Shark endorses Neubauer

Blogging has slowed to nonexistent here. The end of February and beginning of March is submission season for law reviews and I have been dealing with that as well as finishing up a new white paper on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. (Watch this space for details!)

Blogging has been so slow that I even failed to engage in self promotion and did not link to an op-ed that I published in yesterday's Wisconsin State Journal. (I am told that it'll also run in the LaCrosse Tribune and maybe one other paper or two on Sunday.)

I have a few things in the queue, but wanted to say something about the race for Court of Appeals judge in District II between Lisa Neubauer and Bill Gleisner.

First, the disclaimer. I have known Lisa Neubauer for close to 20 years. I have worked with her on cases and, early in her career, was assigned to be her senior associate "mentor" at Foley & Lardner. I haven't seen much of Lisa lately, but I have the highest regard for her integrity and abilities as a lawyer.

Lisa is a Democrat, but she is not a rabidly political person. Back in the day, when a group of us wanted to discuss politics, she would generally beg off or change the subject.

Her politics may be moderately liberal, but she is not a bomb thrower. Quite frankly, no one who is could stay at Foley & Lardner for 19 years representing business.

But here is the important part. I think that Lisa recognizes the need to separate her politics from her application of the law. She has quite mainstream views about the role of the courts. While I am sure that we would disagree on a few things, I think she is just the type of person we ought to have more of on the appellate bench. Unfortunately, few are willing to make the financial sacrifices that entails.

I do not know Bill Gleisner and I am sure that he is a fine lawyer. I met him once and he seemed to be a pleasant fellow. But he has spent a good chunk of his career writing amicus briefs for the plaintiff's bar, seeking to change the law in ways that most conservatives would oppose. Acording the the Verdict, a journal of the plaintiff's bar, Gleisner has written that the Court's decision in Ferdon v. Patient's Compensation Panel, one of the most extraordinary and, by any definition, activist decisions in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's history, is within "the finest tradltions of Constitutional analysis and statutory construction as developed by tbe Wisconsin Supremc Court from time immemorial."

Anyone who believes that has no regard for judicial restraint. None.

Lisa may not be the absolutely ideal candidate for conservative and libertarian lawyers, but she is a pretty good one. Compared to Bill Gleisner, there is just no question.