the minute detail” to resolve an issue, Klicko explained. It’s a flexibility the parties may not have.

“From where I sit in the corner of the courtroom, I see all. I see everything,” Klicko said. “And depending on where you’re sitting in the courtroom, you may not have the ability or opportunity to see all of that.”

Lawyers at the counsel table don’t see the people behind them, the jury, or “the look on the attorney’s face” at the other table, Klicko explained.

The judge looks out over and above everyone, a unique view to “have more understanding of where everyone’s coming from versus the individual participants.”

Koschnick: Vetting for Wisdom

Judge Randy R. Koschnick, Former Wisconsin Director of State Courts.

“Elections are really good for judges,” Koschnick said, because “I had to go out and meet the voters.”

Getting out in the community – talking with voters, debating your opponent, and responding to media inquiries – serves to vet a judicial candidate, Koschnick said.

“That’s how the public comes to know about your wisdom.”

“When I go talk to groups, I start by listening,” Koschnick said, and “ask questions of the audience, ask what’s important to them.”

He found the electorate attentive. “A lot of people are willing to tell you what they think about crime and punishment,” Koschnick remembers.

“The judge should reflect the values of the community in making their decisions where they have discretion.”

Wisdom comes from “engag[ing] with the community to see where the needs really are,” Koschnick elaborated. His work in community organizations gave him insights by the ability “to interact with people, especially in need.”

“That’s one of the best ways to get to really understand people and know more about the human condition.”

Bartell: ‘A Very Human Undertaking’

Judge Angela B. Bartell (Ret.), Dane County Circuit Court.

“Judicial decision making, settling disputes, is a very human undertaking, and the way that it’s accomplished is as different as the kinds of people who take the bench,” Bartell said. “There are many different styles to it, but it’s essentially people management.”

As she gained experience as a judge, Bartell said she mastered procedure, learned her style, and “was using those tools to be sure that the humanity in my court was evident.”

“I would never make a decision in the heat of the battle, out of anger, or fatigue,” Bartell said. “If it was a hot situation going on, I would take my time to not act out of the heat of the situation because of the danger of overstepping the proper bounds of the authority that you had.”

“I was able to use the folk wisdom … to talk to people about their experiences and try to teach them,” Bartell explained.

People could feel that “they were heard by somebody who cared about their dispute, heard them fairly, and gave good reasons that they could understand for the decision.”

Ashley: ‘You Set the Tone’

Chief Judge Carl Ashley, First Judicial District, Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Chief Judge Ashley describes wisdom as something that makes one “just a little bit more aware of things, and they can impart that.”

His courtroom view is 360 degrees – reading the people in the courtroom and understanding himself.

“Demeanor is the number one complaint filed with the judicial commission regarding judges, by far, and it’s one of those things that creates an environment in your courtroom that is going to allow others to have a certain perception of your proceedings,” Ashley said.

“As the judge, you set the tone.”

The judge also needs to “understand where you are when you walk in that courtroom” and to make staff comfortable so they may tell you, Ashley said.

The parties before a judge may carry greater stresses than apparent – a judge needs to look beyond outward appearances.

“Sometimes the behavior of a person in your court who’s there for a hearing may seem to be disrespectful, or they’re not listening, or they’re looking off into space,” Ashley describes.

Maybe the person is disrespectful, but maybe trauma “has affected this person’s ability to listen and perceive what’s going on.”

Once in problem-solving court, “Susie” was acting differently. His clerk and deputy told Ashley, and he saw it too.

Ashley’s trauma training informed him that it might be best to have the hearing another day.

Later he learned that in the back of the courtroom was Susie’s former significant other who had abused her.

“She wasn’t reacting to me,” Ashley said. “She was reacting to him.”

Ashley’s choice led to a happy ending. “She successfully graduated from the drug treatment program, and she became the caretaker of her grandkids.”

Wisdom grows with circulation, Ashley explained. “Wisdom needs to be shared, and you share it by how you carry yourself and that wisdom.”