This was a big week for the 175 graduates of Marquette Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who were welcomed to their new profession at a swearing-in ceremony with all seven Wisconsin Supreme Court justices this month.

At the ceremony, an article for the State Bar of Wisconsin said, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley asked the new lawyers what it really means to uphold the law, a question once answered by the former dean of Marquette Law School Howard Eisenberg.

"I think it means when you are putting together a deal for a client and there's a wink or a nod, that you will have the courage to be an aggressive advocate, but you will not shade the truth," she said in her address. "It means that you have the courage to embrace unpopular causes and to stand up for the victims, and the poor, and the powerless in our community."

Bradley reminded the new lawyers that there have been many times when those who came before them have lost cases or elections because they did what was right, and she challenged others to do the same. 

For every part of the legal process, having accurate transcripts is vital to the integrity and outcome of the case. With certified court reporters, those involved can be confident that what is said during a deposition is correctly transcribed, and that no testimonies are misrepresented. By being able to rely on an accurate transcript from a Milwaukee court reporter, legal professionals can focus on their responsibilities as a lawyer and concentrate on, as Bradley said, upholding the law. 

The importance of realtime court reporting cannot be understated. Trial proceedings and depositions need to be properly tracked, and not knowing what was said can be highly detrimental to a case's outcome.

Additionally, when it comes to witness testimony, courts must be diligent in keeping track of what was said. Take for example, one recent Wisconsin court case that was heavily reliant on expert witness testimony.

A former student sued Carthage College in Kenosha for negligence after she was sexually assaulted in her dorm room. Dr. Daniel Kennedy was to testify to the school's security deficiencies. At first, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin excluded his testimony.

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the judgment and remanded the case, citing Wisconsin law. The state law says that allegations of negligence require a party to establish a duty of care. Furthermore, an expert witness is to be qualified by "knowledge, skill, experience, training or education."

"Dr. Kennedy's general testimony about the IACLEA security standards is admissible, as is his more specific testimony faulting the lack of a prop alarm on the basement door of Tarble Hall," Judge Diane Sykes wrote in the decision.

Additionally, the appeals court disagreed with the prior decision of Kennedy's testimony being unreliable. Previously, it was decided that he did not follow a reliable methodology in reaching his conclusions, however, the appeals court thought otherwise.

Witness testimony is critical, and can often push a case one way or another. Once a court deems the evidence admissible, it is essential that the information is not misrepresented. With certified Wisconsin court reporters, the testimony will be accurately recorded, without a question of what was said.

Fifty years ago, Glen Dorrough became a court reporter mostly to avoid manual labor. He stuck with the profession his entire life, serving as as an Oklahoma court reporter.

Even back then, Dorrough heard a refrain that should sound familiar to those who follow the court reporting industry to this day – tape recorders threatened to replace court reporters. As Dorrough enters retirement at age 70, he's not surprised that court reporters are still so widely used.

"[Dorrough] believes that a person will always be required to decipher things that a computer didn't translate, to look up esoteric terminology, to verify proper names, to make sure speakers are correctly identified and to insert the proper punctuation to make certain that a transcript is readable," according to the Tulsa Daily World article that profiled Dorrough.

A different perspective

Half a country away in Manhattan, Rebecca Forman also works as a court reporter. She shared with the New York Times some of her experiences since she entered the field in 2003.
And although Forman's experience isn't nearly as extensive as Dorrough's, she's still seen her own share of changes in the last decade.

When she started out, there were always murmurs that court reporters would eventually produce transcripts in real-time, so that judges and other parties involved in a trial or deposition would be able to immediately access the information. Ten years later, this has finally become a reality, in part because parties want to be able to add notes to the record as it's being produced.

Current Milwaukee court reporters have certainly heard rumors throughout their careers about how the industry would be evolving – some predictions have come to fruition and others haven't. The only constant is that Milwaukee court reporters need to be prepared for anything.

Last Sunday, for the final time, Pope Benedict XVI addressed Catholics around the world from St. Peter's Square. His pending resignation will soon bring leaders of the Catholic Church to Rome for the traditional conclave that will elect his successor.

Casting a pall over the proceedings is the continued fallout over the child sex abuse scandals that affected a number of dioceses throughout the last decade.

"The church is dealing with a scandal that is verified, verifiable, and all too disturbingly true: the sex abuse scandal, in which several of the cardinals who will be voting on the new pope are implicated themselves, either as abusers or as managers who shielded pedophile priests from the law and covered up for their crimes," according to ABC News.

As the selection process begins in earnest and church officials look forward, officials in Wisconsin are continuing to work through bankruptcy proceedings by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee that began in 2011. As part of the case, former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan was called in for a court deposition just last week.

Dolan, now a Cardinal and the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, had to answer questions about his handling of more than 500 allegations of sexual abuse, most of which occurred prior to his becoming archbishop in 2002.

According to Salon, supporters of the alleged victims are pushing to make public the deposition transcripts of Dolan and other Milwaukee church officials.

This case shows yet again the value of accurate deposition transcripts. Given the public's interest in this case, it's in the best interest of all parties involved in the proceedings that experienced Milwaukee court reporters are responsible for documentation.

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin recently ruled that police did not violate the Constitutional rights of James Brereton by seizing his vehicle and installing a GPS tracking device under the hood to monitor his movements.

Authorities came to suspect that Brereton was involved in a string of burglaries that had taken place in Rock and Walworth Counties after witnesses reported seeing two men in a blue Pontiac near several of crime scenes.

Investigators managed to pinpoint the specific vehicle that had been observed and came up with a plan to catch the suspected burglars in the act. Rock County police stopped the Pontiac for a traffic violation and, when neither of the occupants had a valid license, the car was towed. Authorities then obtained a warrant and arranged the installation of a GPS device.

After tracking the vehicle’s movements for several days, police noticed that it stopped in a residential area of Janesville for a brief period. Officers who went to investigate found a home that had been burglarized. When they followed the GPS signal to the Pontiac, police found Brereton and his associate riding with a computer monitor and other items that were reported stolen, as well as $1,300.

Brereton attempted to suppress the evidence against him on the grounds that police officers’ use of GPS devices to monitor his movements constituted an “unreasonable search,” prohibited under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This claim was rejected each time the accused burglar filed an appeal, culminating in the Supreme Court ruling on February 6.

Police would have had a much more difficult time putting a stop to the string of burglaries without the GPS tracking device implanted in Brereton’s vehicle. Furthermore, they could not have secured the authorization to put their plan in motion without relying on the statements made by witnesses who saw the vehicle.

When it is critical to capture an official record of a witness deposition, no one gets the job done like a certified court reporter.

Brian Avery was convicted of armed robbery after a trial in 1995. Among the evidence presented by Wisconsin prosecutors was a video of the events at the center of the case.

Due to the state of video recording technology in the 90s, the film was relatively “grainy” and did not give a clear picture of the robber. However, more than a decade after Avery was convicted, contemporary techniques and equipment allowed much sharper images to be drawn from the original video.

This led Avery, who is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence, to file a motion requesting that his conviction be set aside. In court, his attorney argued that the enhanced pictures constituted “newly discovered evidence” and entitled Avery to a new trial.

To support this claim, the defendant’s legal team arranged for a certified expert in the field of metrology – the science of measurement – to testify. In court, the metrologist asserted that the refined video showed the perpetrator was several inches shorter than Avery.

The state also produced an expert witness, who testified that the alleged height difference between the defendant and the suspect shown in the video could not be conclusively proven based on the images.

Appellate court divided on question of new evidence’s impact

Although Avery’s motion was initially denied by a court in Milwaukee County, the District I Court of Appeals later reversed the circuit court’s decision and ordered that the defendant be granted a new trial.

Writing for the majority, Judge Kessler asserted that “the real controversy of whether Avery was actually involved in the robberies was not fully tried” because the jury had not seen the enhanced video footage. Kessler noted that if a jury believed the evidence presented by the metrologist, it would conclude that Avery could not be the suspect shown in the video. Thus, a new trial was ordered.

One of the three judges who heard the case dissented, writing a separate opinion in which he argued that Avery’s new evidence did not entitle him to a new trial. According to Judge Brennan, the question up for review was “whether the new evidence would, not could, create reasonable doubt” about the defendant’s guilt in the minds of a jury.

Strength of witness testimony, other evidence outweighs effect of enhanced video

On January 30, 2013, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the appellate panel’s decision. In their review of the case, the justices employed legal reasoning similar to that espoused by Brennan in her dissenting opinion.

The court specifically noted the fact that the video had not been a key component in the state’s case against Avery. Other factors, including the testimony of two eyewitnesses, were held to be sufficiently convincing that the underlying controversy – whether Avery was involved in the robbery – had been fully tried, despite the absence of the enhanced video evidence.

“We conclude that there is not a reasonable probability that a jury, looking at both the evidence presented at trial and the new evidence, would have a reasonable doubt as to Avery’s guilt,” wrote the majority.

Although there were other factors involved in shaping events, this outcome clearly underscores the importance of witness testimony.

In order to get the most out of a deposition, attorneys must be able to review individual statements after the event. Legal professionals who need to secure accurate deposition transcripts for a case in Wisconsin should consider contacting a Milwaukee litigation services company.

In Wisconsin, an appellate court recently affirmed the conviction of a man who had requested a new trial after learning that a member of the jury in his case had accidentally been seated in place of his like-named father.

The defendant in the case, Jacob Turner, was convicted on charges of strangulation, suffocation, battery and disorderly conduct. The day after the verdict was delivered, the circuit court realized that the “John P. Smith” who showed up for jury duty was not the same one who had been summoned.

All of the identifying information included with the summons could have applied to either man, but because the father had been called up for jury duty several years earlier, he believed that the summons was for his son.

With the same first and last names, middle initial, phone number and home address, the younger John Smith readily believed the summons was directed to him, and had no trouble checking in when he showed up at the courthouse.

Thus, the wrong individual ended up serving on a jury that was assigned to a serious case. When it learned of the mistake, the circuit court held a hearing to determine exactly what had happened and how to move forward.

Court applied ‘harmless error’ test

Both the father and son testified about the chain of events that led to the latter showing up at court instead of the former. The two men explained that they had attempted to call a phone number that was included with the summons, but only reached an automated recording, which offered them no help.

Based on the Smiths’ testimony, the court concluded that the switch had been an “honest mistake” and decided to let the verdict stand. It then notified Turner and the state prosecutor of what had happened.

The court also informed both parties that it did not intend to take any further action on the matter, although it clarified that each side retained the right to request a hearing on the subject.

Subsequently, Turner filed a motion requesting that the court set aside his conviction and arrange a new trial with a properly selected jury. After his motion was dismissed, he filed an appeal.

Turner cited the Wisconsin and U.S. Constitutions to support his argument that it violated his rights when the court held a hearing on the matter without giving him the opportunity to be present. The convict argued that if he had been given the opportunity to question the Smiths, he may have uncovered additional evidence that would support his case.

However, the appellate court ruled that Turner could not rely on “speculative or hypothetical” theories of how he had been harmed by the error to establish a need for a new trial. Judges pointed out that the defendant had been provided with a deposition transcript and declined to summon the Smiths to the hearing on his motion for a new trial.

“The fact is that ‘John P. Smith’ who lived at the address listed in the summons appeared for jury duty and never misrepresented who he was,” wrote the three-judge panel that heard the case. “The fact that the clerk’s office meant to summon a different ‘John P. Smith’ at the same address does not make the son an improper juror.”

The District II Court of Appeals affirmed Turner’s conviction, as well as the fact that “harmless” errors in the legal process do not invalidate otherwise sound outcomes. At the same time, having an accurate record of proceedings is essential in order for litigants to identify any more substantive issues that may warrant remedial action.

Certified Wisconsin court reporters can aid legal professionals by providing reliable transcription and deposition videography services.

Actos, a type 2 diabetes medication that was approved in 1999, is created by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is currently being sued by the family of a man from Wisconsin who recently passed away due to cancer that the plaintiff claims he obtained from a long-term use of the drug.

"The suit alleges that use of the drug caused extensive pain and suffering, severe emotional distress, and substantially reduced the Decedent's ability to enjoy life," wrote Parker Waichman, the law firm representing the plaintiff, in a press release.

The deceased began taking Actos in 2004 and developed bladder cancer five years later. The deceased passed away in October 2010, alleging that it was due to the long running use of Actos.

The lawsuit is also alleging that Takeda Pharmaceutical failed to warn that Actos may cause bladder cancer, although last summer the United States Food and Drug Administration required that the company update its warning label to state that Actos can increase the risk of contracting the disease.

In addition, the release cited many studies that tie Actos to an increased risk of bladder cancer. For example, the Canadian Medical Association Journal stated that patients who take Actos become 22 percent more likely contract the disease.

During a major lawsuit such as this one, it may benefit lawyers and judges involved in the case to acquire the most accurate deposition transcripts, which increases  the importance of partnering with realtime court reporters. Furthermore, as the pharmaceutical company may not be in the same state as the plaintiff, lawyers can also benefit from partnering with Wisconsin court reporters that offer video deposition services.

It's not uncommon for many die-hard football fans to get a little out of hand. This can be especially true as the quality of play increases. The University of Wisconsin in Madison is typically considered a major football program and, as such, its teammates are high-profile figures on the school's campus.

Robert Wilks and Wendell Venerable were found guilty of substantial battery after reportedly attacking Montee Ball, the starting running back at the University of Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The attack happened on August 1 as Ball was walking home from a night out with friends on campus.

Although the attack on Ball may have been related to another incident from July between Ball and the defendants, there was no official link, according to local police officers.

The two defendants were given the first offenders placement, which is a program that requires the two to meet certain stipulations under a contract and meet with professionals. If they are unable to do this, they'll be brought back to Judge St. John and be sentenced, which can be up to 3-and-a-half years for substantial battery. 

"This gives you an opportunity to get the support and services you need to avoid coming back into the criminal justice system," Judge St. John told the defendants.

With cases that often involve only a few individuals, it may be hard for prosecutors to produce third-party or objective evidence of the crime. In such a situation, it could be best for litigators to partner with realtime court reporters that can provide accurate deposition transcripts and even video deposition services that will allow lawyers the ability to piece together the events.

Oftentimes, mentally ill individuals must have a court-appointed guardian to help them make decisions and even manage more complicated aspects of society, such as taxes and finances. As such, these guardians are put in a position of power over the finances, which can be easily abused.

According to the Wausau Daily-Herald, Nancy Rodemeier was the the legal guardian for her mentally-disabled sister from May 2000 to December 2011. During this time, Rodemeier embezzled more than $38,000 to help fund her gambling, smoking and drinking habits.

Rodemeier was removed as guardian when an agent from the Adult Protective Services found the financial falsities in her sister's bank account. When giving the opportunity to refute the accusation, Rodemeier could not produce any financial records disproving this. Therefore, an audit which found checks written out of her disabled sister's bank accounts to numerous bars, tobacco and grocery stores.

"This is a family matter," Jim Connell, Rodemeier's attorney, told the source. "I don't believe this should have been a criminal case."

As this case revolves around the actions of close close family members, most of which may be undocumented besides the movement of money within the individuals involved, it may be necessary for lawyers to partner with experienced Milwaukee court reporters. These professionals can provide accurate deposition transcripts which will allow the litigators to more effectively represent their clients, and conduct an efficient trial.